Louisville Soccer Ditches New Logo After Fan Backlash

The Louisville City Football Club is ditching its brand-new crest following backlash from fans.

The team first unveiled the logo Monday, and Louisville City FC President Brad Estes said in a press release that he was excited for fans to see the “distinctly Louisville” crest. 

But some fans were not happy with the design or the process, and Estes said Thursday that the team would start over.

“We had the best intentions, but we lost sight of our responsibility to engage you in the process,” Estes said in a statement to club supporters. “We make no excuses; we simply commit to making it right.”

Estes said the team has stopped production on merchandise with the new crest, and opened dialogue with supporters for a redesign. Louisville FC Director of Public Relations Howie Lindsey said the team spent a “significant enough” amount on merchandise for the failed crest before stopping production, but said the team’s relationship with supporters is more important. 

“To not be included on this decision, I think [fans] thought we let them down. And we did,” Lindsey said. “We want to make sure that we’re responsive to our fans and, honestly, we want to come up with a logo that everybody loves.”

The team’s original crest was picked from more than 100 local submissions in 2014, but this time Louisville City FC asked local marketing firm Doe Anderson to create a new crest before the soccer stadium being built in Butchertown opens. Doe Anderson worked through hundreds of possible designs before submitting the crest unveiled Monday, but Lindsey said the team did not involve its fanbase with the process as much as it should have. Doe Anderson will be involved in this redesign, too.

“Logo development is a several month process that involves a lot of research and many iterations of design,” Doe Anderson Vice President Bob Lauder said in an emailed statement. “At this point, our job is not finished and we are happy to work with the club on revisions to provide a logo that we believe the team and fanbase will get behind.”

The team plans to involve fans, civic leaders and players in the redesign by asking for their input throughout the process. Lindsey said they hope to choose a crest redesign “as quickly as possible”, but that it must be decided before the team’s new $67 million stadium opens this Spring. Stadium construction is expected to finish on time for the team’s 2020 season, but will cost $17 million more than first projected. Going forward, Lindsey said the team will learn from its mistakes and engage with the community.