According to a report from Ben Standig and Rhiannon Walker of The Athletic, Nike has decided that it will not carry any merchandise featuring the National Football League team based in the nation’s capital — currently known as the Redskins — until there is a name change.
“A source at Nike, the NFL’s official uniform provider, told The Athletic that the company will not feature Washington gear until the team name is changed,” the article indicated. “Nike anticipates a change soon because it would take time for them to remake the jerseys and provide them to distributors.”
Pressure on the franchise and owner Daniel Snyder has never been more high-pitched. Nike pulled all its Redskins merchandise this week. This after 87 different shareholders and investment firms, whose financial involvement totals more than $620 billion in assets, asked Nike, FedEx and PepsiCo to end their business relationships with the team over the name. FedEx, which controls naming rights to the team’s stadium, has come out and asked for a name change.
Snyder, who has owned the team since 1999, has said in the past that he would never change the name, but he’s also never had corporate entities wielding their power over the team — and the league — as they are now.
Which is why the team sent out an announcement on Friday that it was conducting a “thorough review” of the name.
And here it is: the Redskins are undergoing a thorough review of the team’s name.
And let’s be clear: There’s no review if there’s no change coming.
Redskins on way out. pic.twitter.com/ZrS3cCvhMg
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 3, 2020
Nike is currently the NFL’s manufacturer for uniforms and sideline apparel, and is contracted through 2028.