Club Rebranding
Contents
‘For Columbus’ Kits
Crew Unveils "For Columbus" Kit
City of Columbus | February 11, 2016 At Columbus City Hall, Columbus Crew SC unveiled its new “For Columbus” kit in a special event featuring Crew SC Investor-Operator and Chairman Anthony Precourt, Mayor of Columbus Andrew J. Ginther, Columbus City Councilwoman Jaiza Page, Crew SC Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, Crew SC President of Business Operations Andy Loughnane and select Black & Gold players.
Video 2:19 - 2:54 “The future of this club is brighter than ever under the leadership of Anthony Precourt and his commitment to Crew SC and to Columbus. It’s important, one of the first things that former Mayor Coleman and I talked with Anthony about was his commitment to Columbus and to this club. And I think his actions, his investment, his commitment speaks much louder than words. And we are so fortunate to have an owner and a leader with civic mindedness that Anthony brings.” - Columbus Mayor Andy Ginther Source YouTube
Video 4:24 - 4:56 “One of my priorities taking over as stewardship of Columbus Crew SC in 2013 was to make a strong connection to the City of Columbus. In 2014 we rebranded the team and put the city’s name into the badge. It also made being authentically Columbus a key part of our brand mission. After living out our brand for more than a year, we are excited to take an innovative step today and connect our club even closer to the city. While we’ll always be the Black and Gold, I’m proud to share our one-of-a-kind ‘For Columbus’ jerseys” - Anthony Precourt Source YouTube
Video 6:20 - 7:08 “The colors of our kit are inspired by the flag of Columbus. On the front of the jerseys, down in the midsection, is the actual city flag. And in the neck tape of the jersey there are 17 stars which represent the stars on the city crest and Ohio being the 17th state of the union. And one of my personal favorite features is that inside the jersey, behind the Crew SC badge, is a city of Columbus crest, right over the hearts of the players that they’ll wear as they step out on the pitch. This year we play for Columbus. For Columbus is our pitch.” - Anthony Precourt Source YouTube
City and Club Together as One: Is that a continuing vision or a buzzword?
By Massive Report | August 23, 2016
"With the rebrand, it was about being authentically Columbus. It was putting Columbus back in the badge."
'We play for Columbus. We feel really strongly about that, that tapping the civic pride of this community is important. I grew up in Denver, Colorado. Really strong sense of civic pride around all their sports teams that was ingrained in me at a young age. That’s the plan, that’s my view, is that wearing the city flag and the colors was showing the community our commitment. We took our team roster photo down on the bridge with the backdrop of downtown and Mayor Ginther. We take this seriously. “
"I’ll just say for the record, we weren’t doing this as a merch sales driving initiative, either. We’re doing this really, truly, authentically for Columbus to show our commitment to the city. But it’s one of the top 4 selling kits in MLS. I'm not kidding."
"That’s what we’re working every day to do. We’re trying to showcase local products in our stadium with the food and beverage experience. We’re trying to play for Columbus."
"We were the first professional team here. We were the first team to win a professional championship for the city. We were the first club to build a soccer specific stadium for this city. So we’re just trying to highlight what we do for this city. We think it’s an emerging city, a millennial city. We think we’re a part of what’s happening in Columbus, the food scene, the restaurant scene, what's going on in the Short North. We want to be a part of that."
“We're committed to being Columbus's team” - Anthony Precourt Source Massive Report Podcast minutes 30 through 36.
Interview transcript with Anthony Precourt
By Adam Jardy | June 14, 2018
Precourt, to me, 10/25/16 when asked if the team might move: “I don’t really have a comment on that. I’ve shown my commitment to Columbus. We wore the city’s colors this year on the pitch. We put Columbus back in our badge. I’m tired of the insecurities. We’re playing for Columbus.” - Adam Jardy Source Twitter
