The Washington Redskins might not be called the Washington Redskins for that much longer. At least, that’s if they don’t want to cut ties with any more of their major sponsors.
One of DC football’s major sponsors, the multinational delivery company, has formally requested that the Redskins change their moniker for good.
As the Associated Press and multiple media sites have reported, FedEx has had enough of the name. They issued the following statement via spokesperson for the company.
“We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name,” it said in a statement.
FedEx has done this after serious pressure from their own investors to urge the football franchise to do something. After all, they paid $205 million back in 1999 to land the naming rights to the team’s stadium.
But it’s not just FedEx. Two other major sponsors are making serious waves for the same cause – Pepsi and Nike.
Pepsi has released a statement of their own, expressing their dismay for the moniker.
“‘Redskins’ remains a de-humanising word characterizing people by skincolour and a racial slur with hateful connotations,” the letter written to PepsiCo said.
Nike has gone ahead and removed any and all merchandise of the Redskins franchise from their website. Neither is the team name visible on their drop down menus, the only team missing on the list.
While they haven’t issued a formal statement like Pepsi and FedEx, their actions speak for themselves.
It’s clear that pressure is mounting for a change in Washington. These big companies aren’t waiting for the polls to open in November for it either.
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