Pep Guardiola comes up against his former assistant Enzo Maresca on Saturday in a 22:30 (UK) kick-off at Ohio Stadium.
Ahead of the final game of our trip stateside, we bring you some facts about the venue.
HISTORY
Ohio Stadium was built in October 1922 at a cost of $1.3 million and boasted a seating capacity of 66,210.
The first game in the stadium, against Ohio Wesleyan University, later that month attracted a crowd of around 25,000, which concerned patrons.
However, the stadium’s formal dedication against Michigan drew a crowd of 72,000.
ATHLETIC PROWESS
A cinder track was built around the football field in 1923 – and this would later be named after Olympian and Ohio State athlete Jesse Owens.
His four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics made him one of the faces of the 20th century.
When the 1985 Jesse Owens Classic was held in the stadium, 38 Olympians competed.
The track was removed during the 1998-2001 renovations but the 10,000 capacity Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, on the site, was opened in 2001.
HOME GROUND
Ohio Stadium, located on the campus of Ohio State University, is the home venue for the Ohio State Buckeyes American Football team.
MLS side Colombus Crew also called it home between 1996 and 1998 before the opening of Columbus Crew Stadium in 1999.
The field at Ohio Stadium was the smallest in the MLS, measuring only 62 yards wide by 106 yards long.
MUSIC LEGENDS
Ohio Stadium has played host to a host of music legends.
The first band to perform there was Pink Floyd in May 1988 as part of their ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’ tour while four years later, Genesis took to the stage for their ‘We Can’t Dance’ tour.
Pink Floyd returned again in 1994 as well as Billy Joel and Elton John.
U2’s ‘PopMart’ arrived in town in 1997, along with support band Fun Lovin Criminals while the Rolling Stones and their ‘Bridges to Babylon’ tour landed later that year.
More recently, Metallica, One Direction, Taylor Swift and Beyonce and Jay-Z have wowed the crowds in Ohio Stadium.
FOOTBALL FIRST
Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain faced each other at Ohio Stadium in 2016.
The International Champions Cup match, which boasted a crowd of 86,641, was won 3-1 by PSG.
Jonathan Ikone opened the scoring on two minutes followed by a brace from Thomas Meunier before the break. Marcelo bagged Madrid’s consolation from the penalty spot shortly after the restart.
NICKNAME
Nicknames for the stadium include ‘The Horseshoe’, ‘The Shoe’ and ‘The House That Harley Built’.
The most common is ‘The Horseshoe’ because of the ground’s shape, which came into being because architect Howard Dwight Smith wanted to give every fan a great view of the field.
The Harley reference points to Charles “Chic” Harley, who became the first three-time All-American for the Buckeyes.
GRAND DESIGN
Ohio Stadium is ranked in the top 10 largest sports stadiums in the world courtesy of its capacity of 102,780.
It’s also the third largest on-campus facility in the USA, behind only Michigan Stadium (107,601) and Pennsylvania’s Beaver Stadium (106,572).
The ground’s largest-ever attendance was 110,045 in 2016 for a Buckeyes clash with Michigan.
GOLFING GREAT
Jesse Owens isn’t the only sporting icon to be honoured on the campus.
It also houses ‘The Jack Nicklaus Museum’, which honours the world’s most successful golfer of all-time - Jack Nicklaus - in his hometown of Columbus.
The museum, opened in 2002, looks at the career of the 18-major championship legend and houses three theatres and a golf shop.
GOOD NIGHT
Renovations to Ohio Stadium in 2014 raised the capacity to 104,851 but also included permanent lights to the northeast and southeast corners of the ground.
Before that, Ohio Stadium did not have permanent lights, making night games extremely rare.
In fact, there were only 14 before 2014 - the first taking place in 1985, when the Buckeyes defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers 10–7.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Ohio Stadium is listed in the ‘National Registry of Historic Places’.
It was added in 1974.
It is the US federal government’s official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or ‘great artistic value’.
USA TOUR 2024
Our final pre-season clash against Chelsea is available to watch on CITY+ in the following regions:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vietnam
And if purchasing CITY+ via the Man City App on iOS: Albania, Armenia, Cambodia, Georgia, Iceland, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
For fans outside of the countries named, we will have a full explainer article on how to watch each match coming in due course.
To access these matches from one of the locations listed above, you will need an active CITY+ subscription.
CITY+ is available via an annual subscription of £34.99 a year, saving you £24 on our monthly offering.
Choose monthly and pay £4.99 a month with the option to cancel anytime.
Official Cityzens and Season Ticket Members can subscribe annually for £30 a year, a saving of £29.
*Tour matches will not be available to watch on our TV app.
