Saturday night was a record-setting night at MAPFRE Stadium. With more than 22,719 spectators in attendance, the home of Columbus Crew SC hosted the largest single-match crowd since the stage was built on the north side of the venue ahead of the 2008 campaign.
Since the stage was added to MAPFRE Stadium, the largest crowd for a Crew SC match was 22,685 versus the LA Galaxy on October 4, 2008. In order to meet supporter demand, the Black & Gold had expanded capacity for its match against the Portland Timbers, adding nearly 2,000 seats.
“The over-capacity crowd for the Portland match was record-setting and is a strong signal that our supporters are taking us in the right direction,” Crew SC President of Business Operations, Andy Loughnane, says. “This is another milestone for our supporters to take great pride in establishing.”
Speaking of milestones, Crew SC reached a second one on Saturday. For the first time ever, the club sold out three consecutive home matches. MAPFRE Stadium previously hosted sellout crowds in the Black & Gold’s matches against Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas. In all, the stadium has sold out five times this season, tying a single-season sellout record set one year ago.
“The expansion of our relevance and spike in popularity has been recognizable across the past few seasons and we remain confident that our future is bright,” Loughnane says. “Our objective is to sell out each match and give our team as much confidence, adrenalin and momentum as we possibly can to strengthen our home field advantage.”
Columbus has one regular season home match remaining. On October 25 Crew SC will host D.C. United and have the chance to set a new club record for single-season sellouts. Help make it happen and get your tickets here.
