As expected, the Washington Redskins have decided to retire their nickname and logo, the team announced on Monday. According to the team, owner Daniel Snyder and head coach Ron Rivera will be working together to find a new name.
— Washington Redskins (@Redskins) July 13, 2020
The pressure was mounting against the team to change the name after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. Also, retail giants Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart all said they would stop selling Redskins merchandise.
According to the Washington Post, On July 2, FedEx — one of the franchise’s top sponsors and the holder of its stadium’s naming rights — released a statement asking the team to change its name, and it sent a letter to team lawyers saying it would terminate the naming rights deal and not pay the contract’s remaining $45 million if Snyder did not change the team name. Other sponsors, including PepsiCo, Nike and Bank of America, also made similar demands.
Here is how social media reacted to the news:
As a kid who grew up in the dmv it’ll always be #HTTR but looking forward to the future 🤝 https://t.co/1qjYtrhGra
— Dwayne Haskins, Jr (@dh_simba7) July 13, 2020
If any team needed to rebrand it was the Washington Redskins. Would love to see what the new name will be.
— Andrew Yang🧢🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) July 13, 2020
Good. https://t.co/99HUz7NDIv
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 13, 2020
The play of the Washington Redskins was always more offensive than their name.
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) July 13, 2020
BREAKING: Washington Redskins are OFFICIALLY changing their name. What a disgrace.
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) July 13, 2020
YES!!!! WOOOHOOO!!!
Washington NFL team to announce retirement of ‘Redskins’ nickname, reveal new name Monday https://t.co/ZqOg28As5i via @usatoday
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) July 13, 2020
Dan Snyder is a life long Redskins fan. Imagine being able to BUY the team as a life long Redskins fan and then all you do afterwards is lose, drive the fans away and then ultimately change the name of the team. It’s unbelievable. I’d love to know what he thinks of all this.
— Chad Dukes 🇺🇸 (@chaddukes) July 13, 2020