Washington (Redskins), Cleveland (Indians) Find Themselves in a Team Name Predicament
By BetOnline
July 5, 2020
BY ADAM GREENE
It’s been brewing for years and each time the public pressure isn’t enough for a couple of cornerstone professional sports franchises to bend and do the right thing. Morality and decency just weren’t enough to make the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians change their mascots.
But it turns out there’s something more powerful than the satisfaction of making a sane, obvious moral choice. And that’s the threat of losing money.
FedEx, who currently owns the naming rights to Washington’s stadium decided they’d no longer like to be associated with the “Redskins.” The next shoe to drop (and don’t you dare forgive the pun) was Nike pulling “Redskins” merchandise from its website.
The Cleveland Indians, at this point seemingly out of the conversation, realized the writing was on the wall and went ahead and publicly stated that they too were looking into a new team name.
Now, officially, Washington has only said publicly that the team name is “under review,” but the new financial and corporate pressure on the team and owner Dan Snyder isn’t going away.
“This process allows the team to take into account not only the proud tradition and history of the franchise but also input from our alumni, the organization, sponsors, the National Football League and the local community is proud to represent on and off the field,” Snyder said in a statement.
As for any issues from the league in making a hasty team logo and name change, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that they’re all for it.
While the cynics out there might scoff at it happening, money talks and the NFL is counting far too much on sponsorship and licensing money this season because the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could keep stadiums empty. In short, this was a perfect storm and Snyder, along with all the “Pro Redskins” fans, have been swept up in it.
It’s happening.
So, specifically with the Washington football team, what new name are we looking at here?
Personally, I thought “Warriors” would be a slam dunk as they would only need to make a minor logo change (if not just go back to their old spearpoint). The problem there is there’s already a professional sports team called the “Warriors” and they’re a pretty good one. That NBA squad probably isn’t eager to share its name with an NFL team. The days of their being multiple Cardinals, Yankees and such are over. Trademarks and logos are too valuable.
Which is why Washington can’t mess it up.
Of all the choices listed, Redtails (paying at +200) is easily the best. Not only does it fit with their color scheme, but it has a solid history since it was the squad name of the Tuskegee Airman from World War II. It already has an advocate in current Washington QB Dwayne Haskins.
As for the rest, Redhawks (at +1200) and Hogs (at +5000) would all be solid choices. In the current climate, I definitely don’t see them going with a political name.
Cleveland’s baseball team is a wild card. I’m not in love with any of the choices. I’d go Rocks (at +750) if you twisted my arm. They have an entire offseason to think about it, so they’ll have plenty of time to focus group it and come up with something solid.
Washington? They don’t. Cash is on the line right now and they have barely two months to make the change.
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