The Crew’s potential relocation to Austin after the '18 season "cost the team a sponsor" when Ohio-based Wendy’s announced the QSR will "not renew its partnership" with the team, according to Andrew Erickson of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH. The sponsorship began this year, but Wendy's Senior Corporate Communications Specialist Elizabeth Drake said, "Given the uncertainty around the team’s future, and with our 2018 planning in the final stages, we decided not to renew our sponsorship for next year at this time." A "key component" of the partnership included player development, where Wendy’s was the "presenting sponsor of the Crew SC Fall Classic club tournament in late September" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 11/5). In Columbus, Laura Newpoff noted some sponsors have "walked away" from deals with the Crew after feeling they were "outpriced." Barbosal had a five-year jersey sponsorship that cost $900,000 a year, but now Acura is paying $1.8M a year "for its jersey sponsorship that started this season." Ohio-based Heartland Bank also "ended its sponsorship with the team as of this year after deciding the renewal price was too high." Precourt Sports Ventures President Dave Greeley is "echoing comments" by team Owner Anthony Precourt that "disinterest from Columbus companies and fans is leading him to Austin." Meanwhile, OhioHealth Dir of Media Relations Mark Hopkins said that the company, which has been a "supporter since the team's second year," is "paying more to be a Crew sponsor, and is fine with that" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 11/3).
LEGACY TARNISHED? In Columbus, Michael Arace wrote, "Surely, FC Dallas Owner Clark Hunt cares about family’s legacy. Doesn’t he?" MLS "cannot be complicit in this subterfuge" involving the Crew's possible move to Austin. The Crew were the "first chartered team in MLS, the offspring of league founder Lamar Hunt, the man who made Columbus the cradle of the American game." MLS Commissioner Don Garber has to "know Columbus studied sites for a potential downtown stadium, and that local investors have offered to buy all or half of the team, and that the half-price was about equal to the full price Precourt paid." Garber has to "know Columbus is ready to do the right thing." He has to "pull the knife out of the city’s back." Garber may "love Austin as much as Precourt does, but does he want this blood on his hands?" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 11/5).
