Just six months after St. Louis CITY SC unveiled its name, crest and colors, the club introduced Purina as the team's first founding partner and kit sponsor, bringing together two female-led organizations, both rooted in St. Louis and committed to the continued growth and revitalization of the region.
As the club's official kit partner, Purina will be prominently featured within the fabric of St. Louis CITY's visual identity on-and-off the pitch when the club kicks off their inaugural Major League Soccer (MLS) season in 2023. While the process in perfecting a team kit that best represents the St. Louis region is still ongoing and will be revealed at a later date, CITY and Purina have already begun discussing how Purina's pet experts will help the team become the most pet-friendly club in MLS.
"Because soccer and pets both bring people together, we believe St. Louis CITY and Purina are a perfect match," said Nina Leigh Krueger, Nestlé Purina PetCare CEO and President. "Enriching the lives of pets and the people who love them is our purpose at Purina, because pets have such a unique ability to make our lives better. We are excited to work with the CITY team to create programs putting pets and sport at the center of community good."
Purina and CITY plan to bring the power of pets to soccer lovers and find new ways to deepen their involvement in the St. Louis community. Whether it's the club working with Purina's Petfinder team to host pet adoption events, promoting youth development through sport and leadership opportunities or finding new ways to bring pet-friendly elements into existing soccer traditions, the new partnership will benefit the entire community, while adding a very pet-centric dimension to the fan experience that will be uniquely CITY.
In explaining what attracted Purina to this partnership, Krueger talks about Purina and CITY SC sharing similar core values and being committed to working together to move St. Louis forward. "It goes beyond the jersey sponsorship," said Krueger. "When you look at what St. Louis CITY has already done, the investment and the vision, the partnership really makes sense for us based on our shared mission to positively impact St. Louis, now and in the future."
Purina was founded by William H. Danforth and the company has been supporting people and pets in the St. Louis region for nearly a century. Much of Purina's outreach efforts focus on bringing and keeping people and pets together, through partnerships with pet welfare organizations, as well as those that support pet owners in times of crisis, such as pet-friendly domestic violence resources and the Purina Family Pet Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Purina works with nonprofit partners to provide social services to area families and create educational and leadership opportunities for area youth. The company promotes diversity, equity and inclusion both internally and externally alongside organizations such as the Diversity Awareness Partnership, Cultural Leadership and FOCUS St. Louis.
St. Louis CITY's first sponsor announcement follows the club's record-breaking merchandise sales and season ticket deposit campaign and as the MLS expansion team continues to build its new stadium, fan pavilion, practice facility and team headquarters in St. Louis' Downtown West, just a short distance from Purina's headquarters, where the global pet-care company was founded more than a century ago. When fans come to watch the first match in 2023, they will be able to see CITY SC's kit sponsor just blocks away – a testament to the homegrown spirit of CITY SC and professional soccer in the region.
