What makes this time different? Well, for starters, the social unrest in the country, which has brought a renewed spotlight to the controversy, isn't going away anytime soon. But beyond that, it's starting to hit the team financially. First, FedEx, the naming-rights sponsor of their stadium, called on the team to change its name. Then Nike pulled all Redskins gear from its website while keeping the other 31 NFL teams, which I didn't even know was allowed (Tennessee is the last name on the alphabetical list...Washington isn't even on the drop down!).
D.C. lawmakers have said they'd love to see the team return to the District when their lease on FedEx Field expires. They won't let the Redskins build a stadium within the city limits unless they change their name, though. They have land. But, as long as the team is still known as the "Redskins," they won't sell it to them.
All of those factors--not to mention all of the external pressure from other groups--is simply too much to overcome. Frankly, it's only because of Daniel Snyder's stubbornness that they haven't changed the name already. Even Snyder knows that the time has come, though. So, despite all of the history tied to the "Redskins" name (which is part of the reason Snyder is so resistant to change), the name itself will likely become a part of history soon.
Some people have even suggested that a name change may happen this season. Don't count on it. That's a bit quick. So, they'll have to deal with at least one more season of "Redskins," and possibly more. Because there's a lot more to it than simply saying "we're gonna change our name."
For starters, the season starts in two months. Yes, I know, "pandemic." But, as of now, the NFL will start on time in early September. Simply put, that's not enough time to go through the complete rebrand that a new name would require. And, don't forget, they haven't done two important parts of that equation yet, either. They haven't said that they're definitely changing the name and they haven't said what their new name will be. And the chances of them even choosing a new name by September seem slim at best.
Choosing the name is only the first step, too. Trademarking it is a whole separate process. First they need to make sure the name they want isn't already trademarked. Then they need to apply, receive and register the trademark. They also have to run it all by the NFL.
Remember all the hoops the Golden Knights had to jump through just to obtain their trademark? That's a big reason why Seattle's expansion hockey team, which has existed for nearly two years and is scheduled to begin play 16 months from now, still doesn't have a name! And they've registered 13 different trademarks for potential names!
That's just the first step. Once they have a new name and all the trademarks, they need a new logo, which needs to be designed, approved, focus grouped, etc. That also takes time. If it was as simple as changing the logo or color scheme (I think they should keep burgundy & gold regardless), they might be able to rush that process. But, even if you rush, a logo change takes more than two months. And we're talking about a complete rebrand here!
There's also the merchandise. One of the reasons the process takes so long is because there's a lot of officially-licensed merchandise out there. The NFL obviously sends out that apparel ahead of time. So, once Washington completes its rebrand, all of that merchandise needs to come off the shelves and be replaced by the new stuff. All of the 2020 gear has already been shipped! That millions of dollars worth of gear that either the team or the league would have to buy back. And they'd have nothing to replace it with!
When the Cleveland Indians (who are also contemplating a name change) retired Chief Wahoo, they said that they would still have the logo a limited amount of merchandise in their team store in order to preserve the trademark. I'm not sure how it would work here since a name change is obviously different than retiring a logo, but I would imagine it's something similar. The New Orleans Pelicans effectively sold their history along with the trademark to the Charlotte Hornets a few years ago.
The NFL technically owns the "Houston Oilers" trademark, so I'd imagine they'd also purchase the "Washington Redskins" trademark for historical purposes. Otherwise, when the team's ownership of the trademark lapsed, anyone would be free to buy it and do with it whatever they please. And there would be nothing the NFL, the Washington football team, or anybody else could do about it.
Taking all that into consideration, it's unrealistic to think the entire rebranding process can be completed in the next 10 weeks (it would actually need to be sooner than that with training camp scheduled to start in early August). While possible, it's even optimistic to think that this could all be done in time for the 2021 season. So, I think the earliest we'll see a Redskins name change take effect would be 2022.
Either way, the "Redskins" nickname's days appear to be numbered. The controversy has reached its breaking point, and they've been left with no other choice. Although, they could always just change the logo to a potato.
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