We are incredibly disheartened by Crew ownership’s decision to play a competitive home match 2 ½ hours away from Lower Dot Com Field.
Many have called this what it is: “a shameless, short-sighted cash grab,” “spitting in the face of the most dedicated Crew supporters,” and “Jimmy Haslam Grifter Brain manifest.” We share in Crew Supporterdom’s Collective Righteous Fury.
We’ve got nothing against Cleveland. We’d be fine with the Crew playing a friendly or even a Campeones Cup Final in the Factory of Sadness.
This decision, however, isn’t about solidifying Crew’s foothold in the Northeast Ohio. They’re not planning to “welcome significantly more Crew fans” as President of Business Operations and Sentient Quarter-Zip Josh Glessing claims.
No, Glessing and the brain trust that gave us the 2021 rebrand know there’s unprecedented demand to see Lionel Messi, and they’re happy to fill Cleveland Browns Stadium with Argentina, Barcelona and Miami supporters that will never give the Crew another thought – let alone another dollar – after the match.
Making the Crew more accessible for supporters residing outside Columbus doesn’t factor into the equation. Putting the team in the best position to win what could be a vital match? Lol. Lmao even.
We encourage supporters to continue to voice their displeasure – just remember your ticket rep didn’t want to deal with this any more than you did. We hope our leaders in Nordecke will leverage our Collective to make it clear to the front office that “where you go, we’ll follow” has its limits.
We didn’t save the Crew for this bullshit.
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