Saving the Crew brings multiple varied benefits for Columbus
Saving professional soccer in Columbus is important, and The Dispatch congratulates all helping to keep Columbus Crew SC here despite an owner wanting to move the team to Austin.
But most impressive is the comprehensiveness and community focus of the plan unveiled this week by public and private forces determined to make it happen.
From refusing to settle for a possible expansion club to re-envisioning the future of Mapfre Stadium as a community sports park, Columbus should be proud of how this story promises to end and for how it will boost the city’s esteem regionally, nationally and even globally.
Making the task even tougher was an immovable deadline for getting a plan in place before the end of the year; like time running out in the second half of a soccer match in which the home team is losing.
If there is a "most valuable player" to be named for keeping Columbus in the game and coming out on top, the honor probably should go to Alex Fischer, president and CEO of the Columbus Partnership.
But that’s not how he operates. A true team player, Fischer makes sure to share the glory with all who worked to achieve an outcome that many would have written off a year ago.
The list of those who joined the team effort is extensive. They include Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, City Council President Shannon Hardin and Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce. City Auditor Megan Kilgore and County Administrator Kenneth Wilson also worked on details. Gov.-elect Mike DeWine, as Ohio attorney general, and City Attorney Zach Klein teamed up on a lawsuit that bought valuable strategic time to develop the plan.
While #SaveTheCrew was the intense emotional draw of stellar grassroots efforts that garnered international attention, saving soccer was not the driving force for the city or county, nor should it have been.
Ginther was right to stay focused on meeting public policy goals, such as adding options for affordable housing. Boyce rightly saw the plan as an economic development project that will bring more than 1,000 jobs with it.
In short, government officials wisely recognized what matters to their constituents.
On the private side of this public-private collaboration, Columbus is fortunate to have a new local investor group in the persons of Dr. Pete Edwards Jr., the Crew’s longtime team doctor, and Dee and Jimmy Haslam, owners of the Cleveland Browns since October 2012.
Edwards and the Haslams and their families have stepped up to provide what Fischer called Columbus’ “critical missing ingredient” — local ownership that can ensure the Crew stays in Columbus. In fact, the new ownership contract prohibits the team from leaving the city, a smart move by all parties.
We can’t sum up the value of this new partnership better than Edwards did in a meeting with The Dispatch this week.
Edwards acknowledged the gamble the Crew took as Major League Soccer’s first franchise 25 years ago in a Midwest city still unsure of its potential and noted how far the city has come with professional soccer as a key asset.
“The Crew helped Columbus find its way, and now Columbus is helping the Crew find its way,” Edwards said. You don’t have to be a soccer fan to cheer this win.