Photo: Earl Gardner
Goodbye, Talen Energy Stadium. Hello, Subaru Park.
Philadelphia Union, accompanied by MLS commissioner Don Garber, announced the new name of their home field during a press conference on Tuesday morning.
Union owner Jay Sugarman was joined by the President and CEO of Subaru Thomas J. Doll for the announcement. This marks the automotive company’s first partnership with a major league sports team.
“Today is the start of a historic new chapter for the Philadelphia Union, both with the inauguration of our 2020 season at Subaru Park and in the official beginning of our relationship with Subaru of America, a partner that shares in our vision for a better future for our fans and surrounding community,” said Union president Tim McDermott. “Subaru of America has consistently exemplified a passionate commitment to the community and bringing people together, which is a core value upon which our club was founded. We are committed to working hand-in-hand to give back and create a better world for our fans and the people of the Greater Philadelphia area.”
“This partnership extends the reach of our commitments to improve the lives of people in our community. Subaru of America, along with our retailers and the Philadelphia Union, will develop community programs that will directly tie to our Subaru Love Promise initiatives,” said Doll.
The Subaru Love Promise initiatives will also feature in some new additions to the newly-coined Subaru Park, with pet adoptions and youth soccer centers in the Tunnel Club, which underwent a soft opening toward the end of last season.
A new video board is also part of the package, nearly tripling the size of the current board opposite the River End. New parking lots are also being added, and there will — aptly — be some free parking available in Lot B for early arriving Subaru owners.
This isn’t the first time the Union’s home field has reinvented itself. The stadium was originally called PPL Park, a name which lasted from construction until the initial name change in 2015.
The multi-year deal should last a bit longer than the previous deal.
Now, the only thing left to do is figure out the stadium’s new nickname.
All right, now what about the surrounding campus deal?
The next logical announcement is free parking for Subarus.
Its right there near the end : “New parking lots are also being added, and they’ll aptly be some free parking available for early arriving Subaru owners”
Is Lot A paved? It was partially paved as of the playoff game last year and I am just looking for some confirmation. Anyone know?
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Also… totally digging Subaru Park. Well done. Now maybe a short sponsor next time around?
I don’t know if it’s been fully paved as of yet.
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I do know that they have made Lot A STH only,
and that it is sold out already by Season Parking Passes.
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So unless you got yourself a pass, it may be a moot point.
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Oh yeah, and don’t expect to bring any non-STH, Lot A Season Parking Pass Holders with you if you do.
Interesting. I do have a pass. I’ve been parking there since the first game. I am assuming it is pass only parking then? Maybe they sold half the lot to the giant trucks that park on the outskirts of the lot or something. I don’t think I like the idea of pass only… assuming that’s what it is. I’ll have to contact my ticket person and see what’s up. Appreciate the info
I used to get a yearly pass for Lot A, but switched to using cash the last few years, to account for the weeks I couldn’t make a match.
By the time I heard about Lot A as STH passholders, only, they were sold out and I scrambled to buy one for the new Lot J.
The nickname is easy. It is now the S’Park. And that opens lots of spinoffs. The substitute of the game can be a S’Park Plug. The ball kids can be S’Parklers. And when the team runs well at home and miserably on the road — think the current 6ers — we can say that the team is S’Parky.
Sounds like a healthy and typical process without drama and without Bimbo-like baggage. Nice job for the Front Office.
Sooob Park!
Should the amenities fail to impress, and/ or home results revert to the mean of their existence, “the Sub-Par” might prove pithy.
Would have liked Subaru on the Jerseys. Oh well. Glad to see Subaru buying into the league.
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And yeah…. Still would like to see some money go into development around the stadium, too.
What type of development would you like to see? Where should it be located? My hats of to the fellas who opened that brewery right by the park.
Personally I’d rather see some trophies in a case first. Win something and maybe the developers come in. Maybe…
Only one more name change needed to rival the Flyers/Sixers and the amphitheater in Camden. Naming rights are one thing, constantly changing is another.
Who cares. Money is money.
SUBARU: NOW SPONSOR THE JERSEYS! Now THAT would get me buying jerseys again
Subie Park!!
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*starts doing donuts*
Of all the tings the Union shold be spending money on is a new video board one of them?
“A new video board is also *part of the package*”
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Sounds like Subaru footed the bill as part of the deal.
same thime more or less just with a rephrased question.
And I assumemost of the space the new video board will be Subaru branding anyway.
While the new scoreboard is going to be, I think, roughly the same size, the amount of “video” space available should be substantially larger. Cf. this tweet from a Union video person: https://twitter.com/CarlMandell/status/1229839466954739712
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Personally, I’ve always thought that the size / quality of the old board was subpar. It sounds like this will be a substantial upgrade.
From here: https://www.prosoccerusa.com/mls/philadelphia-union/hold-philadelphia-union-subaru-agree-to-stadium-naming-rights-deal/
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“The video screen will be 109 feet by 32 feet with a square footage of 3,440, and it will be the first HDR-compatible board used in a Philadelphia sports stadium.”
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By the looks of it, they got rid of the advertisement blocks on each side. My concern is how much of the new video screen will be set aside for advertisement space.
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Larger video screen doesn’t guarantee larger in game video being played.
Suba-Doop Park anyone?
This is good! Subaru is a great company! And they really like to work in the community. Sorry I won’t be buying a Subaru to get free parking tho!
Subarunion……heh