COLUMBUS – Columbus Crew SC today announced in a special press conference that it has partnered with Columbus-based OhioHealth in a historic partnership that will see the Club’s future training facility – set to open in 2021 – become known as the OhioHealth Performance Center. A partner of Columbus Crew SC since 1997, OhioHealth becomes the first organization to announce its commitment to the new era of Crew SC. OhioHealth becomes a “Founding Partner” ahead of the opening of the Club’s new, downtown stadium set to open in July 2021, and will continue to be the Club’s Official Healthcare Provider. Per club policy, additional details of the multi-year deal were not disclosed.
► OhioHealth Performance Center Renderings
The OhioHealth Performance Center will be located on the team’s existing stadium site (which opened in 1999), and will be home to the Crew headquarters, player training grounds, and a new community sports park.
“We are proud to announce the continued partnership and now the historic naming rights to the OhioHealth Performance Center as both the Club and OhioHealth look to take Columbus Crew SC to new heights,” said Crew SC Executive Vice President & Chief Business Officer Steve Lyons. “On behalf of the Haslam and Edwards Families, Crew SC President/GM Tim Bezbatchenko and the entire Crew SC organization, we are thrilled to partner with a leader in the community like OhioHealth, as our official healthcare provider. We are aligned in our goals of unifying and giving back to our community while representing Columbus with great pride in all that we do. We look forward to many more years together as partners and eagerly await the opening of our new performance center.”
“What a time to be a Columbus Crew SC fan, and OhioHealth is one of the biggest,” Steve Markovich, MD, President and CEO, OhioHealth said. “We are proud to continue our partnership with this wonderful sports organization through a multi-year agreement, elevating our longstanding partnership with great excitement about the future. Beyond that partnership, that now spans nearly 25 years, the new OhioHealth Performance Center will highlight what OhioHealth does best; health, wellness, connecting businesses and neighborhoods through medical expertise and accessibility. To do all of this side-by-side with a team that’s so important to central Ohio and beyond, gives us great pride, and we couldn’t be more excited.”
Based in Columbus, Ohio, OhioHealth has been recognized as one of the top five large health systems in America by Truven Health Analytics, an honor it has received six times. In addition to being the second largest employer in central Ohio, OhioHealth has also recognized by Fortune as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” 13 years in a row, 2007–2019.
Set to open in the summer of 2021, the OhioHealth Performance Center will feature a dynamic 42,000 square foot, first-in-class progressive MLS training facility for all Crew soccer operations, including First team and Academy. A First Team locker room and film room will be built as well as additional player and performance areas player lounge, sleep/recovery room, weight room, training room and hydrotherapy area. A full-service kitchen and dining area, used by Crew soccer operations staff, First Team and Academy is set to be built as well as specific locker rooms, lounges, training and equipment rooms for the Crew SC Academy. A media room and in-house production room are also set to be built as part of this construction. Design of the construction is being led by local firm Columbus Architectural Studio and supported by local firms Moody Nolan and MKSK, with construction led by local firm Corna-Kokosing.
The OhioHealth Performance Center will also feature two First Team natural grass fields, supported by hydronic heating and SubAir systems; one natural grass field and artificial turf for Academy use; and one seasonal bubble over the stadium field.
The Black & Gold begin the 2020 MLS regular season at MAPFRE Stadium against New York City FC, on Sunday, March 1 at 12:30 p.m. ET. Tickets to all matches on the Crew SC home schedule are available now online at ColumbusCrewSC.com or via phone.
