Columbus Crew call Cleveland home for Inter Miami showdown

Sean Zawadzki knows Cleveland's sports fans well. As a native of the area, the Columbus Crew midfielder grew up going to games and rooting on the local teams. He was hardly alone.

“You see the constant support from Cleveland fans. They’re die-hard fans of the three major sports teams you have there," he told MLSsoccer.com. "It’s a little bit different for them to have a soccer team to support when they’re focused on those three and soccer is not in town."

But Zawadzki and the Crew are in town this weekend, and they’re hoping the staunch supporters of the NFL’s Browns, MLB’s Guardians and NBA’s Cavs will find a fourth team to cheer on.

The Crew ‘host’ Inter Miami CF at Huntington Bank Field, home of the Browns, on Saturday afternoon (4:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass). A week after 62,000-plus fans turned out to Soldier Field to see the Herons, another bumper crowd is expected at the 67,431-capacity stadium in Cleveland.

On the big stage

Zawadzki and his friends who played soccer were Crew fans, pulling for the team most local to Cleveland. But most other kids were more focused on what was happening in town. After several great years in Columbus, the Crew want to expand their footprint and win over more of those loyal fans from the North Coast.

“Being able to play in that stadium in front of my loved ones and people I care about, it’ll definitely be a surreal moment. I’m looking forward to it, but I have to be able to control my emotions,” Zawadzki said. “While it’ll be great to have them there, the bigger picture is that it’s a game and a huge task at hand – and a way to continue to hopefully keep ourselves at the top of the table in the East.”

As Zawadzki notes, the match will not only bring the Crew’s contest against Lionel Messi & Co. to the banks of Lake Erie, but it’s also a fantastic match pitting MLS’s last two undefeated teams against each other. Despite bidding farewell to star forward Cucho Hernández in the winter, the Crew top the Eastern Conference table with a 5W-0L-3D record. Inter Miami have advanced to the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup, and are 4W-0L-3D in the league.

Years in the making

While Cleveland is hosting a marquee contest Saturday afternoon, the idea of putting a Crew home game in Cleveland dates back to “before Messi was a twinkle in the eye of Major League Soccer,” says Josh Glessing, Haslam Sports Group’s chief of strategy and development & the Crew’s president of business operations.

When the Haslams, who own the Browns, agreed to a deal to lead the Crew’s ownership group in late 2018, they included the right to play a match in Northeast Ohio in the lease, Glessing said. The first priority, however, was winning back fans in Ohio’s capital city and getting them familiar with Lower.com Field, which opened in summer 2021.

With an MLS Cup 2023 title, a Leagues Cup 2024 crown and an MLS All-Star Game with all the festivities that go along with it taking over Columbus’ Arena District in between – plus visits from the US men’s and women’s national teams and several European and Latin American clubs – the team felt that mission was accomplished.

“Now is the time to bring the Crew to Northeast Ohio and continue to try to grow our base and engage fans,” Glessing said. “It’s honestly something we’ve hoped to do for six years and worked out that this weekend we’re actually going to be able to do it and are excited to bring the beautiful game to Cleveland.”

Glessing noted the club is doing what it can to alleviate any inconveniences the change in site causes for the fans who fill Lower.com Field week in and week out. Typically a two-hour drive on I-71, the Crew have arranged for fan shuttles, food and beverage perks in Cleveland for season-ticket holders, and some fans will have field access after the game. The hope, he said, is Columbus residents understand what the club is trying to accomplish with the game – winning on the field and being involved in the Columbus community, but also communities elsewhere in Ohio.

While Columbusites may have to trek to see their team in a big-ticket game this weekend, the idea is for Cleveland residents to make the reverse trip not just later this season but in the years to come.

“In the same way that people from Columbus drive to Cleveland for Browns games and people from Cleveland drive to Columbus for Ohio State games, we want to grow the region and grow the engaged base. I can’t think of a better opportunity than what’s going on this Saturday,” Glessing said.

All eyes on Cleveland

Even those simply there for the spectacle – or to get eyes on Messi – are bound to like what they see on the field from Wilfred Nancy’s Crew, Glessing noted, thanks to their attractive style of play and the desire to win by keeping the ball and finding scoring opportunities.

Nancy’s challenge is to make sure his team can execute its typical ideas on the field, blocking out what may feel more like a neutral-site crowd than a game at Lower.com Field, since plenty of fans will be there for the show – or even wearing the pink of Messi and Miami.

“I understand why the club decided to do that. It would’ve been surprising if we don’t do it, because other clubs did it. So, let’s do it,” Nancy said. “The players know that. I will not put the focus on that because I know we’re going to play kind of an away home game. This is the reality. We will try to do everything to have a good performance.”

The Crew have managed good performances in various atmospheres so far this season, and past matches with Inter Miami - like the 2024 Leagues Cup knockout match won by the Crew 3-2 after falling behind 2-0 in the 62nd minute – have lived up to the pre-game billing as one of the best matchups MLS has to offer.

Suffice it to say, the elements are in place for a day that will long stay in the memory of fans who make their way to Huntington Bank Field.

“The game is coming to their backyard in a place that doesn’t have that many games, in front of new fans. It’s really exciting,” Zawadzki said. “For us, we want to continue to play the way we want to play. We’ve been at the top of the league for the last couple of years and want to continue to showcase what we’re capable of – play the way we want to play and bring enjoyment to the fans and to the game.”

Ideally for the Crew, it will mean even more support throughout all of Ohio, even from fans much more accustomed to rooting for Cleveland’s big three.