In fact, only 16% of Commanders fans think the team should keep its name. maximum Say you want to change the team name to something else. again.
“I’ve been a fan for a long time, ever since I was little, but there was definitely something wrong with the old name. I saw it,” said D.C. resident Andrew Ravenscroft. “I was in favor of changing it. “But it’s a bit of a strange name.”
In July 2020, after then-owner Daniel Snyder faced intense pressure from sponsors and local officials, the team announced it would retire the controversial Redskins name and begin an “exhaustive” search for a new name. Announced. After adopting the name Washington Football Team for 18 months, the franchise unveiled the Commanders name, logo and uniforms in February 2022 at a chilly ceremony at Landover Stadium.
Almost immediately the rebrand was panned. A Washington Post citywide poll conducted that month found that 49% of local residents said they disliked the name, including 17% who said they disliked it. A similar 48% of D.C. residents dislike their team name this spring, including 15% who dislike their team name.
“I’m not surprised,” said George Perry, the team’s former vice president of strategic marketing and now a management and marketing instructor at Christopher Newport University. “When you are rooting for something [87] No matter how many years have passed or what others think of that brand, you are quite attached to it. It’s got the Super Bowl, it’s got your favorite player, it’s got the uniform, it’s got the shirt. “I think it’s going to be difficult to get fans to support another name, whatever it is.”
No NFL team has changed its name three times in the last decade without changing regions. Doing so would be expensive, and league bylaws allow franchises to change their names, logos and uniforms only once every five years. However, there are exceptions, including changes in ownership.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that calls for the team’s name to be scrapped grew stronger soon after Snyder sold the team to an investment group led by Josh Harris last July.
In an open-ended follow-up question on a recent survey, some fans volunteered suggestions, which varied widely. Among Commanders fans, 3% suggested “Redwolves,” 2% suggested “Warriors,” and 2% said: “Red Tail” and smaller Percentages suggested “red-skinned potatoes.”
The club removed Redwolves and Wolves (and their variants) due to trademark conflicts during an 18-month name search. They also ruled out the Warriors due to their association with Native American themes.
“Potentially embracing Native-adjacent iconography and imagery that many communities have strongly advocated for us to embrace, and frankly, doesn’t represent the clear departure we had when we began this process over a year ago.” Jason Wright said. In a long 2021 post. On the team website.
Montgomery County resident Matt Price was in favor of the team moving away from its previous name. “It was long overdue and I was very happy to hear the news,” he said. The current name is “pretentious and arrogant. ”
“Who’s excited about that?” he said
Price suggested choosing a generic animal, but acknowledged he wouldn’t mind if the team went back to its temporary nickname, the Washington Football Team. And he’s not alone. 17% said they would prefer to change back to their original name.
However, some fans (16%) volunteered to go back to the Redskins name in the poll. D.C. native John Nabinett Jr., who grew up near RFK Stadium, is one of them.
“There’s still the Atlanta Braves running around… and the Chiefs of the NFL running around,” he said, referring to other professional teams with Native American-themed names. “As far as Washington is concerned, that seems like prejudice. Commanders is fine, but it doesn’t reflect the historical or rich values of the program or team. Commander is a name, but not an identity. The Washington Redskins were an identity.”
Washington’s former name has also been a source of controversy for decades and a barrier to the team’s potential return to D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D). The team that owns the RFK Stadium site made it clear that they had to change their name first.
“People tend to forget that one of the main reasons they stopped using the name was pressure from sponsors.” Perry said. “All the other sponsors said, ‘Hey, if you don’t change the name, we won’t give you money.’ That hasn’t necessarily changed. … If it were me, I don’t think it would be a top priority. [to change the name] Because you’ll be starting all over again.”
When Harris’ group took over the team, they did not rule out a future name change, but were quick to rule out a return to the previous name.
“That ship has sailed,” Mitch Rales, a top partner in the Harris ownership group, said in September. “We will not re-litigate the past. We’re about the future. We’re about building the future and not having a divisive culture in which we participate. We’ll be looking at everything at the end of the year and thinking about different things and doing a lot of testing and watching. What people think. And we will learn. The best part is that we have time to look at all of this intelligently and make fan-based decisions.”
A person with knowledge of the ownership’s plans reiterated this month that there are no immediate plans to work on a name change. The group has repeatedly emphasized that it has other priorities. This offseason, the Commanders overhauled their front office, coaching staff, and roster. The owners have invested more than $75 million in upgrading the stadium in Landover and the practice facility in Ashburn. they also They are currently seeking a new naming rights partner for the stadium and awaiting the outcome of legislation that would allow the RFK site to be used for new facilities and ancillary development.
Despite the name (and logo) remaining controversial for some, the new ownership has been a source of optimism for many Commanders fans.
77% of Commanders fans (and DC area residents overall) have a positive view of Harris’ leadership. 83% of local Commanders fans are optimistic about Harris.
“I like what he did,” Ravenscroft said. “We haven’t had a lot of success yet, but he’s way ahead of Dan Snyder.”
Washington’s NFL team was once the epicenter of D.C. sports, but its popularity has waned in recent years. Now less than half 70% of D.C. area sports fans say they root for the Commanders, who are ranked lower than the Nationals (59%) and Capitals (50%). Fewer than 4 in 10 local sports fans (37%) say they are a Wizards fan.
Like Ravenscroft and Nabinett, Price is hoping Harris can get the franchise back to its former self.
“It was embarrassing to have such a terrible owner, and it was definitely embarrassing to have such a racist name,” Price said. “Yes, with new ownership I can be a huge fan again.”
The poll was conducted April 19-29 by The Post and George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government among a random sample of 1,683 adult residents in the Washington, D.C. area, including 1,295 sports fans and 640 Commanders fans. I did. The overall margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points, with 3.6 points among sports fans, 5.1 points among Commanders fans, and smaller among each subgroup.
Scott Clement contributed to this report.
