The Washington Redskins announced this morning that they will change their team name, but the new name won’t be announced until later.
The announcement comes after the organization released a statement July 3 saying it would be undertaking what it called a “thorough review” of the team’s name; multiple people familiar with the process have said that it would result in the name being changed.
In an interview July 4, Coach Ron Rivera — who is working with owner Daniel Snyder to choose a name — said he hoped the new name would be in place by the start of the 2020 NFL season.
Others have said it will be revealed as soon as within two weeks.
Two people with knowledge of the team’s plans said Sunday that the preferred replacement name is tied up in a trademark fight, which is why the team can’t announce the new name Monday.
In the July 4 interview, Rivera said he and Snyder had come up with two names that Rivera really liked.
He did not reveal the names but said he wanted to confer with Native American and military organizations to make sure that the new name properly honored both.
The decision to change the nearly 87-year-old team name comes amid mounting pressure on the franchise from corporate sponsors and the broader nationwide discussion of race.
“It’s happening in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement and all that implies of Black people and Indigenous people in our country,” said Suzan Shown Harjo, a Native American activist, who has been at the forefront of the movement to change the Washington team’s name. “What’s happening right now is such a broad swath of society.”
For decades, groups have appealed to professional sports teams, colleges and high schools to eliminate names and logos that they say are dehumanizing, disrespectful and racist.
Multiple dictionaries have defined it as “often offensive” since the 1970s.
That has been the position of large numbers of Native American tribal leaders, educators, lawyers and journalists.
Major Native American organizations have formally called on sports teams to stop using Native American names and mascots.
The Cleveland Indians are reviewing their name now.
The Braves and the Blackhawks both issued statements recently indicating they would not alter their names, but said they planned to work harder with Native American groups to promote awareness and respect.
“There is absolutely no evidence of that,” countered Stephanie Fryberg, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and a member of the Tulalip nation in Washington State.
She recently published a study showing that about two-thirds of Native Americans who frequently engage in cultural practices are offended by the names and logos, and also some of the behavior of fans of those teams.
“When you use a person’s identity in a sports domain,” she said, “and you allow people to dress in red face and put on headdresses and dance and chant a Hollywood made-up song that mocks Native tradition and culture, there is no way to call that honoring.”
Snyder had previously said he would never change the controversial Redskins name, which is considered to be a slur against Native Americans.
But Rivera said he and Snyder began discussing a possible change near the end of May.
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 Snyder last week saying it would take the company’s name off FedEx Field if he did not change the team name.
Other sponsors, including PepsiCo, Nike and Bank of America, also made similar demands.
“I don’t know if it was just the FedEx thing, but that was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said David Glass, a member of the White Earth Nation in Minnesota.
Glass is president of the National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media, which urges high schools, colleges and entertainment venues to give up Native American team names, mascots and related imagery.
“I’m sure money plays a big part of this,” said Eunice Davidson, a member of the Spirit Lake tribe of North Dakota. She is a founder of the Native American Guardian’s Association, which advocates keeping the Redskins name on grounds that it honors Native Americans.
“Money is always the bottom line,” Davidson said.