Last week, FedEx, which owns the sponsorship rights to the stadium in Landover, Maryland, where the Washington Redskins play football, requested the team change its name. The company signed a deal worth $205 million in the late 1990s that runs through the 2025 season.
“We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name,” FedEx said in a statement on July 2.
Just in case the Redskins decide to drag their feet on their request, FedEx reportedly also threatened, in a two-page letter, to remove its name and logo from the stadium at the end of the upcoming season unless the team committed to the name change, according to the Washington Post.
In the letter, FedEx officials reportedly told Dan Snyder’s squad that the nickname “poses the risk of harming FedEx’s brand reputation and is inconsistent with its commitment to a more inclusive society.” The letter reportedly said the company was founded on a “people-first philosophy” and that it wanted to make sure that its corporate partners are aligned with their standards.
Big-name retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target, as well as Nike and Dick’s Sporting Goods, have removed Redskins merchandise from their websites as well.
It is not a matter of if, but when the Redskins will be forced to change their name.
