With the season opening Sunday at Mapfre Stadium, the Crew announced Tuesday the first of two major corporate sponsorships, with OhioHealth becoming the name sponsor of its proposed training facility and founding partner for its new Downtown stadium, both set to open in the summer of 2021.

The Crew will announce a jersey sponsor this week, which will likely be across the chest of jerseys for a game against New York City FC, club chief business officer Steve Lyons said.

>> Photos from Crew’s media day

“This is going to be the start of an incredible momentum you're going to see,” he said. "It's one of those deals that came together nicely over the last couple weeks, and we're running to make sure we got jerseys on our guys in time for Sunday.”

Nothing but the best.



The @OhioHealth Performance Center will serve as a dynamic facility for the #Crew96 First Team and @CrewSCAcademy. pic.twitter.com/edTI8iu2UA

— Columbus Crew SC (@ColumbusCrewSC) February 25, 2020

OhioHealth has been a partner with the Crew since 1997 and the long-term healthcare provider of the club. The name of the facility will be the OhioHealth Performance Center. Construction is expected to begin in June with the facility opening a year later.

Lyons and OhioHealth CEO Stephen Markovich declined to provide details of the contract but asserted that the partnership continued OhioHealth’s commitment to the club.

"This is a new team, new leadership, new stadium,” Markovich said. “We see that as a great opportunity.”

Lyons said during the team’s media day Tuesday that construction on the 42,000-square-foot training facility will start in June and be completed in June 2021.

According to a news release, the facility will have four fields two natural grass fields for the Crew and one natural grass and one turf field for the Crew Academy. There will also be a bubble placed over the stadium field during colder months.

The MLS team and academy will each have their own locker rooms, lounges, training and workout rooms at the facility with a full dining area and kitchen. The first team will have its own sleep and recovery room in addition to a hydrotherapy area.

The design of the facility is led by Columbus Architectural Studio with support from Moody Nolan and MKSK. Corna-Kokosing is leading the construction of the facility.

Crew president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said the OhioHealth Performance Center will give the club a competitive edge and help attract top players to the Crew, as well as giving a home to the academy, which has had to search for fields at times.

“It’s about building a facility that’s truly world class,” Bezbatchenko said.

The Crew does not control of the land where it plans to build its training facility. The club and the city of Columbus have been negotiating for months with the state panel that governs the site of the Ohio Expo Center and state fairgrounds — Ohio Expositions Commissions — to secure the land needed for the training facility and a community sports park.

Lyons said the discussions have been positive and they remain positive they will reach an agreement. Gov. Mike DeWine has said he supports the development.

The Crew is also negotiating with the Village of Obetz to sign a new lease of its current training facility that would likely run up to the opening of the OhioHealth Performance Center. The Crew and Obetz have renewed the lease month-to-month since it expired at the end of 2018.

The Crew and Acura chose not to renew a contract as primary jersey sponsor. The club has been working for months to find a sponsor.

"I think when we outlined what a successful Black & Gold week would look like heading into the 2020 season, originally we didn't imagine we would be able to make two significant announcements like this,” Lyons said. “But what a way to start off the season on a positive note.”

Season-ticket update

Bezbatchenko wasn’t sure about the expected crowd for the home opener Sunday, but he said season-ticket sales were on track to outpace last season’s number, which have not been disclosed.

Bezbatchenko said in August that the club topped 9,000 season-ticket members, including more than 3,000 new, the highest number in years. Getting over 10,000 season-ticket members is the next goal, with hopes of reaching 13,000 to 14,000 over the next couple of years.

jmyers@dispatch.com

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