The Washington Redskins NFL team is changing its name — what does it mean for American sport? – ABC News

The Washington Redskins have ended 87 years of history, signalling they will drop the franchise name of the famous NFL team.
But why is one of the most well-known names in American sport having to cut ties with its history?
And could it have a knock-on effect to other sports?
Why are the Redskins changing their name?
The team was originally founded as the Boston Braves. They changed to the Boston Redskins in 1933, and moved to Washington in 1937 where they have been ever since.
The Redskins have won five NFL titles, including three Super Bowls. But original owner George Preston Marshall believed in segregation and the team was the last in the professional football to employ black players.
The team’s name has been controversial, with a decades-long campaign from Native American groups who have described it as a “dictionary-defined racial slur”.
Redskins owner Daniel Snyder had previously vowed he would “never” change the team’s name.
More than a dozen Native leaders and organisations wrote to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last week demanding an immediate end to Washington’s use of the name.
But what appears to have changed the team’s mind is the decision of sponsors to demand a shift.
FedEx who are minority stakeholders in the franchise and have naming rights over the team’s stadium in Maryland plus a string of other sponsors, including Nike, Pepsi and Bank of America, all put pressure on Snyder.
He announced a “thorough review”, and the team has now announced it will be “retiring” the name and Indian head logo.
This will be the first name change in the NFL since the late 1990s, when the Houston Oilers team moved to Tennessee and after a year’s transition became the Tennessee Titans.
Dan Snyder has defended the Redskins name for two decades.(Reuters: Joshua Roberts)
What will the team be called now?
The short answer is we don’t know.
Making the announcement, the team made clear it would be retiring the Redskins name and logo when the review was completed.
“Dan Snyder and coach

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