Washington Redskins will finally review changing team name

The Washington Redskins are undergoing a thorough review about the possibility of changing the name of the franchise. Team owner Dan Snyder has been under immense pressure to change the name of his team in recent weeks. Whispers of Native American tribes being offended by the name were circulating and in 2013 Snyder was defiant in his defense of the name when speaking with USA Today:

“We’ll never change the name,” Snyder said. “It’s that simple. NEVER — you can use caps.” - May 9, 2013.

In 2014, there was a review of the name brought to the attention of FedEx Shareholders from the Oneida Tribe of Indians in Wisconsin. A name change never materialized, but this time is different. The sponsorship of Washington have been put under pressure; PepsiCo, Nike, and FedEX being some of the sponsors.

Nike has reportedly pulled all Washington apparel from their website, and FedEx, who is under contract with the stadium’s naming rights till 2025, has requested that the team change its name. The pressure from sponsors prompted this statement from the team’s Twitter account:

Nothing is set in stone as of now, but a change to the name could realistically happen this time around. Debates will continue to ensue on what the name will change to, if the decision to change the name is made. This franchise wasn’t originally this name, and it wasn’t originally in the nation’s capital. The team was originally the Boston Braves, but the name was changed to the current name in 1933, and then subsequently moved to Washington in 1937.