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The club, which had long said they would never change the
Redskins name, softened their stance in mid-2020 after a naming
rights sponsor to their suburban stadium in Landover, Maryland
urged the NFL team to rebrand.
The team said they would be known as Washington Football Team
while they worked to finalize a replacement name and logo.
"We can't wait to hit the ground running with our team name and
identity on a clear path -- one without distracting obstacles,
legal or otherwise," team president Jason Wright said in a
statement.
"And while we've always understood it would be a nearly
impossible task to select a name that all of our fans would
identify with as their first pick, we are very excited about our
final selection, which aligns with our values, carries forth our
rich history, represents the region and, most importantly, is
inspired and informed by you, our fans."
Wolves and RedWolves had been popular suggestions among fans
during the rebranding process.
"Once we began looking into Wolves ... we became aware of a
notable challenge: trademarks held by other teams would limit
our ability to make the name our own," Wright said.
The team that became the Washington Redskins was founded in 1932
as the Boston Braves. Its name was changed to the Redskins the
following year and it moved to Washington in 1937. Many American
professional and collegiate sports teams have nicknames on
Native American themes.
The team have won three Super Bowls and are one of the NFL's
marquee franchises, ranked by Forbes last August as the league’s
fifth most valuable franchise at $4.2 billion.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
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