COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Crew has rolled out a new logo, part of a brand makeover intended to make the 18-year-old Major League Soccer club more a part of the regional sports landscape.
The new club badge (above), was unveiled by investor-operator and chairman Anthony Precourt at an event where he shared the stage with Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman, MLS commissioner Don Garber and the entire Crew roster.
The new Columbus Crew Soccer Club brand will be fully implemented next year, but the club will start rolling out stadium signage, merchandise and digital displays this year.
Precourt says the badge and club name-change “truly reflect who we are as a club, from our origins and historical accomplishments to our connection with Columbus and our unique fan culture.”
The circular badge replaces the shield-shaped logo featuring three construction-crew workers. The new version still uses the team’s black and gold colors, with white as an accent color, as a nod to Columbus’ German heritage by way of the circular German Bundesliga club crests, Precourt said.
Displaying the club’s full name around the outer ring is intended to make a stronger connection to the city while the inner ring mirrors the circular shape within the state flag of Ohio to emphasize Columbus as the capital city. The number “96” adorning the club’s original crest refers to the year the Crew was founded.
That crest sits atop nine black and gold diagonal lines which symbolize the club’s history as the first member of the original 10 charter clubs that formed the MLS. A black and gold checkerboard pattern denotes the club’s “unique and passionate fan culture,” Precourt said.
Coleman and Precourt also announced that the club is investing $100,000 in food, retail and artistic elements at Crew Stadium that reflect well-known Columbus’ neighborhoods like German Village and the Short North.
“We want to show people that we are doing things differently, that we want to represent the pride of Columbus, and that we want to attract fans from throughout the region,” Precourt said.
Starting next year, all Ohio children will get a complimentary Crew ticket on their 11th birthday as part of a new program Precourt says is aimed at increasing the fan base and widening the club’s regional appeal.