Washington Going With Placeholder Name For 2020 NFL Season

“Washington Football Team” will be the name of Daniel Snyder's club until a permanent name is chosen and implemented, the NFL team announced today. The club said it will begin removing the old team name and logos from all properties -- digital and physical -- with the expectation of fully retiring that branding by the Sept. 13 opener at home against the Eagles. Merchandise sporting the new identity will be available from Fanatics and NFLShop.com in the "coming days." The team also unveiled new uniforms, which include the classic burgundy-and-gold color scheme with an updated font but no logos.

“The decision to use 'Washington Football Team' for this season allows the franchise the ability to undertake an in-depth branding process to properly include player, alumni, fan, community, and sponsor input,” the team said. “To date, we have been pleased to see so many people putting forward their vision of what the new name and design should be on their social media channels and we look forward to including their feedback as this process progresses.”

The decision to go with a placeholder, less than three weeks after Snyder acknowledged he was considering changing the name, was widely anticipated in the sports industry. Multiple team sponsors and licensing industry insiders told SBJ that there simply wasn’t enough time to conduct the proper diligence before the start of the 2020 season. However, with Snyder under pressure from stadium naming-rights sponsor FedEx and others to remove the “Redskins” name as soon as possible, a temporary solution seemed most viable.