Lamar Hunt

A leading owner of pro soccer teams in both the North American Soccer League and Major League Soccer and a crucial part of American soccer’s financial backing. Hunt was one of the initial investors in both leagues and stayed with those investments through difficult times, particularly the NASL crisis of 1969. He financed the building in 1998 of the Columbus Crew Stadium, then the largest stadium ever built specifically for soccer in the United States. In 1999, the U.S. Open Cup was renamed the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in his honor. Inducted in 1982.