Saturday, April 27, 2013.
That date stands out to many Columbus Crew SC fans, for it was on that Saturday that shortly before the club’s match with DC United, the scoreboard on the south side of what is now named MAPFRE Stadium caught fire. The incident prompted kickoff to be delayed by about an hour as firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze. Crew SC would eventually win the game by a score of 3-0.
But there was something else brewing that day. Something that would eventually have the power to change the trajectory the club was heading for potentially years to come. You see, a certain private equity investor by the name of Anthony Precourt was in attendance, meeting with team executives to discuss the possibility of expanding his holdings into the realm of sports entertainment.
Anthony Precourt’s Transformation of Columbus Crew SC
Roughly three months later on July 30th, it was announced that Precourt would be named the second investor-operator in the club’s history, taking over from the Hunt family who had been there since the club’s inception in 1996. The move was met with widespread approval among a fanbase that had seen the team descend into mediocrity over the previous few seasons.
Precourt’s objective was twofold.
First came the task of reinvigorating the on-field product. Just five years removed from its first MLS Cup, the club was on its way to missing the playoffs for a third consecutive season in 2013. Clearly changes were necessary. And so fifth-year head coach Robert Warzycha was relieved of his duties that September with Brian Bliss being named interim coach until a viable replacement was found.
That man turned out to be Gregg Berhalter, who was named head coach and sporting director on November 16th. A former USMNT stalwart who had earned 44 caps for his country during his playing career, Berhalter was coming off a two season stint as manager of Swedish club Hammarby IF before being let go a week before Precourt took over in Columbus. The sporting director role gave him the final say in the club’s personnel decisions among other responsibilities.
The second thing Precourt tasked himself with was formulating a vibrant and updated brand identity for the club. Part of this involved replacing the original crest that had been a part of the team from the beginning but had since become a bit stale. The idea was to create a concept that would resonate with millenials while also celebrating the Columbus community as a whole. It was clear that a logo with a trio of construction workers that doesn’t even include the name of the city the team plays in was not amenable to accomplishing this.
And so work began on a badge that would capture not only the essence of a club in the midst of a new era, but also the unbridled passion of its supporters as well as the uniqueness of Ohio’s capital city. It was a completely in-house project the results of which were made public during a reveal party in October of 2014 at the end of Berhalter’s first season in charge.
Precourt emphasized the importance of the rebrand as a representation of the new initiative and energy surrounding the team.
“What we are talking about is not just a new badge for our club,” the Crew SC investor/operator said in a statement accompanying the reveal of the new brand identity. “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.”
One month later, the club participated in the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. Though Crew SC would end up falling to the New England Revolution in the conference semifinals, the upward trajectory of the team was slowly but surely becoming evident.
Another thing Precourt wanted to improve was the in-stadium experience. Not only that, but securing a naming rights deal was also at the forefront of his agenda heading into his second full season as managing partner. The club embarked upon a new food and beverage partnership with Levy Restaurants which aimed to bring Columbus-area dining amenities to fans. Local breweries were given an expanded presence, allowing access to a wide variety of craft beers during games. And MAPFRE Insurance would eventually come on board as Crew SC’s stadium naming rights partner.
In addition to doing so much to engage the fans via the new branding strategy and making MAPFRE Stadium more supporter-friendly, positively evolving the on-field product was another major objective. 2015 was certainly an opportunity for the Black and Gold to build upon what was created the previous season and prove their mettle as one of the league’s top teams.
Perhaps the most fundamental component towards that end was the good fortune of having the top spot in the league’s allocation ranking order at the right time and using it to acquire striker Kei Kamara at the tail end of 2014. Combined with Berhalter’s other roster moves in the offseason, the pieces were laid in place for this team to continue to move forward in realizing the lofty goals set for it by an ambitious management and front office.
But even then, I’m not sure Precourt envisioned it coming together the way it has this season. Kamara would end up being tied with league MVP Sebastian Giovinco for the regular season goal-scoring lead, tallying 22 goals. Ethan Finlay emerged into one of the most prolific wingers in the league and had fans of all teams, not just Crew SC, clamoring for his inclusion into the USMNT. Through all the ups and downs of the regular season, it ended on the highest of highs with an historic 5-0 rout of DC United that hinted the club was on the verge of something special.
Two playoff series wins later and Crew SC now finds itself as one of the final two teams standing along with the Portland Timbers after a month of postseason action. Not only that, but Columbus, OH will be for all intents and purposes the center of the global soccer universe for a few hours Sunday as MAPFRE Stadium plays host to MLS Cup 2015. With the Black and Gold a win away from its second title in club history, suffice it to say that Precourt’s vision will undoubtedly come full circle if they can accomplish it on their home field.
Sunday’s finale to what has been a memorable 20th season of Major League Soccer has the potential to validate the Crew SC way as formulated by Precourt and Berhalter. It’s a pretty impressive feat considering where this organization was 28 months ago compared to where it currently finds itself. Say what you want about ratings, lack of so-called “big names,” or any other polemic levied upon this matchup, the fact of the matter is that the league’s highest quality soccer will be played in Columbus this weekend.
We simply wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t the case.
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