Report: Washington Will Announce A Name Change Monday, But Will Not Unveil A New Name Yet

The Washington D.C. football team will finally and formally announce their intentions to change their names from Redskins on Monday, after a week-plus long review of the team name has come to an apparent conclusion, per Ben Fischer of Sports Business Daily.

The review of the name, one that has long been called into question as a slur towards Native Americans, was precipitated by FedEx, Pepsi, Nike, and other sponsors saying they’ll pull their sponsorships of the team if the name is not changed. Unsurprisingly, it was the pressure of financial loss that caused the team to take calls for a name change seriously, when the arguments against it have long been present, but at the least it is finally happening.

As Fischer notes in his report, the announcement set to come on Monday will be only to note they will be getting rid of the Redskins nickname, as they still have a trademark process to go through with whatever their new name will be.

The Redskins intend to announce on Monday that the team will retire its nickname, two sources said, 11 days after naming-rights sponsor FedEx’s public statement asking for a change to the controversial moniker. The new nickname will not be announced immediately because trademark issues are pending, the sources said, but insiders were told today that the “thorough review” announced July 3 has concluded. The team felt it was important to remove any doubts as to the future of the name, one source said.

The news was confirmed by Mike Jones of USA Today.

Redtails and Warriors have been consistently rumored as two of the top options for the new nickname, but there are other possibilities that have been floated by fans and media. Whatever the new name, even if it ends up being uninspiring to the fan base, it will be an upgrade over the current moniker.

Source: https://uproxx.com/sports/washington-redskins-name-change-announcement-report/