The Washington Redskins are under more pressure than ever to change their name
- According to an Adweek report, three separate letters signed by investment firms and shareholders have called on Nike, PepsiCo, and FedEx to end their relationships with the Washington Redskins until the team changes its name, which is considered a slur.
- The Washington Post also reported that lawmakers are blocking the development of a new stadium for the Washington football team on federally owned land unless the team changes the name.
- Despite long-standing pressure to change the name, team owner Daniel Snyder has said he won't change it, citing history and tradition.
There is mounting pressure on Daniel Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins, to change the team name.
According to Mary Emily O'Hara of Adweek, three separate letters signed by investment firms and shareholders have asked companies like Nike, PepsiCo, and FedEx to end their relationships with the Washington team until it changes its name, which has been classified as a racial slur.
According to Adweek, none of the sponsors had any comment, with FedEx, which owns the naming rights to Washington's stadium, deferring to the team for comment.
Likewise, Liz Clarke of The Washington Post reported that lawmakers are refusing to allow Snyder to build a new stadium on the federally owned RFK Stadium site until he changes the team name. The officials include Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington D.C.'s non-voting Delegate to the United States House of Representatives, D.C. Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio, and U.S. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona.
According to Clarke, Norton introduced a bill in 2019 calling on the federal government to sell the RFK campus at market value. Under the bill, the mayor, D.C. Council, and residents would decide on what would be developed on the land. According to ESPN's John Keim, Washington's lease at FedEx Stadium ends in 2027, and the team has been looking to relocate to D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
Pressure has ramped up following a nationwide spotlight on social justice reform following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.
"I call on Dan Snyder once again to face that reality, since he does still desperately want to be in the nation's capital," Norton told The Post. "He has got a problem he can't get around — and he particularly can't get around it today, after the George Floyd killing."
Native American leaders have long called on Snyder to change the name. Snyder has said he won't change the name, citing history, tradition, and different meanings of the term "redskin."
"The time [for the name] has ended," Grijalva told the Post. "There is no way to justify it. You either step into this century or you don't. It's up to the owner of the team to do that."
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