Some sponsors and licensees hope marks and logo changes do not happen so close to season's startGETTY IMAGES
The Washington NFL team is changing its name, and by most accounts, wants to move quickly and quietly toward a new identity. But while little is known about the secretive process, what is known raises lots of questions for experts familiar with the process of sports team branding. In short, the Washington franchise appears to be embarking on the process with a small working group and is doing so just two weeks before training camp, even though rebranding work usually starts a year or more before an announcement and typically involves multiple outside agencies. For instance, the recently defunct XFL spent 10 months working on team names before they were announced in August '19, involving 12 agencies and developing 300 possible names for each market to start. If anything close to that level of activity has occurred in Washington already, it is a secret to top sponsors. “If a lot of these things were going on behind the scenes (before the club’s July 3 admission that a review was under way), then maybe they are in a good position,” said a source familiar with the XFL’s naming work. “But if they started from scratch, it would be a relatively challenging process.”
BASIC ISSUES TO OVERCOME: Washington coach Ron Rivera, who is among team Owner Daniel Snyder’s key advisors on the name, has said he hopes a new one could be in place for the '20 season. An exec at a key business partner to the franchise believes the franchise wants to make the change as soon as possible, and at least one season-ticket holder has been told a name is likely to be announced in a couple of weeks. But the team has not filed for any new trademarks under its corporate name as of July 10, according to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. It also has not contacted Martin McCaulay, the Virginia resident who has claimed most of the names publicly assumed to be under consideration, including Redtails and Warriors, according to his lawyer, Darren Heitner, a Florida lawyer who specializes in sports law and has represented clients such as Antonio Brown and Brandon Marshall. The club could just proceed without him on the assumption that they would win in court, but Heitner says he has no intention of fighting them. “He is willing to work with the team,” he said.
NOT HAPPY WITH QUICK TURNAROUND: Even the suggestion of a change to Washington's marks and logos this close to the start of a new season has roiled some sponsors and licensees. Certain basic goods such as T-shirts and hats can be printed nearly on-demand, but the overwhelming supply of the merchandise for this year is already manufactured with the old name on it and much of it is already with vendors. One industry expert estimated $15-20M worth of merchandise is likely to be lost.
SPONSORS IN DARK ABOUT CHANGE: While Snyder said the review predates the July 3 confirmation, it is not clear how substantial the work had been before that. Seven NFL teams changed uniforms this offseason, and all licensing partners are alerted early on that changes were coming. Nobody received any indication of such activity in Washington. Two senior Washington sponsors said they had no inkling of a name change until hours before the team’s July 3 announcement of a review, and they remain unclear about next steps. Some are taking action already, removing any marks that include the old name and logo in favor of generic NFL marks or generic Washington branding. Several sources said the team’s reported interest in maintaining its current color scheme will simplify the changeover.
STRONG VETTING NECESSARY: The tight circle surrounding Snyder on this issue is a problem by itself, said two sports marketers not involved. Given the controversial history of the nickname, they said it is especially important that the team thoroughly vets its new name with a wide range of Native American leaders and other activists to avoid creating a new problem. The timing “isn’t ideal,” said one sponsor, but it is good the team is working to end the old name as quickly as possible and his company is prepared to help.
