Redskins owner Daniel Snyder just won the great debate over the Washington NFL franchise team name…
…and he did so without lifting a finger.
For those new to the argument, interest groups have been asking the Washington football team for decades to change its name. Offensive team names in Washington are nothing new. The Washington basketball franchise was named the Bullets for years. Abe Pollin, owner of the team in 1995, announced that the team would change its name from the Bullets. At the time, Washington, D.C. was among the top ranked cities in the United States in homicides per capita. The team was renamed the Wizards, and, for the most part, no one noticed. The NBA simply doesn’t have the reach that the NFL does.
For instance, in 2012, the NFL boasted the top 14 most viewed sporting events. The top NBA event, the Finals between the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder, pulled in a 10.9 rating. The Patriots/Giants Superbowl that year landed a 47. The NFL rules over all sports in the American TV market by magnitudes, and the Redskins play in a major market, in the NFC East conference, with the Philadelphia Eagles, the “America’s Team” Dallas Cowboys, and the New York Giants. These teams play featured games on NBC, Fox, or CBS nearly every Sunday and Monday night during the season.
The scrutiny is more high-profile than ever for Snyder to look at changing the name of the Washington Redskins. Congress got involved this summer. Senator Harry Reid personified the charge for the team to update its name. The Skins replied with a completely misled Twitter campaign that seemed better at organizing opposition than galvanizing any champions. Daniel Snyder dug his heels in and sounded like an egomaniac when defending the team name.
And then, by not saying anything at all, his entire argument changed.
Amanda Blackhorse is the lead plaintiff in the case that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office just decided against the Redskins. She has been more successful than any predecessor in building media visibility and public support against the Washington franchise name. The key to her argument is that the name “Redskins” has devolved from a term of unity to a racist slur. “Redskin” is offensive and must be changed. That is the cornerstone of Blackhorse’s argument.
Here’s where that argument derails. She just asked the Kansas City Chiefs to change their name also. “I’m sure fans will be upset, but still, that’s doing the right thing. If they want to be sensitive to Native American people, that’s the thing to do.”
That statement flies in the face of her lawsuit against the Redskins. Chiefs is not a racist term. The Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Hawks, and Golden State Warriors aren’t named for racist terms. Is Blackhorse going to name them next by extension? Broad brush arguments are hard to support. Blackhorse seems to have switched her target from one offensive team to the broadest of all audiences.
I think that move is a huge mistake, and it is one that will ultimately cost her credibility and leverage in her legal battle against Snyder and the Skins.
nK