The battle over the name of the Washington, D.C., N.F.L. team deepened on Monday as President Trump defended it even as more retailers said they would pull the team’s gear off their shelves.
“They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct,” the president said on Twitter, adding a reference to the Major League Baseball team that is also considering changing its name.
Trump’s statement came as Walmart and Target, two of the country’s largest retailers, said they would stop selling Washington’s merchandise on their websites. Target is in the process of removing it from its stores as well, according to a company spokesman.
Just days earlier, the team said it would “undergo a thorough review” of its name, which Native American groups have for years argued is derogatory and racist. The team’s principal owner, Daniel Snyder, had steadfastly defended the name.
But in the past few weeks, some of the country’s largest corporations, including Nike and FedEx, have also pressured him to change the name. In 1999, FedEx signed a 27-year, $205 million deal to be the naming right partner to the team’s stadium in Landover, Md. The company last week reportedly asked the franchise to change the team name.
FedEx’s chairman, Fred Smith, and two other minority shareholders in the team reportedly have hired investment bankers to see if they can sell their stakes, according to The Washington Post.
The team’s new coach, Ron Rivera, said it was possible that the team could have a new name by the start of the season on Sept. 10.
Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C., has said the team’s nickname was “an obstacle” to building a new stadium in Washington.
Professional sports franchises are infrequently renamed, but it is not without precedent. Teams have in the past changed names to appeal to new demographic groups, as part of a relocation or when the name comes to signify an unintentional connection, like in 1997 when the Washington Bullets were renamed the Wizards. Then owner Abe Pollin said the name drew an association with violence and held a fan vote on a replacement before opening a new arena within city limits. Often rebrands help freshen a team’s image and result in selling more merchandise.
High school and college teams, including Miami University in Ohio in the 1990s, have also responded to pressure from Native American groups and dropped names that were deemed racist. But Washington, with the backing of Commissioner Roger Goodell, has resisted those calls for years. Goodell had said the team’s nickname is a “unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride and respect” but last week said he and the league supported the reconsideration, calling it an “important step.”
Snyder, who bought the team in 1999, has spent years in court fighting to preserve the team’s trademark registrations, and paid for market research and surveys that showed that many Native Americans have no problem with the name.
But pressure on Snyder has grown as other professional teams have changed their names and logos with racist imagery, including the Cleveland baseball team, which dropped their mascot Chief Wahoo last year.
Last month, Washington removed the name of the team’s founder, George Preston Marshall, from inside its stadium and at its training facility. The city of Washington also removed a tribute to him that was in front of the team’s old home, R.F.K. Stadium. Marshall was the last team owner to integrate his team’s roster.
Source: Football - nytimes.com
