PITTSBURGH — The Heinz Red Zone will remain at Acrisure Stadium. And one of the ketchup bottles could be returning as well.
Kraft Heinz and the Pittsburgh Steelers have reached a verbal agreement on a new five-year deal that will maintain the global food giant's presence at the North Shore stadium even after it lost a naming rights battle to Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Acrisure.
"We're happy to say we're going to continue to work with Heinz. Heinz is going to continue to be a corporate partner of ours," Ryan Huzjak, the Steelers vice president of sales and marketing, said Thursday.
He declined to release financial terms.
As part of the deal, Kraft Heinz will continue to sponsor the Heinz Red Zone, as it is called when the Steelers get to the opponent's 20-yard line near the end zone.
In the past, when the Steelers got that far, two giant Ketchup bottles flanking each side of the main scoreboard would tilt as if pouring. While the bottles have already been removed in the deal with Acrisure, Mr. Huzjak said there would still be some digital replication on the scoreboard.
Not only that, one of the fiberglass bottles could be returning as part of a Kraft Heinz display to be located elsewhere in the stadium under the new agreement with the ketchup maker.
"There's a lot that needs to be covered in terms of detail but we're working on an opportunity where we can have a bottle visible at the stadium," Mr. Huzjak said.
"There are some challenges because the bottles are old and the materials provide some challenges. But we're hopeful to have them on display in a Heinz-sponsored area so the fans can continue to sort of enjoy the history of the building and enjoy that aspect of it."
Kraft Heinz, which got its start in Pittsburgh as H.J. Heinz more than a century ago, also will have some signage within the stadium as part of the deal.
In addition, the Steelers are planning to collaborate with Kraft Heinz, which now has co-headquarters in Pittsburgh and Chicago, on possibly some branded concessions stands.
While details are still being worked out, "the idea would be that we would feature some Kraft Heinz products at a concession stand that's sort of branded as such," Mr. Huzjak said.
"We're hopeful to come up with some cool concepts that will enhance the concessions offering," he said.
Kraft Heinz, then H.J. Heinz, paid $57 million for the stadium naming rights as part of a 20-year deal reached before the venue opened in 2001. The agreement was extended for one year for the 2021 season.
In losing the naming rights to Acrisure earlier this month, Kraft Heinz indicated that it had been outbid by the fintech company. But it also stated at the time that it intended to remain as a significant, long-term sponsor of the Steelers.
Mr. Huzjak stressed that the Steelers were very interested in maintaining the company's presence at the stadium even though they found a new naming rights partner in Acrisure.
"We've really enjoyed our relationship with Heinz. They've been a great partner. It's really important to us that we maintain that relationship and we're very interested in continuing the relationship," he said.
"So we're excited to continue to work with them and excited to work on some new things with them. We think what we end up doing moving forward will be beneficial to Heinz and to our fans."
Kraft Heinz officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The new naming rights deal with Acrisure will run for 15 years. Although financial terms have not been divulged, the agreement is believed to be worth at least $10 million a year — far above the $2.85 million Kraft Heinz paid under its first deal with the Steelers.
Nonetheless, the new deal involving a little-known company has rankled some Steelers fans who have vowed to always call it Heinz Field.
