In the Rush to Rebrand, Sports Teams Must Listen to Fans! Lessons learned from the Columbus Crew

By Ryan Dastrup and Ricard Jensen

In the Rush to Rebrand, Sports Teams Must Listen to Fans!

Lessons learned from the Columbus Crew

If leaders in professional sports teams ever needed to be reminded of the necessity of being on the same page as their fans, last week provided some powerful examples!

Nearly all sport organizations invest large amounts of money into sport marketing and branding to promote their products and services. The brand of a sports team is a combination of the team name, logo, colors, trademarks and slogans. An exciting brand creates buzz and sells merchandise!

Branding is vital for sports teams. The best brands create a personality for the team and tell a story about how the team connects with fans and the community, and image behind the team. A team’s brand is its DNA; the brand is the way that a team presents itself to stakeholders and the public.

The upside of taking on rebranding efforts can be substantial. For example, After the Denver Nuggets rebrand, the team saw and increase in their merchandise sales including jersey sales, t-shirts, and headwear merchandise. But a rebrand failure may cause serious hardship to the team. When the Tampa Bay Devil Rays changed their team name to the Rays several years ago and came out with a new branding and logo strategy, it transformed how the team was perceived. 

We are seeing a rush to rebrand team logos and uniforms in an effort to create fan excitement and sell merchandise. Recently, the Miami Dolphins and the Los Angeles Rams modified their logo, and the Cincinnati Bengals redid their uniforms. The Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer transformed their logo and uniform to rebrand the team in conjunction with their recent move to play home games at Solider Field.

But not all rebranding decisions are successful! And we argue that those that failed often did not consider how fans might react to the new look and name.

Recently, Leeds United tried a rebrand that failed miserably with the fans and the media and was discarded. 

In Major League Soccer, the Columbus Crew SC recently tried to rebrand to Columbus SC, dropping Crew from the name and abandoning the original logo which featured an actual crew. 

The Crew said they consulted with fans prior to the change, but it appears as though they initially overlooked the reaction from loyal Crew supporters. 

Local supporters rebelled and petitioned in favor of “Keep the Crew”, and found over 3,000 signatures to reverse course. "Taking away The Crew? We ARE the Crew," the petition's description said. "It's what makes us stand out. It's unique and doesn't blend into the boring SC and FC and Uniteds." 

After the initial rebrand was derided by several loyal fan groups, Crew owners Dee Haslam, JW Johnson and Dr. Pete Edwards apologized for errors in the process of the rebrand and even asked for feedback on their proposed changes. 

The team issued a press release stating the club and its fan supporters group (the Nordecke) engaged in a "positive, collaborative discussion" and concluded that "the Crew and the Nordecke are excited to move forward together." In this case, moving forward means that Crew name will continue to be an essential element in the team’s future branding.

The takeaway from what happened in Columbus is that it’s essential to consult with all stakeholders when rebranding a sports team. Sports leaders must try to understand how fans feel about the rebranding before making significant changes. Organizations that listen to fans should conduct market research studies to see how stakeholders feel about rebranding efforts to make sure that fans aren’t blindsided by the new look. The input from fans can help to optimize a team’s marketing strategy. 

Sports fandom has its own code of conduct and usually ties fans to their favorite teams for life. For a sports club to be successful, it must build a culture with its fans from the team colors to the type of beverages sold at the stadium. Teams must identify and embrace their history with its fans. Don’t take fans for granted, they might always show up until they don’t.

Note: To learn more, contact Dastrup at [email protected] or Jensen at [email protected]