COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Crew SC announced a rebrand for the club on Monday, but not everyone is on board with the update.
The team will now be named, Columbus SC.
David Miller, a Save the Crew leadership member, said when he first saw the new logo, he felt sick.
“People around the world know the Crew as the Columbus Crew and to drop the Crew from the official name, is just terribly sad,” Miller said.
Save the Crew is a grassroots organization that fought to keep the Columbus Crew SC here in Columbus, instead of relocating to Austin, Texas.
Miller feels the fans and community have done a lot to build up the team and to not be asked for feedback on a decision like this is, “disrespectful.” Miller also feels a change like this shouldn’t come six months after winning a championship and before a new stadium.
“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,” Miller said.
Darby Schaaf is also a longtime fan, a season ticket holder since 2015, and a Save the Crew member. He says, when the announcement first came out, it caught him off guard.
“Especially coming on the heels of a jersey that a lot of fans were pretty unhappy with because it, it basically got rid of yellow as a color, it’s kind of a one two punch to some of those die-hard fans who have really grown to embrace that identity and concept,” Schaaf said.
Schaaf too feels that, for a number of years, the community has fought hard for the Crew and the name and look are more than just that; They’re part of history.
“While a logo isn’t everything to a team, it’s certainly not nothing," said Schaaf. "Players come and go in this league and coaches come and go, as we saw recently, owners come and go. One thing that stays constant for a team is that identity that the fans connect to."
Another group voicing their opinions on this change is the Yellow Nation Army. A group that started back in 2010 with men dressing up in yellow spandex to bring fun, positive, energy into the stadium.
“I feel like a lot of people are looking at this as just a logo and not understanding the history, especially recent history that’s gone on with Save the Crew and what it means to a lot of us to have a trustworthy foundation with a new ownership,” said one of the members, Joey Dinapoli.
He feels that’s being tested right now, the trust isn’t broken but it’s, in his words, heading down a path that is concerning.