Washington Football Team president Jason Wright: New team name likely won’t be ready for 2021 season
Though the team is working toward a new name, it’s unlikely that the Washington Football Team has a new name in place for the 2021 season.
Team president Jason Wright said on WJLA on Tuesday that there’s “a pretty good chance” the placeholder name gets used again next fall. There’s simply too much they need to do.
“I think next year is fast because of how the brand has to come together through uniforms, through approval processes through the league,” he said on WJLA. “Next year is fast. There is a pretty good chance we will still be the Washington Football Team next season.
“We could get there quicker. It’s actually pretty hard to get there that quickly because of all the steps that need to happen.”
Name change could take 18-24 months
While Wright’s statement on Tuesday may surprise some, his timeline actually makes a lot of sense.
Washington officially dropped its long-standing racist nickname in July, something team owner Dan Snyder had previously vowed never to do. It announced that it would go by the Washington Football Team this season while the organization works on a new name.
Handling everything that goes into a name change — deciding on the name, obtaining trademarks, creating new logos and jerseys, replacing stadium signage and more — generally takes anywhere from 18-24 months. As the Washington Football Team started the process in July, that timeline would allow them to officially change their name around January 2022.
Though the temporary name isn’t ideal, new coach Ron Rivera doesn’t want the process rushed.
“We want this new name, this new nickname, to be able to stand the rest of time, stand for 100 years,” he said in July. “We’re going to be real busy with that. We’ve hired a firm that wants to be very diligent with their work, they want to be inclusive with their work. We’re going to do this right.”
More from Yahoo Sports:
