The St. Louis City SC will be playing its home games at the newly named Centene Stadium.
The Clayton-based health care organization that provides managed care for Medicaid recipients has signed a deal for naming rights at the 22,500-seat stadium, which will be completed this year. Centene officials did not disclose the financial details of the deal but said it lasts 15 years.
“Together, Centene and St. Louis City SC share the goal of revitalizing the St. Louis region and dedicating resources and sustained programming to serve our community,” said Marcela Manjarrez, the company’s executive vice president and chief communications officer.
The stadium at Market and 20th streets is the latest St. Louis facility that Centene has gained the naming rights for. The others include the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, which opened in 2019. The rink is the practice facility for the St. Louis Blues.
Centene officials said the partnership would help it attract talent to the St. Louis region and nationwide.
“This is really a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” said Suzy DePrizio, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Centene. “Given the scale and the visibility of this partnership, it's a great opportunity for us to build our brand and build national awareness in our brand, both in terms of reaching and recruiting new members nationwide, and also for us to be able to recruit employees nationwide as well.”
The partnership also allows the organizations to partner on health and wellness programs throughout the St. Louis area, St. Louis City SC Vice President of Community Relations Khalia Collier said.
“Health and wellness is one of our core pillars at the club, and we're so excited to be able to team with Centene,” Collier said. “It's not just about soccer for us, it's really integrating a holistic model to bring to life sustainable programming.”
The naming rights deal is the most recent development for the club. Last month, club officials announced that former South African soccer player Bradley Carnell will serve as head coach. Carnell was an assistant coach for the New York Red Bulls and was interim coach during part of the 2020 season.
Minneapolis-based architecture firm Snow Kreilich Architects is designing the stadium with St. Louis-based HOK.
Follow Chad on Twitter: @iamcdavis
