I think it’s past time that this team gets new colors, logo, uniforms, marketing strategies.
Why isn’t Adam Fantilli’s face on every billboard in town? Why has this team not had a new third jersey in almost 15 years? Why is the in-arena experience so lame? From the sound system to the in-arena host that too needs rethinking.
The fans have given ownership much longer of a leash than they deserve imo. We are past the time of just being thankful for having a hockey team. It’s been a quarter of the century and you could argue that we are in the same position we were in in 2000-2001, near the bottom of the league and in contention for a top-3 pick.
We can do better. The fans deserve better. It’s time to really think outside the box of how to get fans excited about their team, other than waiting for the next prospect to be ready in 3-4 years from now.
by Hazy_eyePA
23 Comments
Bring back the Chill!
I agree mainly on the logo/jersey part. Reminds me of when the Stars rebranded in the early 2010’s after years of mediocrity, and saw a quick resurgence in their play, thus propelling them into the wagon they are today. The current Jackets logo has so much baggage. You’ve gotta imagine that the franchise sees the value in Fantilli and all our young prospects and want to make a change. This seems to be the time to do it. New jersey manufacturer league-wide. We have a new GM coming. Now let’s get a new logo, new management, new coaching staff, new franchise branding, etc. There’s never been a more opportune time to make these changes.
With the Stadium Series happening next season there will be, for the first time since 2019, a national audience and casual local fans watching our team. This is a unique opportunity to show them that we are building and growing and getting more relevant. And the best way to do that is to not do all the exact same things you’ve done for the past 24 years.
It’s a wild idea, but I think it could work.
We’ve had the same logo and branding for like 15-20 years. It’s definitely time for a makeover. This team is so neutral and conservative in every regard (except crazy coach hiring practices). Time to change the visual vibe.
The answer to every problem is ownership and fans.
The owners don’t care about the way the team looks. They don’t care that we actually compete. They want to pay someone to have them be a team. There is no culture of winning or expectation.
The fans have watched a team have 1 good season in 24 years. And people say “well what about this”. Thats what all teams go through! Half the guys who win a cup have like 2 broken ribs or something. Every team has issues to overcome to win. Thats not the same as fans just blindly support them and cheer for 78 point seasons cause it’s a way to get the kids out of the house.
Fanatics has asked teams not to make changes to anything for the next couple seasons, so it’s not changing.
/thread
Big time. We need to clear house with whoever is in charge of marketing, branding, and in house entertainment. The gloom really set in when handed a fun-dip at the end of the games last year. Might as well been a sad-dip
The franchise from top to bottom has accepted mediocrity for years and covered it up as a rebuild and “we’re a young team.” Both are true, but the parasites lie within personnel and the culture they have created. It starts with ownership but they won’t go, so next best thing is to clean house from JD all the way down. A few good draft picks are not saving this team right now, it is in desperate need of a complete overhaul. Maybe a new logo and jersey would be emblematic of that but an overhaul should be priority A1 this summer, literally the moment the regular season ends. Anything else is a failure.
I’d be curious what’s going on within the ownership suite for the team right now. Seems like we’re years away from competing for anything just about every single season. What is going to be the plan to improve the side? What’s the blueprint?
Have since moved away from Columbus but was in the city this past weekend and there was hardly any marketing for the team around town (could also be the season nearing its conclusion).
I agree. The Bengals just went through a bunch of new branding and marketing in 2021 the season after drafting Joe Burrow to signal its a new era of Bengals football. I’d like to see the same thing in Columbus
Say what u want about the star but for the love of god don’t bring back those awful CBJ logo jerseys. Make the cannon the official logo, those jerseys go hard
Fix the product on the ice first… I think the experience at Nationwide has always been excellent, regardless of the product on the ice. But the team success is what’s been lacking all these years. When the team is good, NWA is like a rock concert.
I love the cannon logo and wish they’d lean into the navy and cream color combo. Rebranding the home and away (plus the weird flag logo) I’m totally on board with.
Add it to the list of why I’m not renewing my seats. I’ll buy aftermarket for cheap to watch my team, but the org doesn’t deserve full price for any of the garbage they are serving up
Start with the name tbh. Yes there is logic behind the name but the name is already awkward and if you have to explain what it means to everybody after 20+ years it is just not good. Same with colors/logo. The initial logo was kind of ugly but the swoosh-star is just very bland. At this point id be up for neon green Stinger sweaters. Can’t be worse and if the team is bad at least have a sense of humor.
I’ve felt for the longest time that the team should do more to attract fans from Cleveland and Cincy (as well as the rest of the state). I’ve met so many Cleveland Monsters fans who barely care about CBJ because of how poor their outreach is to the area. Plus the amount of Penguins fans in Cleveland should really be embarrassing to Ohio’s only NHL hockey team. I just don’t think Columbus is a big enough market for them to not do a better job courting the rest of Ohio. Heck I would have suggested changing the name to the Ohio Blue Jackets if that wouldn’t make them OBJ.
Maybe with some major changes they wouldn’t be fighting with the Coyotes for lowest revenue in the league.
As with nearly all complaints about ownership, this should actually be directed at Mike Priest. Sure in some roundabout way, the McConnells are responsible for the bad decisions that Mike Priest makes, since they are the only ones he answers to. However, they have been intentionally hands-off with nearly every aspect of this club from it’s inception, and we should be incredibly thankful for that.
Mike Priest has been president of the club since Doug MacLean was fired. He has by far the worst resume in the league for a club president. He is an accountant by trade, who joined JMAC Inc. (the McConnells’ holding company which owns the Blue Jackets) in 1996 and over 5 years climbed the corporate ladder there and was promoted to president in 2001.
During his tenure as CBJ club president the Blue Jackets have been the worst team in the league, and his list of accomplishments includes wonderful gems such as: hiring HCs Scott Arniel and Todd Richards, hiring GM Scott Howson, supporting the decision to hire Mike Babcock, having the 3rd worst NHL arena in terms of food safety (https://www.dispatch.com/story/lifestyle/health-fitness/2018/12/14/nationwide-arena-3rd-worst-in/6632306007/), and everything OP has mentioned about the utter failures in marketing the team and it’s players. There have also been rumors (admittedly unconfirmed) of Priest inserting himself into hockey operations decisions like the Brad Larsen promotion.
Mike Priest needs to be replaced.
Nothing has changed because despite being awful we sell out Nationwide way too often.
I’d rather worry about how they play on the ice than what they are wearing.
I don’t see how rebranding does much of anything if we can’t find the right GMs, coaches, players, and other support staff to be successful. Win consistently and no one cares what you’re wearing.
Only change that should happen with third jersey is making it the primary..
New goal song, new in game host, New Jerseys. It seems like anyone who puts on that jersey all the sudden sucks
Alternate cannon jersey needs to be the primary. Make a white/cream version and that’s our new uniform. Making the alternate the new primary also opens it up to create a new alternate; a la more jersey sales.
100% agree that timing is right to clean house, rebrand, and rebuild. Franchise is a joke despite the arena, amenities, and all the fan support. And I say this as a fan of the team since the inaugural season.
They were hiring for a marketing manager 3 or so months ago
I agree, especially with getting Jarmo out of here, it’s a good time to do a revamp. Give us the cannon jerseys as our primaries you cowards!