(Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
According to Missi Matthews of Steelers.com, the Steelers and the Kraft Heinz Company on Wednesday announced a one-year extension for the stadium’s naming rights. The one-year extension will ensure the name of the Steelers and the Pitt Panthers home stadium will remain as Heinz Field through at least the 2021 season. The original 20-year agreement was to expire at the end of this season.
Heinz Ketchup is a Pittsburgh staple and after 20 years with the stadium being known as Heinz Field, it would be hard to imagine it being called something else.
Whenever stadium names are changed it all has to do with money, which is the case for the NFL and really any business.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk expects a name change after the 2021 season. Florio states that Heinz paid only $57 million for the original 20-year deal ($2.85 million annual average) and SoFi is believed to be paying $400 million for its 20-year naming rights deal with the stadium shared by the Rams and Chargers.
While it would be unusual to not see the giant ketchup bottles on top of the south end zone jumbotron anymore, these things tend to happen when it comes to naming rights deals. But for at least one more year, the stadium on the North Shore will be known as Heinz Field.