GREENVILLE, SC – What is in a name? The owner of the Greenville ECHL franchise hopes a lot of luck, a spike in attendance and financial success.
Wednesday morning, the franchise formerly known as the Road Warriors rebranded itself by borrowing some local history in becoming the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. The new name is the third for the city’s team since the late 1990’s.
“After much thought and consideration, we determined that we wanted our new identity to honor a piece of Greenville’s history while also being relevant within the community today,” team owner Fred Festa said. “Several factors were taken into account when deciding on what that representation would be. Ultimately we selected the Swamp Rabbits because the name holds dear to a variety of residents, businesses, popular recreational areas and the historic landmark – the Swamp Rabbit railroad – dating back to the 1920’s in Greenville.”
When Festa, president and CEO of W.R. Grace and Co., bought the franchise in 2010, he was well aware of the city’s recent hockey history. The Grrrowl had been the team for eight seasons in the ECHL before folding in 2006. Then came the Road Warriors, named as an homage to the upstate automotive industry. To this day, Festa said that the name Grrrowl was the one many fans remembered best.
“When I bought the team, I asked a number of people why it was the Road Warriors. No one could tell me the significance in the alignment with the community,” Festa told The Greenville News. “Half the people I met call us the Grrrowl.”
Throughout Festa’s time as owner, the Road Warriors have struggled at the box office. A year ago, the team ranked 24th in attendance in the ECHL with an average of 3,619 fans per game. Despite it being a six percent increase over the 2013-14 average, it did not compare well to the league average of 4,598.
After making a long term commitment to the city by signing a five-year lease agreement with the Bon Secours Wellness Center in March, Festa and his staff decided that a change was needed. Spending what he characterized as “well over six figures” to The Greenville News, they came up with the name Swamp Rabbits and the rebranding/marketing plan to go with it.
Swamp rabbits are native to the south-central U.S. including the Carolinas.
The swamp rabbit itself is native to the south-central United States, primarily in the Gulf Coast states but also in the Carolinas and Georgia. They live near lowland water areas feeding on a variety of foraged plants including grasses, shrubs, tree bark seedlings and twigs.
The species, in particular the males, can have a mean streak to it when agitated. One even attempted to take on President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970’s during a fishing excursion on a lake on the president’s farm in Plains, Georgia.
The name Swamp Rabbits holds great historical importance to the Greenville area. Its roots date back to the 1920’s when the Carolina, Knoxville and Western rail line (later renamed the Greenville and Northern railroad) was being built to transport coal from Tennessee to the Carolinas.
Locals nicknamed the line “The Swamp Rabbit” when they used it to travel to picnic areas in northern Greenville County where the furry creatures lived. Unfortunately the line’s owner never completed its construction, getting to the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains before running out of money. A marker honoring the history of the train currently sits near the aptly named Swamp Rabbit Pedestrian bridge that crosses the Reedy River in Greenville.
Several businesses have integrated the Swamp Rabbit name into theirs, paving the way for the hockey team to do the same.
“To be able to embody a part of Greenville’s past and present via the team’s identity is an incredible feeling,” Swamp Rabbits general manager Chris Lewis said. “We think the Swamp Rabbits will symbolize the competitive spirit of our players and the vibrancy of the community on the ice and off. We want our brand to best reflect what a night at a hockey game is all about which is fun and excitement for the entire community.”
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