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Crew to unveil new brand and logo on Oct. 8

FedericoHiguainColumbusCrew2-TorontoFCMLS2014 (USATodaySportsImages)

Photo by USA Today Sports Images

By DAN KARELL

The Columbus Crew’s foray into the future will begin before the end of the 2014 Major League Soccer season.

In an email sent out to fans, the Crew announced that they will be revealing their new brand and logo design at an event on Oct. 8. The announcement invites the fans to save the date, and will likely be similar to their jersey release last March, where fans were able to attend the ceremony.

The news comes just four days after the club hired a new president of business operations, Andy Loughnane, who will work under Crew chairman Anthony Precourt and alongside head coach Gregg Berhalter.

Precourt mentioned in multiple interviews during the last offseason that the Crew would have a new logo and would be re-branded ahead of the 2015 season, though since the current MLS season began, Precourt had shied away from stating when the new logo and brand would be announced.

The Crew are expected to announce more details about where the ceremony will be held in the coming days.

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What do you think of this news? Excited to hear that the Crew’s new logo will be out before the end of the season? Sad to see the current design and brand go?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Columbus is named after Christopher Columbus whose “team” was his crew of sailors.

    Columbus Crew is a fitting team sports name for the city.

    Just get rid of the construction crew visual brand which makes no sense in this context.

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  2. I’m pretty sure I remember shortly after Precourt took over, he mentioned changing the Crest/Logo but answered the question at that same press conference saying the name and the colors would remain the same.

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  3. The logo is the only thing that needs to change. It looks like an MS paint design project done in a high school computer lab.

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  4. Changing your name and colors or “re-branding” is never a good sign. The Yankees and Coca-Cola have never changed their logo and they still seem to be popular. I didn’t really follow MLS 10 years ago but seeing as they had the first SSS and were known as a class franchise it’s not a good sign for MLS that they couldn’t sustain that. Not every team in a sports league is going to be good, it’s your classic zero-sum game, the test of a great league is if even the mediocre or bad teams still draw fans, just like the NFL as EPL.

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    • Arsenal changed their crest not too long ago. A very storied club w excellent brand equity didn’t think it was the worst idea.

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    • funny you say that:
      http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/Coca-Cola

      Is it “Coca-Cola” or “Coke?” And perhaps you were too young for New Coke.

      The Yankees have alternated between the NY initials and a cursive Yankees.

      But defending a dumb name on some sort of “tradition” theory is misguided. Like I said above, bland and European would at least be non-laughable, and an actual decent name would be great. Moving beyond the “Clash” didn’t ruin SJ, nor did the end of the Wiz/Wizards hurt KC. Sporting KC may be the shallow end of the bland name pool but it’s better than the rainbow days.

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      • You make fun of SJ Clash and KC Wizards now but I’m sure in 20 years one or both of those teams will return to its roots and go back to their original name as the Sporting or FC brand that is the name du jour goes out of style.
        Look at the number of NBA and MLB teams that are now going back to their “old school” roots as the rebrands of the 80s and 90s go out of style. See the Houston Astros and Golden St Warriors to name a few. The name and colors don’t make a team, the fans do and only the fickle ones care about the color or logo.

  5. They really need to change the name, it is offensive to the native Americans who were killed by Columbus. I suggest Ohio crew.

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  6. to be honest, crew stadium looks my high school stadium and thats very sad. they need a new stadium and in addition, your team name is very cheesy. I also dont want to be rude but crew stadium doesn’t have much history, if you count the national team will kinda of but for the crew?
    in reality it wasnt the first soccer stadium, its too difficult to claim that. you have rochester rhinos stadium as well for soccer.
    keep the colors, make crew the nickname, get a new stadium and if not, remodel crew stadium like soldier field.
    but if crew stadium gets remodel, thence why not galaxy, dallas stadium and even rapids.

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    • It must be shrimp season, cecause you’re trolling like a champ…

      Columbus Crew stadium was opened in 1999, the first soccer specific stadium for a team in MLS (the USA’s first division). It may not be perfect, but it is a nice home for the team and serves its purpose well. If Crew stadium has no history, then neither can any soccer stadium in MLS.

      Rodchester Rhinos? Please, Sahlen stadium opened 7 years after Crew Stadium. You should try reading, its awesome!

      If they change the name, fine. But if you want to criticise the team for something legitimate, then discuss their asinine tv contract. You act like the whole thing needs to be blown up and rebuilt from the ashes, which could not be further from the truth.

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    • NASL to El Paso TX,

      Dude,…this is the worst post ever on SBI. Incoherent.

      First and foremost,…how do you spell doom for El Tri? Crew Stadium. Second,…it is a huge insult to Lamar Hunt and the US soccer community to say that Crew Stadium has no history. I remember watching a classy Crew team win the Supporters Shield and the MLS Cup. No history?

      Ignorance is bliss.

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      • Brian – that is a bit harsh, NASL to El Paso has had some really bad and incoherent posts throughout the year, usually combined with 3 or 4 smiley faces. Since this post lacks ronaldinho coming to mls old and fat and emoticons I find it hard to call it the worst ever post on SBI or even his worst post ever.

  7. Honestly,

    I always liked the Columbus Crew. It seems every other team has some blue or red colored uniforms. The crew are Unique along with a few others.

    I hope they keep the colors.

    …The Revolution need to rebrand next. Everything about theyre team is boring including the crest and name.

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    • I agree on the color scheme and sending out a yellow and black invitation to the rebrand suggests that much will continue. One could also read into the invite coming from the “Columbus Crew” that the name will still be around as at least part of any new name. But I’m more sure about the color scheme. If they wanted to hide the colors because they were being changed they’d have sent out black text on a white background, normal typeface.

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  8. Are Crew fans really disappointed that the Village People logo is disappearing? Not a Crew fan, but glad I got a Crew scarf for historical and memorabilia purposes.

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  9. Understood that too. I have a feeling it will probably be changed slightly to Columbus crew
    FC. Which would be awful, we are not FC in USA.

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    • Easily one of my biggest pet peeves in the US. Why are we ashamed to call something SC? Or just abandon the “club” aspect all together. MLS will be judged by quality of soccer, not by conforming to naming. It’s ok to keep part of our identity when growing soccer in the US. Rant over.

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      • Many A-League, J-League, and K-League teams have official nicknames. It’s not strictly American, nor is imitation of Europe requisite. Even subtle changes like Houston Dynamo and not Dynamo Houston can be helpful.

      • Similarly, I hate-hate-hate the pseudo-European affectation of treating singular groups as plural, like “New England are the worst-run franchise in MLS.” This website is occasionally an offender, and it’s simply not how American English works. It sounds pretentious. Stop doing it.

      • I am American as they come and I prefer to call ‘soccer’ by football which it is. Soccer is a stupid acronym.

      • Italians call it calcio and don’t seem to have an inferiority complex about it.
        It would be
        awesome to refer to it only as football and needlessly confuse most of the American public every time you mention it though.

    • FC names poll well though with American soccer fans. Do you think MLS clubs just willy nilly attach FC to their brands? No..they do market research. And the market research tells them that FC is popular and good for their brand.

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    • My two cents, the pecking order is Timbers > FC Anything > Clash/Fusion/Burn/etc, A vanilla name is better than a bad one but a missed opportunity for a good one.

      Milquetoast FC would be better the Crew but less than something a good advertising company could come up with.

      FWIW, European teams often have official mascots and unofficial nicknames, so the idea that we have to go totally bland and avoid “names” is holier than the pope again. Tottenham is “Spurs,” ManU are the Red Devils. Some are poorly thought out: Fulham’s Billy Badger. Teams rebrand there too.

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      • +1 Great take… I think I actually agree with this 100%…Milquetoast FC is probably the best name I’ve ever heard.

    • Who cares if we use so-called Euro-centric name like FC, AC, AS, CF, IK,Vfb, US, etc.? As long as they play better and win titles, then fine by me.

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  10. Aren’t I correct in saying the name “Crew” and colors will still stand??? I thought that’s what I hear. I hope that’s the case. The name is unique and its a ’96 MLS original. But that logo/crest……………… That needed to go 10-12 yrs. ago. Nonetheless, I am liking the direction Precourt has taken since he bought the Crew.

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