COLUMBUS and NEW YORK, July 29, 2019—Columbus Crew SC, the Major League Soccer (MLS) club based in Columbus, Ohio, and Legends, a leader in global planning, sales and hospitality, today announced a partnership for project development and commercial sales rights for the new stadium and team training facility in Columbus, Ohio.

Columbus Crew SC competes in MLS as a member of the League's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one of the ten charter clubs of the League. To help keep the team in its rightful home, the Haslam family, owners of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, and the Edwards family, including long-time Crew SC physician Dr. Pete Edwards, acquired investor-operator rights to the club ahead of the 2019 season.

“We’re thrilled to add the expertise of Legends to our process of working to create a new stadium experience that keenly suits the collaborative spirit of the Greater Columbus community,” said Tim Bezbatchenko, Columbus Crew SC President and General Manager. “Legends’ proven track record in the sports and entertainment space is highly regarded and will enable us to achieve the success needed on the ground level to ensure our long-term vision that will benefit the community and fans that have pledged to save and support the team.”

“Our belief in the synergies of Legends overall 360 platform, engaged with a formidable club business such as Crew SC, creates the opportunity to truly showcase the inherent partnership value an integrated approach to planning, sales and operations can achieve for a project,” said Mike Tomon, Legends Chief Operating Officer.

Legends will work with the organization across multiple areas including, project planning and development, sponsorship and ticket sales, naming rights, marketing, technology innovations, data insights and analytics. Legends has already delivered key business intelligence data on planning and design for the future stadium through its proprietary approach to gathering targeted market-specific information. By conducting focus groups, surveys and utilizing other research-driven tools Legends has been able to analyze feedback from Columbus Crew ticket holders, fans and the broader Columbus, Ohio community.

The Columbus Crew SC Stadium is expected to be completed in 2021 and will be located in the Downtown Arena District. The new venue will include 20,000 seats, team store, and outdoor public plaza space for social gathering. The old stadium site will be redeveloped as a community sports park and new state-of-the-art training facility for the team. Legends Global Planning will oversee design and construction of the stadium and the team training facility. Legends Global Sales will manage all commercial rights including sales, marketing and sponsorship assets for the training facility and the stadium.

An industry leader in developing and optimizing unique platforms for its clients, Legends is a partner to premier venues across professional sports, events and collegiate partners, including AT&T Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles Stadium & Entertainment District, Las Vegas Raiders Stadium, University of Notre Dame, and nearly 40 Live Nation properties.