- The team formerly known as the
Washington Redskins has rebranded with a temporary name. - As we head into the 2020 season, the team will be known as the Washington Football Team until a new name is decided.
- On Twitter, fans roasted the team's apparent indecision in the rebrand, and criticized its slow roll out over different media channels.
The Washington football team, formerly known as the Redskins, has decided on its temporary name for the coming 2020
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the new name is not the final rebrand, but rather a temporary stopgap while the team ultimately decides on a new nickname.
—Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 23, 2020
The rebrand is part of an effort to scrub the team's old name from its current iteration, after the franchise faced mounting criticism and pressure from sponsors over the offseason to change the name. While Washington will hold on to its burgundy and gold color scheme, the logo will change.
—Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 23, 2020
On Twitter, fans roasted Washington for its lackluster new name. While the team had moved away from its problematic branding, it hadn't chosen another direction, instead choosing to opt-out from the idea of a nickname entirely.
LeBron James thought the new name was hilarious.
—LeBron James (@KingJames) July 23, 2020
Plenty more online joined his roasting of the newly dubbed Washington Football Team.
—Dom³³ (@DROYJohnson) July 23, 2020
—Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) July 23, 2020
—Rob (@robrousseau) July 23, 2020
—Amanda Mull (@amandamull) July 23, 2020
—Tra Andrews (@TraAndrews16) July 23, 2020
—Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) July 23, 2020
—TPS (@TotalProSports) July 23, 2020
Compounding the issue was that while the rebrand was intended to scrub any references to the team's previous name, associated accounts such as the team's website and online presence were a bit slower to catch up to their new identity.
—Reginald Adetula (@regadetula) July 23, 2020
—charles (#1 wear a damn mask fan) mcdonald (@FourVerts) July 23, 2020
—charles (#1 wear a damn mask fan) mcdonald (@FourVerts) July 23, 2020
—charles (#1 wear a damn mask fan) mcdonald (@FourVerts) July 23, 2020
Washington is still expected to adopt a new name beyond being known as the Washington Football Team. When that happens, hopefully, the franchise's new identity will be better received by fans.
- Read more:
Sports are back! Here's the schedule for the first full sports weekend in months.