MAPFRE reveals stadium naming rights partnership in U.S. with MLS Team Columbus Crew SC

MAPFRE INSURANCE, the group’s U.S. subsidiary, has partnered with the Major League Soccer team Columbus Crew SC, to re-name their soccer stadium, MAPFRE Stadium. This agreement is the first of its kind for MAPFRE Insurance and serves as a milestone in strengthening its commitment to the U.S. market.

“Establishing this partnership with the Columbus Crew is a very proud moment for MAPFRE,” said Jaime Tamayo, President and CEO of MAPFRE North America.  “MAPFRE Stadium not only enhances the MAPFRE brand in the United States but also reinforces our commitment to the local Ohio market.  “At MAPFRE, we pride ourselves in being people who take care of people,” which Mr. Tamayo said, “is perfectly aligned with the Crew SC’s focus on community involvement and supporting the ideals of true sportsmanship.”

The deal enacts the re-naming of the country’s first soccer specific stadium since it opened its doors on May 15, 1999. Crew SC has played a total of 249 MLS regular-season matches at MAPFRE Stadium and hosted 11 MLS Cup Playoff matches, including the 2008 Eastern Conference Championship. [See www.mapfrestadium.us for more information on the sponsorship]

This agreement represents a milestone in MAPFRE’s expansion plans in the United States, a country with strategic importance in the global expansion of the business. The partnership with Crew SC will serve to strengthen ties to the local community as well as the MAPFRE brand.

The company is already physically present in 19 states, including Massachusetts, the headquarters of MAPFRE INSURANCE, where it has a market share of over 27%. Nationally, it is one of the top 20 automobile insurance companies; the U.S. already contributes 10% of MAPFRE’s global net income.

It recently agreed to increase its presence in the New England area by purchasing as much as $127 million of MiddleOak Insurance’s personal lines business in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

Over the next three years MAPFRE plans to expand to three other states: Illinois, Virginia and Wisconsin. Moreover, in the last few months the group has signed agreements with several commercial distributions chains on the West Coast of the US, which will make it easier to reach the Hispanic population.

As part of this growth process, MAPFRE is actively looking for new distribution networks by opening its own offices and developing associated agents, and it recently launched a new Life insurance subsidiary.

MAPFRE first started operating in the US in 1993, through MAPFRE ASISTENCIA. In the year 2000 it expanded into the reinsurance business through MAPFRE RE, and in 2008 it closed the biggest acquisition deal in its history with the purchase of The Commerce Group.