Is The End At Hand For The Washington Football Team Brand Name?

The renaming could happen in February.

The last day of the 2021-22 National Football League regular season could feature the final game in the history of the Washington Football Team. The business is expected to be rebranded on February 2nd and the team owner Daniel Snyder could maintain the name or just opt for a new brand name like the Washington Armada, or Presidents, or Brigade, or Redhawks, or Commanders, or Defenders. The RedWolves and Wolves are out of contention because of trademark problems. The name and team logo are sales points for the business which is why it has taken 18 months to find a name.

On April Fool’s Day 1987, Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth tossed out a notion looking for an answer at a function announcing that MLB had a new film partner. On that April 1st date, Ueberroth had a simple but complex question. What is the most important asset for any sports team? Any sports league? Ueberroth’s answer? The logo of the brand name. Ueberroth’s logic was simple, owners come and go, front office personnel come and go. Players, no matter how important to a team’s success or  how beloved, come and go. The logo and the name remain long after everyone else comes and goes. It is a complicated business to rebrand. The  Washington team founder George Preston Marshall just named his Boston team the Braves in 1932 and changed the name in 1933. He kept the name when he moved the team to Washington in 1937. Marshall’s team name became inappropriate and was dropped in 2020. Snyder won’t have to worry about the new name or logo and sales. He has a loyal fan base who will buy merchandise. Ueberroth was right. The brand and the logo are the most important things a team name has.

Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191  

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