Limitless Possibilities for the Washington Redskins’s New Name

WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.com – The Washington Redskins can learn from the University of North Dakota when it renamed its football team from the Fighting Sioux to the Fighting Hawks.

What the university’s journey shows is that a new name for a football team can be just about anything.

Over 1,600 suggestions poured in over the renaming of the university’s football team including ridiculous ones such as the “Abdominal Snowman.”

Owner of the Washington Redskins Dan Snyder is less open to such a long list of new monikers.

Nonetheless, his decision together with the organization will determine how the team is perceived for decades.

“Here’s where I think the fun begins and the work begins,” said Brand Federation founding partner and CEO Kelly O’Keefe, who was on North Dakota’s name change task force.

“To just pop out with a new name is not the right answer. The right answer is to build a process that starts to allow these people to be heard in the process of developing a new name.”

Snyder and coach Ron Rivera are already at work developing what the team called “a new name and design approach that will enhance the standing of our proud, tradition-rich franchise and inspire our sponsors, fans, and community for the next 100 years.”

For 87 years, they were known as the Washington Redskins, but newer names thrown in the list include the Red Tails, Red Clouds, Red Wolves, and Hogs.

The latter four being the top favorites for the new name.

The organization is working quietly to launch a new name and logo before the start of the 2020 season.

Sports business and marketing experts consider feedback from fans, endorsements from current players and alumni, and on-field success as three crucial elements no matter what the new name winds up being.

“The mere fact that they’re changing the name is going to elicit some backlash, and they need to be ready for that and be comfortable with it,” Virginia Tech professor Nneka Logan said.

“Beyond that, I think it’s important they and other organizations engage with your local community, engage with the Native American community, engage with all of your stakeholders in the process of the name change and ensure that it’s something that authentically aligns with your corporation’s values.”

Rivera said his hope was to continuing honoring and supporting Native Americans and the military.