COLUMBUS – Columbus Crew today announced that Lower.com Field, the Crew’s home located in Astor Park, is one of six finalists for “Sports Facility of the Year” as part of the 2022 Sports Business Awards. Launched in 2008, the Sports Business Awards were established by Sports Business Journal to celebrate and recognize excellence in the business of sports.
The award nominees hail from across North American professional sports leagues, with the list of finalists also including: Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas Raiders), Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle Kraken and Seattle Storm), Footprint Center (Phoenix Mercury and Phoenix Suns), SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams) and TQL Stadium (FC Cincinnati).
“It is an honor to have Lower.com Field be a finalist for ‘Sports Facility of the Year,’” said Columbus Crew President of Business Operations Kristin Bernert. “The vision of the Haslam, Johnson and Edwards families was always to create an iconic, world-class venue that reflected the trajectory of the Crew and the city of Columbus. Brought to life by our design, architecture and construction team partners, the result was a stadium that has garnered support from our community and admiration from sports fans across the nation. We are thrilled our home is among industry-leading venue nominees.”
Award recipients will be announced during a live event on Wednesday, May 18, at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. For more information on the event, please visit www.Sports-Business-Awards.com. This is the second consecutive year in which the Crew has been named a finalist for one of the publication’s coveted awards after being a 2021 nominee for “Sports Team of the Year”.
Designed by HNTB and MKSK, the Crew broke ground on Lower.com Field on October 10, 2019, and held its ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 29, 2021. Last year, the state-of-the-art venue was named the winner of the 2021 James B. Recchie Design Award by Columbus Landmarks, as well as the winner of the 2021 Harrison W. Smith Award by the Columbus Downtown Commission.
Lower.com Field is located at the center of the mixed-use Astor Park development downtown in the Arena District. The stadium seats 20,371 spectators and includes 30 suites and 1,900 club seats. Features also include 3,356 safe-standing seats in the Nordecke, the team’s supporters’ section; 220,000-square foot canopy that covers every seat in the stadium and is designed to keep noise in; a sunken field; a beer garden; The Pub; high-definition scoreboards; a frictionless matchday experience; and two sensory rooms. The plaza at the southeast corner establishes the connection to the downtown area, while a new pedestrian bridge connects the area to the Olentangy bike path. The overall stadium was designed to reflect the city’s innovative spirit.
In addition to hosting the Crew’s Major League Soccer matches, Lower.com Field also hosted the 2021 Campeones Cup (September 29, 2021), and the United States Men’s National Team’s 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Costa Rica (October 13, 2021) and El Salvador (January 27, 2022). The stadium is also set to host the U.S. Women’s National Team next month, when the World Champions take on Uzbekistan in an international friendly on Saturday, April 9 at 5:30 p.m. ET.
The Crew next plays at home when it hosts Nashville SC at Lower.com Field on Saturday, April 2 [6:00 p.m. ET / Bally Sports Great Lakes, Bally Sports App (Stream) / 97.1 The Fan & 971TheFan.com (English); ColumbusCrew.com (Spanish)].
Fans looking to experience Crew matches have several options to save money, while getting the best seats for marquee matches. Season Ticket Memberships include benefits such as private, member-only events; a 10 percent discount at the Crew Shop; monthly, interest-free payment plans; the ability to purchase discounted parking; pre-sale access to all events at Lower.com Field, Historic Crew Stadium and FirstEnergy Stadium; and a dedicated account manager and service representative.
Fans can also choose between various packages that offer great benefits and ticket discounts, including Nine-Match Ticket Plans, Five-Match Ticket Plans, and Group Ticket Plans which are on sale now. Fans can additionally purchase single-match tickets, which are now available.
Supporters interested in securing their seat for the 2022 MLS season can call 614-447-2739, visit columbuscrew.com/tickets or email seasontickets@columbuscrew.com to get connected with a Ticket Sales Representative.
