COLUMBUS, Ohio — The owners of the Columbus Soccer Club are responding to community uproar over a recent rebranding of the club.
The rebranding was officially announced Monday, when the organization said it will be known as Columbus SC while keeping Crew as a nickname. The change also came with a new set of logos.
The announcement quickly drew criticism from long-time fans of the team.
In a joint statement released Wednesday, Crew Investor Operators Dee and Jimmy Haslam, along with Whitney and JW Johnson, and Dr. Pete Edwards responded to the criticism, saying in part, "this process was not aligned with how we intend to operate."
The statement goes on to say fan feedback was not "incorporated enough" into the rebranding process, and that owners are committed to investing in the fan experience, adding their focus will now turn to "moving forward together."
Following Monday's announcement, 10TV spoke with several fans, some of whom described the decision to rebrand without first gathering feedback as "disrespectful."
“You don’t want to open a new stadium in July and have a large portion of your fans mad at you, not wanting to spend money on merchandise with this new logo,” said David Miller, leadership member for Save the Crew.
You can read the full response from the Columbus SC owners below:
“We have consistently appreciated, respected, and embraced our Supporters. We value their passion and loyalty to the Crew, and clearly, this process was not aligned with how we intend to operate. The feedback from representatives of the Nordecke was not elevated and discussed at the appropriate level or incorporated enough into our process. We have been and will continue to be committed and excited about investing in the Crew, its players, and our fan experience so that we best represent the Columbus community. Our dedication to winning championships, taking great care of our fans, and giving back to the community will remain our steadfast focus. At the same time, we will turn our focus to creating substantive and meaningful dialogue with the Nordecke on moving forward together.”
