All indications show that Washington is going to have a new name in the near future. Whether that comes with a new logo and new color scheme is yet to be determined, but they have stated that the goal is to have a new brand going into the 2020 NFL season.
According to some NFL experts, that may be a ‘Herculean effort.’
NBC Sports Washington talked with Andrew Brandt, an expert on NFL business and someone who worked with the Green Bay Packers for over a decade. He says that for the team to rebrand in a matter of weeks is next to impossible. Here is an excerpt from the article that shows just what a monumental task this might be.
Normally changing the name of a football franchise valued at more than $3 billion would take years, with focus groups and market research to back up the decision. In this case, Washington is slated for a preseason game in Nashville on August 15th and to host their regular season opener on September 13th at FedEx Field.
The preseason opener is a little more than a month away, and the team hasn’t even provided a timeline on a name change. In fact, though it’s widely expected to come, the team hasn’t even publicly said they’re going to change the name at all.
It’s hard to fathom the team could roll out even just new uniforms by August 15th, let alone erase every Redskins logo on their official stationery, moving supplies, marketing materials, and so on by September 13th.
Brandt believes it could make sense for the team to just go by Washington this season and allow appropriate time to pick a new name for the 2021 season.
So maybe we should pump the breaks on a new brand being ready to go by the start of the 2020 season? That’s not to say that a new name won’t eventually come, but patience will be required to see it put into place.
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