The Washington Redskins are under pressure as never before to change a team nickname that’s offensive to more people than seem to support it, and given recent potential financial constraint, it appears that team owner Daniel Snyder may do what he has vowed never to do — explore changing the team’s name.
“In light of recent events around our country and feedback from our community, the Washington Redskins are announcing the team will undergo a thorough review of the team’s name,” the team said in a statement. “This review formalizes the initial discussions the team has been having with the league in recent weeks.
Team owner Daniel Snyder said, “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 on and off the field.”
Head coach Ron Rivera said, “This issue is of personal importance to me, and I look forward to working closely with Dan Snyder to make sure we continue the mission of supporting Native Americans and our Military.”
“We believe this review can and will be conducted with the best interest of all in mind,” was the closing sentence in the statement.
Snyder has been stubborn about changing the name for years in the face of various protests, but as they say, money talks and everything else walks. Recently, 87 different shareholders and investment firms, whose financial involvement totals more than $620 billion in assets, have asked Nike, FedEx and PepsiCo to end their business relationships with the Washington Redskins due to the racist nature of the team’s nickname.
That pressure had FedEx, which has the naming rights to the team’s stadium, calling on Snyder to change the name. And Nike removed all Redskins merchandise from its online store, though it still represents every other NFL team.
With such sponsorship pressure, one can imagine that the discussions with the NFL might be as simple as Commissioner Roger Goodell getting a bit panicked about other possible losses. This may, at long last, be the catalyst to change that has been coming for so long. Shame that it had to take corporate pressure for Snyder to address the issue as seriously as he should have all along, but that is often the way of things.
