CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) and Charlotte FC announced today a multi-year agreement, designating the company as the Official Health Insurance partner for the Club, which will kick off its inaugural campaign in 2022.

Headquartered in St. Louis, MO, and currently building its East Coast Headquarters in Charlotte, Centene Corporation is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise, committed to providing accessible, high-quality services to more than 25 million members in all 50 states. By partnering with Charlotte FC, Centene further reinforces its focus in the local community, while developing a deeper relationship with new and existing soccer fans.

"We are delighted to welcome Centene Corporation into the Charlotte FC family. This partnership underscores our shared commitment to sport, health, and wellness across Charlotte and the Carolina community.  We thank Centene for their support and look forward to working together to leverage the powerful and inclusive platform of soccer to empower our communities," said Charlotte FC President Nick Kelly. "The partnership will allow our Club to further engage soccer fans, while contributing to improve people's lives through impactful community programs."

As a founding partner, Centene is deeply committed to supporting Charlotte FC's community programs, including the Centene Community Section, a new-to-market seating option at Bank of America Stadium. The Centene Community Section will provide fans with one of the most affordable season ticket membership options available. Centene's partnership will cover the cost of the Seat License and Charlotte FC will apply those fees to fund three key community programs.

"We are committed to transforming the health of the community and providing access to the best care for every person in the Carolinas. The Centene Community Section builds on this purpose, creating opportunities for all fans to access season tickets and become an essential part of the growing Charlotte FC community" said Marcela Manjarrez Hawn, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for Centene Corporation.

Through the partnership, Centene will also support the Club's investment in community programs including Greater Goals, Meals on the Move, and Pitches for Progress:  

• Greater Goals
  Through Greater Goals, Centene and Charlotte FC will enable hundreds of students at 22 local Title I elementary schools to have access to free afterschool soccer and literacy programming throughout the school year.
   
• Meals on the Move
  Centene is also making a significant commitment to address food insecurity in the greater Charlotte area through support of Charlotte FC's Meals on the Move program, which will provide family-style meals to neighborhoods in need throughout the duration of the partnership.
   
• Pitches for Progress
  For the Pitches for Progress platform, Centene will build multiple mini pitches in the Carolinas and in some of Charlotte's most at-risk neighborhoods.  The first pitch is currently under construction and will be announced next month.

In addition to supporting the Club's community platforms, Centene will also become the first sponsor featured on the sleeve of the MLS first team kits and the front of the training kits along with those of the Club's three Academy teams.

To commemorate the partnership, Centene and Charlotte FC will host a community and media event with special guests at Bank of America Stadium in November. The details will be announced in the coming weeks.

About Charlotte FC
Charlotte Football Club is bringing Major League Soccer to the Carolinas and will begin play in Uptown Charlotte in early 2022. The Club's mission is to be a unifying force that is bigger than one city and encourage a sense of belonging through a progressive, collective, and ambitious approach that guides efforts on and off the pitch. CLTFC is committed to driving growth through the sport and community outreach. Charlotte FC's home is Bank of America Stadium which is currently undergoing soccer-specific renovations totaling $50 million. These updates will provide an elite venue for MLS matches and a unique experience for players and fans. Charlotte FC is owned by David Tepper and is a part of Tepper Sports & Entertainment, which also includes Bank of America Stadium and the Carolina Panthers. For more information, visit CharlotteFootballClub.com.

About Centene Corporation
Centene Corporation, a Fortune 25 company, is a leading multi-national healthcare enterprise that is committed to helping people live healthier lives. The Company takes a local approach – with local brands and local teams – to provide fully integrated, high-quality, and cost-effective services to government-sponsored and commercial healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals. Centene offers affordable and high-quality products to nearly 1 in 15 individuals across the nation, including Medicaid and Medicare members (including Medicare Prescription Drug Plans) as well as individuals and families served by the Health Insurance Marketplace, the TRICARE program, and individuals in correctional facilities. The Company also serves several international markets, and contracts with other healthcare and commercial organizations to provide a variety of specialty services focused on treating the whole person. Centene focuses on long-term growth and the development of its people, systems and capabilities so that it can better serve its members, providers, local communities, and government partners.

Centene uses its investor relations website to publish important information about the Company, including information that may be deemed material to investors. Financial and other information about Centene is routinely posted and is accessible on Centene's investor relations website, https://investors.centene.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements
All statements, other than statements of current or historical fact, contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, forward-looking statements often use words such as "believe," "anticipate," "plan," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "seek," "target," "goal," "may," "will," "would," "could," "should," "can," "continue" and other similar words or expressions (and the negative thereof). Centene (the Company, our, or we) intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe-harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and we are including this statement for purposes of complying with these safe-harbor provisions. In particular, these statements include, without limitation, statements about our future operating or financial performance, market opportunity, growth strategy, competition, expected activities in completed and future acquisitions, including statements about the impact of our proposed acquisition of Magellan Health (the Magellan Acquisition), our completed acquisition of WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (WellCare and such acquisition, the WellCare Acquisition), other recent and future acquisitions, investments, the adequacy of our available cash resources and our settlements with Ohio and Mississippi to resolve claims and/or allegations made by those states with regard to past practices at Envolve Pharmacy Solutions, Inc. (Envolve), as our pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) subsidiary, and other possible future claims and settlements related to the past practices at Envolve and our ability to settle claims with other states within the reserve estimate we have recorded and on other acceptable terms, or at all. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on numerous assumptions and assessments made by us in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, business strategies, operating environments, future developments and other factors we believe appropriate. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are subject to change because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future, including economic, regulatory, competitive and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based on information available to us on the date hereof. Except as may be otherwise required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date hereof. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, as actual results may differ materially from projections, estimates, or other forward-looking statements due to a variety of important factors, variables and events including, but not limited to: the impact of COVID-19 on global markets, economic conditions, the healthcare industry and our results of operations and the response by governments and other third parties; the risk that regulatory or other approvals required for the Magellan Acquisition may be delayed or not obtained or are subject to unanticipated conditions that could require the exertion of management's time and our resources or otherwise have an adverse effect on us; the possibility that certain conditions to the consummation of the Magellan Acquisition will not be satisfied or completed on a timely basis and accordingly, the Magellan Acquisition may not be consummated on a timely basis or at all; uncertainty as to the expected financial performance of the combined company following completion of the Magellan Acquisition; the possibility that the expected synergies and value creation from the Magellan Acquisition or the WellCare Acquisition (or other acquired businesses) will not be realized, or will not be realized within the respective expected time periods; the risk that unexpected costs will be incurred in connection with the completion and/or integration of the Magellan Acquisition or that the integration of Magellan Health will be more difficult or time consuming than expected; the risk that potential litigation in connection with the Magellan Acquisition may affect the timing or occurrence of the Magellan Acquisition or result in significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability; a downgrade of the credit rating of our indebtedness; the inability to retain key personnel; disruption from the announcement, pendency, completion and/or integration of the Magellan Acquisition or from the integration of the WellCare Acquisition, or similar risks from other acquisitions we may announce or complete from time to time, including potential adverse reactions or changes to business relationships with customers, employees, suppliers or regulators, making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; our ability to accurately predict and effectively manage health benefits and other operating expenses and reserves, including fluctuations in medical utilization rates due to the impact of COVID-19; competition; membership and revenue declines or unexpected trends; changes in healthcare practices, new technologies and advances in medicine; increased healthcare costs; changes in economic, political or market conditions; changes in federal or state laws or regulations, including changes with respect to income tax reform or government healthcare programs as well as changes with respect to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act (collectively referred to as the ACA) and any regulations enacted thereunder that may result from changing political conditions, the new administration or judicial actions; rate cuts or other payment reductions or delays by governmental payors and other risks and uncertainties affecting our government businesses; our ability to adequately price products; tax matters; disasters or major epidemics; changes in expected contract start dates; provider, state, federal, foreign and other contract changes and timing of regulatory approval of contracts; the expiration, suspension, or termination of our contracts with federal or state governments (including, but not limited to, Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE or other customers); the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of legal or regulatory proceedings or matters, including claims against our PBM business or whether additional claims, reviews or investigations relating to our PBM business will be brought by states, the federal government or shareholder litigants, or government investigations; challenges to our contract awards; cyber-attacks or other privacy or data security incidents; the exertion of management's time and our resources, and other expenses incurred and business changes required in connection with complying with the undertakings in connection with any regulatory, governmental or third party consents or approvals for acquisitions, including the Magellan Acquisition; disruption caused by significant completed and pending acquisitions making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; the risk that unexpected costs will be incurred in connection with the completion and/or integration of acquisition transactions; changes in expected closing dates, estimated purchase price and accretion for acquisitions; the risk that acquired businesses will not be integrated successfully; restrictions and limitations in connection with our indebtedness; our ability to maintain or achieve improvement in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Star ratings and maintain or achieve improvement in other quality scores in each case that can impact revenue and future growth; availability of debt and equity financing, on terms that are favorable to us; inflation; foreign currency fluctuations and risks and uncertainties discussed in the reports that Centene has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This list of important factors is not intended to be exhaustive. We discuss certain of these matters more fully, as well as certain other factors that may affect our business operations, financial condition and results of operations, in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. Due to these important factors and risks, we cannot give assurances with respect to our future performance, including without limitation our ability to maintain adequate premium levels or our ability to control our future medical and selling, general and administrative costs.

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SOURCE Centene Corporation