Goodbye, Heinz Field. Hello, Acrisure Stadium… but what is Acrisure, anyway? Check out Boardroom’s handy guide to getting to know the new Steelers’ stadium name sponsor.
Is any brand more definitely Western Pennsylvania than Heinz? The iconic food processing giant was founded in Sharpsburg, mere stumbling distance from Pittsburgh, and nothing could have made more sense than Heinz buying the naming rights for the stadium that housed the Steelers back in 2001, the year of its opening. As Heinz Field tenants, the Black and Gold won three AFC titles and two Super Bowls.
But good, bad, or indifferent, that era is over. This week brought news of a Heinz Field name change after the company’s venue naming rights sponsorship expired. Welcome, yinzers, to Acrisure Stadium.
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Heinz is a household name, and one with Allegheny roots besides. Can Acrisure say the same for itself? The truth is more complicated than a simple yes or no. Let’s get to the bottom of this by establishing just what this company is and what it actually does.
Founded in 2005, Acrisure is a technology-driven financial services company focused on insurance and banking. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan and operating in 14 countries, it reports being the fastest-growing brokerage in the history of the insurance industry.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the deal is worth between $10,000,000 and $20,000,000 per season over 15 seasons, so the company can expect to pay between $150,000,000 and $300,000,000 under the current reported terms.
Heinz paid $57,000,000 — see what they did there??? — over 20 years, or $2,850,000 per year. The partnership began in 2001 and the Steelers opted to extend it one more year through the 2021 NFL season.
No — they simply got outbid. “While we worked diligently with the Steelers for several months around a new naming rights deal, they found a new partner willing to pay significantly more than we could justify,” read an official statement from the Kraft Heinz Company.
Well, it’s more of a technicality, but the organization known legally as Acrisure LLC is owned by parent company Acrisure Holdings, Inc., the latter of which was formed as such in 2013.
Technically yes. Thomas Tull, a Pittsburgh-based entrepreneur and a minority owner of the Steelers since 2009, is chairman of Acrisure Technology Group, a subsidiary of the overall company focused on leveraging artificial intelligence in the fintech industry.
Nobody knows for (Acri)sure.
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