Effective immediately, Washington will call itself the “Washington Football Team” pending the adoption of a new name, league sources told ESPN.
This is not a name change and final brand change for the team; This is the name you want to use until a new name is adopted at some point in the future.
The team will continue the process of removing the Redskins’ name and hopes to completely dispose of it in physical and digital spaces in the next 50 days, for the opening game of the regular season Sept. 13 game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Washington will have no change in its color scheme. Will continue to use burgundy and gold. The Redskins logo on the helmet will be replaced by the player number in gold. The Washington Football Team will debut in their local uniforms in Week 1 against the Eagles, and their road uniforms in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals.
While Washington soccer teams wear these uniforms and helmets for the 2020 season, it will seek input from players, alumni, fans, sponsors, and the community on the new name of the team it will wear in the future.
Fans will be able to purchase “Washington Football Team” merchandise at Fanatics and NFL Shop in the coming days.
The Redskins withdrew “Redskins,” the name they had used for 87 years, on July 13 after launching a comprehensive review 10 days earlier.
Team owner Dan Snyder for years balked at considering changing the name, telling USA Today in 2013 to “capitalize it all” that he would never make that move. Some who worked for Snyder said they believed they would rather sell the equipment than use a new name.
The controversy over the name predates Snyder’s ownership of the team (May 1999). When Washington played in Super Bowl XXVI after the 1991 season, there were 2,000 protesters outside the Metrodome in Minneapolis. So, owner Jack Kent Cooke said of any possible change: “There is not a single jack, title, casual opportunity in the world. I like the name, and it is not a derogatory name.”
But Snyder and the franchise have come under more pressure after the protests and riots following George Floyd’s death in May while in police custody in Minneapolis. Within a few weeks of Floyd’s death, several sources said Snyder had been discussing the name change with NFL officials for several weeks.
During this time, a letter signed by 87 investors and shareholders with a total value of $ 620 billion was sent to sponsors FedEx, Pepsico and Nike, asking them to stop doing business with the team unless the name is changed. When that news came out in an Adweek.com story on July 1, several people, including current and former team employees, echoed the same idea: it’s over. Most, if not all, did not know that a possible change was in process.
On July 2, FedEx released a statement saying it had told the team that it wanted the name changed. The other sponsors then released statements saying the same thing. Amazon said it would stop selling Redskins products. Walmart and Target said they would stop selling their equipment in stores. And, according to the Washington Post, FedEx said it would remove its signage from the stadium if the 2021 season did not change the name.
FedEx signed a $ 205 million 27-year naming rights agreement in 1998. The company’s owner and CEO, Fred Smith, has been a minority shareholder in the Washington franchise since 2003. However, according to multiple reports, he and the other minority investors Dwight Schar and Bob Rothman want to sell their bets. Snyder, his sister and mother own 60% of the franchise.
ESPN’s John Keim contributed to this report.
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