Washington Redskins Review Name Ahead of Potential Rebrand

(Bloomberg) -- The Washington Redskins might be getting ready to change their name.

Long under pressure to drop the name, which is a pejorative term for Native Americans, the team is formalizing discussions it’s been having with the National Football League in recent weeks.

“This process allows the team to take into account not only the proud tradition and history of the franchise but also input from our alumni, the organization, sponsors, the National Football League and the local community it is proud to represent,” Dan Snyder, the owner of the team, said in a statement.

The move would be the highest-profile name change of a sports franchise in recent memory. Football fans and Native American groups have protested the team’s name for years as offensive and racist despite defiance from Snyder.

On Thursday, FedEx Corp. urged the team to change its name, following protests against racial injustice that have pushed many companies to increase efforts to combat racism. Fred Smith, FedEx’s founder and chief executive officer, is a part owner of the team, which plays at FedEx Field in Maryland as part of a naming rights deal signed in 1999.

The request came after 87 investment firms and shareholders worth a collective $620 billion asked FedEx, Nike and PepsiCo to terminate their business relationships with the team unless it agreed to change the name, AdWeek reported.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league supports the team’s decision.

“In the last few weeks we have had ongoing discussions with Dan and we are supportive of this important step,” Goodell said in a statement.

Online sportsbook SportsBetting.ag was quick to come out with odds for the new team name. The early favorite was the Presidents followed by the Generals and Lincolns.

Snyder has long cited polling data to defend the use of the name. A 2016 Washington Post poll showed nine out of 10 native Americans weren’t offended by the name.

That finding was widely disputed. A 2020 survey by the University of California at Berkeley showed a majority found the name to be offensive.

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