Immediately after the Washington Commanders got sold from Dan Snyder to Josh Harris, the possibility of changing the team’s name surfaced. ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr.’s reported that the new ownership will consider a name change after the upcoming season.
The most notable Commanders’ minority owner Magic Johnson said, “Everything is on the table,” including a name change.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports there is no timeline for a name change. Nevertheless, the team’s name is a hot topic among fans, yet again.
Washington has undergone a couple of name changes in recent years. In 2020, following pressure from sponsors and a group of Native American leaders, the team’s old moniker, Redskins, got retired. Native Americans viewed the name as disparaging and racial against Indigenous people. The team went by the name since 1933.
The team went by the Washington Football Team during the 2020 and 2021 seasons before changing to the Commanders.
It’s hard to imagine the NFL would face the headache that would follow bringing back the old name. Yet, on Friday, Magic used the term in a tweet. Harris followed suit by mentioning the old name during his address at the Commanders’ prep rally.
Harris acknowledged he grew up in nearby Chevy Chase, Maryland, and went to “Redskins” games. Therefore, don’t make no mistake about it, the name drop was no accident. It was as if the two were testing the waters. Fans in attendance loved Harris’ mentions. Twitter followed suit with Johnson’s tweet.
There are fans that want the Redskins name to return. Don’t be surprised if Harris and Johnson also test the waters with the NFL, sponsors, and potential Native American groups about a return to the Redskins name. Whether their probe will gain traction remains to be seen. But it’s a path that presumably they’ll cross.
Winning, drawing fans back to its home stadium, FedEx Field, and then searching for a new stadium are higher priorities. But don’t be naive to think that the team’s name isn’t high on the list of priorities for Harris and his group.
Keeping the current Commanders’ name could be the result in the end. But it’s unpopular among Washington’s fans. And Commanders are more tied to Snyder than anything else surrounding the team. The team’s name is impossible to ignore for the new ownership.
Getting the name right, or at least proper marketing of the Commanders that soothe fans, is imperative to the fan base tired of being a laughing stock. Washington ranked last in home attendance last season. A large portion of fans identified the name change as the final straw to become disenchanted with Snyder and the team.
Yes, winning goes a long way toward rejuvenating fans’ interest. However, fans’ interest would boost faster than winning if the new ownership somehow got back the old name or worked with the fans to get a new moniker with more approval.
