The St. Louis CityPark soccer stadium was renamed Energizer Park

ST. LOUIS – The soccer stadium known as CityPark will have a new name for the upcoming season.

And it has local flair: Energizer Park.

Officials with St. Louis City SC and Energizer Holdings announced Thursday that the St. Louis County-based battery maker has acquired the naming rights to the 22,500-seat stadium on Market Street near Union Station downtown. The new name will be introduced in 2025 and will be painted on the roof of the stadium.

“The atmosphere here is second to none,” said Mark LaVigne, president and CEO of Energizer Holdings, during the media event at Energizer Park. “We want to put more of a spotlight on St. Louis.”

Pink fireworks erupted after City SC CEO Carolyn Kindle and LaVigne, wearing City SC and Energizer-branded soccer scarves, unveiled the name during a celebration full of energy and power puns. Over a hundred Energizer employees were in the stands cheering along with club president and general manager Diego Gigliani and City SC players such as Rasmus Alm and Indiana Vassilev.

“We will fully embrace the word 'energy,'” Gigliani said.

Energizer joins a number of local companies that are St. Louis City SC sponsors, including Nestlé Purina PetCare and Anheuser-Busch. In addition to the naming rights, there will be a new premium area in the stadium, details of which will be announced later.

Kindle said the ownership group has sought to integrate the local business community into the operation as part of the team's broader goal of increasing civic pride and investment. She hinted at possible future development around the stadium, adding that she would like to see a variety of “experiences” that add density while “properly” complementing Energizer Park.

“Our goal from the beginning has been to drive change in this region,” Kindle said.

The stadium has been known as CityPark since the team's first season in 2023 – after healthcare giant Centene Corp. backed out of a 15-year contract to name the venue Centene Stadium.

Officials declined Thursday to disclose how long the deal will last and how much Energizer paid for the deal. A previous estimate ranged from $3 million to $5 million.

Energizer was founded over 100 years ago and is best known for its eponymous battery brand as well as the Eveready and Rayovac brands.

LaVigne said after the announcement that Energizer has been a “quiet company” in the St. Louis community and that it is now looking to play a larger role in the region's urban renewal.

“It’s time to invest in St. Louis,” he said.

The company will move its headquarters from Town & Country to Clayton next week. The company employs 400 people locally and 5,000 people worldwide, the company said in a statement.

Corporate sponsorship was a key part of St. Louis' campaign to attract an MLS expansion team. They assured the league and other owners that the region could support a team, commissioner Don Garber said in 2019.

However, even after Centene terminated his contract, the team experienced little backlash from fans and sold out 34 consecutive home games.