Columbus Crew SC is proudly a team of firsts, but no first was more important than the opening of Crew Stadium (now MAPFRE Stadium) in 1999. With MLS in its infancy and far from a sure bet to survive and thrive, Hunt built the stadium with $28.5 million of his own money.
Lamar gambled that if the sport was presented in the right way, instead of being swallowed whole in cavernous NFL stadiums, the game would better resonate with those in attendance and those watching on television. He also gambled that stadiums were the key to making MLS sustainable. If Hunt’s stadium wager bombed in Columbus, it very well could have been curtains for MLS in the early 2000s. But Lamar’s gamble paid off handsomely in Columbus and it soon became the blueprint for the entire league.
MLS has grown so much since 1999, and now most of the League plays in soccer-specific digs. Lamar’s decision to build the stadium also altered the trajectory of the U.S.-Mexico rivalry, where MAPFRE Stadium became home to pro-American crowds who gather every four years to watch the U.S. Men’s National Team beat Mexico 2-0 in World Cup qualifying. That’s slightly off-topic, but immensely important nonetheless.
As for the inaugural game, Jeff Cunningham scored the first goal in stadium history, then Stern John added another as Crew SC topped New England by the score of—foreshadowing alert!—2-0.
Afterward, the late Tom Fitzgerald, who coached Crew SC from 1996-2001, summed it up with these words that appear, in part, on his memorial rock in Founder’s Park:
“It was an incredibly awesome night for soccer, not only for the fans in Columbus, but across the country as well. I didn’t touch the floor from the time I left the locker room until the time I sat on the bench. The team was emotional. I was emotional. It was just an emotional night. And then to win the game with a 2-0 shutout victory…you couldn’t have asked for a better script.”
After every home game, I stop by Founder’s Park to visit Fitz. And Kirk Urso. And Lamar Hunt, whose statue permanently gazes upon the first-of-its-kind stadium that serves as a loving and tangible monument to his history-altering belief in Columbus, MLS, and the sport of soccer in the United States.
