Josh Harris Speaks... Commanders is permanent name.

If this announcement has in any way diminished your excitement in this team/the future of this team, then either you're selfish, or your priorities are way out of whack.
SilentThreat said:
Something that we're not consdering is the exactly what you're talking about. Is it possible Harris and co look around at the investment people have made with their hard earned money to support the team with gear that says Commanders on it. They see the support we all have shown over this run and seen that people will accept that name, even if it's not their favorite, and that maybe they can cleanse the Snyder stench, while also not turning around and asking a fanbase to spend money on a 4th investment of gear and schwag in 5 years.
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TL,DR warning:

I think it's possible.

Man, when they announced that they were going to be the Washington Football Team, I was ADAMANT that I wasn't going to buy any gear/merchandise, on principal alone. But then I stumbled across a funny WFT shirt, and caved in.

Then, I was NOT going to buy any Commanders gear. I did NOT like the name, nor did I like that black uniform or the stupid white pants with the burgundy jerseys. I was going to stick with my 'Skins gear. But you know what? I softened a bit. My Redskins stuff had some miles on it, and getting GOOD Redskins gear was going to be harder and harder to do. And the "W" was starting to grow on me: It really pops off of sweatshirts, tees, hats, etc. and we're still the only NFL team wearing those two colors, so when I walk in a fan shop, it's so easy to find our stuff.

So I started slowly...a hat, a few tees, a sweatshirt. Now it's a problem (at least according to my wife, lol): lots of hats, lots of tees, way too many hoodies, etc...and good stuff. High quality Nike, Homage, '47, etc...I don't want to start over again.

I'm proud of our team, I'm proud to be a fan, and I am proud to represent them in public, even if the name/logo isn't ideal. People see our colors, they know who we're about.
 
Single-Bar Facemask said:
If this announcement has in any way diminished your excitement in this team/the future of this team, then either you're selfish, or your priorities are way out of whack.


TL,DR warning:

I think it's possible.

Man, when they announced that they were going to be the Washington Football Team, I was ADAMANT that I wasn't going to buy any gear/merchandise, on principal alone. But then I stumbled across a funny WFT shirt, and caved in.

Then, I was NOT going to buy any Commanders gear. I did NOT like the name, nor did I like that black uniform or the stupid white pants with the burgundy jerseys. I was going to stick with my 'Skins gear. But you know what? I softened a bit. My Redskins stuff had some miles on it, and getting GOOD Redskins gear was going to be harder and harder to do. And the "W" was starting to grow on me: It really pops off of sweatshirts, tees, hats, etc. and we're still the only NFL team wearing those two colors, so when I walk in a fan shop, it's so easy to find our stuff.

So I started slowly...a hat, a few tees, a sweatshirt. Now it's a problem (at least according to my wife, lol): lots of hats, lots of tees, way too many hoodies, etc...and good stuff. High quality Nike, Homage, '47, etc...I don't want to start over again.

I'm proud of our team, I'm proud to be a fan, and I am proud to represent them in public, even if the name/logo isn't ideal. People see our colors, they know who we're about.
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There is tons of Redskins merchandise available out there. As i told the team in my message, i spent over $500 on Redskins gear this Christmas for my family. $0 on Commanders gear.
 
hell i coach two Commanders flag football teams and am decked out in Redskins gear while coaching them.
 
Single-Bar Facemask said:
So I started slowly...a hat, a few tees, a sweatshirt. Now it's a problem (at least according to my wife, lol): lots of hats, lots of tees, way too many hoodies, etc...and good stuff. High quality Nike, Homage, '47, etc...I don't want to start over again.
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Your story is similar to mine. I was not going to buy any WFT stuff because I knew it was temporary—I also hated it more than Commanders, but that’s really irrelevant.

I still wasn’t going to buy anything under Snyder. Then the miraculous happened: he announced he was selling the team. I immediately bought a hat, reminiscent of my favorite hat: the gold script r on the burgundy hat.

Then a tshirt. Then a black hoodie with the W. And another Commanders shirt. A burgundy Payne jersey. A Jayden Daniels shirt on draft day. Another hat. Christmas was a black #5. Birthday will be a burgundy #4. I’m waiting for them to tweak the white jerseys before I get one of them.

I hated the name initially, but it has grown on me. And, what people still ignore here, is the cost involved in a new brand. Likewise they risk pissing off the people who have spent their money on Commanders gear. They might not buy the new brand—I would certainly be annoyed.

No company is going to risk what they’ve built, the associated cost to rebranding, for what might happen. I think they trample a lot of good will built up this year. There is so much unbridled optimism right now. There is no need to risk that either.
 
SkinsGuru said:
There is tons of Redskins merchandise available out there. As i told the team in my message, i spent over $500 on Redskins gear this Christmas for my family. $0 on Commanders gear.
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I can find plenty of screen-printed gear. But for nicer, stitched (for example) stuff, or stuff in the latest styles, etc, that can be very difficult to find.

Like Homage, who makes GREAT retro/throwback shirts& sweatshirts...nothing.

'47 Brand, who makes great hats and has started to dabble in the retro apparel market...nothing.

None of the Official Sideline gear is produced in Redskins. Some of the really nice Nike stuff? No chance.

Those of you that won't wear anything unless it's Redskins, that's cool, you do you...but I'm going to wear Commanders stuff. And that's fine with me.
 
This will come across as harsh but any factor beyond "bottom dollar" will not matter to ownership as there's no reason for it to.

How long you've been a fan, how much money you've spent, how much you know about the team, how dedicated you are, how much you've suffered - they couldn't care less about any of that unless you're not spending money and you're representative of a large class of people that are similarly situated and will act similarly.

This is probably the worst time possible to demand anything as the team is riding a huge wave of tailwinds of inertia to leave things as they are: franchise QB, best postseason performance in nearly 30 years, increased ticket sales, increased merchandised sales, likely increased revenues, increased interest in the team etc. - all of which have a material positive impact on the value of the franchise and the net revenues received by the ownership group.

In those circumstances, it would be totally irrational for the team to make changes to something that's working well; stated another way, changing the name (if it's even permissible) will have an uncertain increase (and potentially decrease) in value to the franchise with known significant costs (throwing away & rebranding everything in the entire inventory including intangible assets, likely including depreciating assets that may have to be accelerated on a name change). On the other side, you have leaving everything as status quo (which is effectively "free") and you have major tailwinds with what you've got going.

If you're the ownership of the team, I think we can safely assume that all you care about is maximizing the (long term) value of the team.

On that basis, why would anyone not chose the latter?

We are approaching this from the standpoint of emotional attachment (i.e., irrationality) whereas the owners are simply doing the rational thing which is maximizing value.

I would love the name to change, but there's just no reason for the people who are so empowered to do it.
 
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iheartskins said:
This will come across as harsh but any factor beyond "bottom dollar" will not matter to ownership as there's no reason for it to.

How long you've been a fan, how much money you've spent, how much you know about the team, how dedicated you are, how much you've suffered - they couldn't care less about any of that unless you're not spending money and you're representative of a large class of people that are similarly situated and will act similarly.

This is probably the worst time possible to demand anything as the team is riding a huge wave of tailwinds of inertia to leave things as they are: franchise QB, best postseason performance in nearly 30 years, increased ticket sales, increased merchandised sales, likely increased revenues, increased interest in the team etc. - all of which have a material positive impact on the value of the franchise and the net revenues received by the ownership group.

In those circumstances, it would be totally irrational for the team to make changes to something that's working well; stated another way, changing the name (if it's even permissible) will have an uncertain increase (and potentially decrease) in value to the franchise with known significant costs (throwing away & rebranding everything in the entire inventory including intangible assets, likely including depreciating assets that may have to be accelerated on a name change). On the other side, you have leaving everything as status quo (which is effectively "free") and you have major tailwinds with what you've got going.

If you're the ownership of the team, I think we can safely assume that all you care about is maximizing the (long term) value of the team.

On that basis, why would anyone not chose the latter?

We are approaching this from the standpoint of emotional attachment (i.e., irrationality) whereas the owners are simply doing the rational thing which is maximizing value.

I would love the name to change, but there's just no reason for the people who are so empowered to do it.
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We do tend to forget that members of the ownership group do not (and, really, should not) view this situation the way we, the fans, do. While Josh Harris may have grown up a 'Skins fan, his motivating factor is no longer to have a satisfying rooting interest, but rather to enrich his business's bottom line. For us, this is a hobby/distraction. For Harris, Rales and Ein, it's their livelihood. Their decisions can't be based on feelings, whereas fanhood has a lot to do with emotion.

Perhaps this non-name change can be something that we just accept as part of being fans of this franchise, in the same way that Cubs fans "embraced" their "curse" for so many years (until it was broken). It's not what you want, but it's part of being a Washington football fan. It's a scar, a reminder that being a fan of any sports team invariably brings more pain than pleasure and that it is, ultimately, not terribly important.
 
iheartskins said:
This will come across as harsh but any factor beyond "bottom dollar" will not matter to ownership as there's no reason for it to.

How long you've been a fan, how much money you've spent, how much you know about the team, how dedicated you are, how much you've suffered - they couldn't care less about any of that unless you're not spending money and you're representative of a large class of people that are similarly situated and will act similarly.

This is probably the worst time possible to demand anything as the team is riding a huge wave of tailwinds of inertia to leave things as they are: franchise QB, best postseason performance in nearly 30 years, increased ticket sales, increased merchandised sales, likely increased revenues, increased interest in the team etc. - all of which have a material positive impact on the value of the franchise and the net revenues received by the ownership group.

In those circumstances, it would be totally irrational for the team to make changes to something that's working well; stated another way, changing the name (if it's even permissible) will have an uncertain increase (and potentially decrease) in value to the franchise with known significant costs (throwing away & rebranding everything in the entire inventory including intangible assets, likely including depreciating assets that may have to be accelerated on a name change). On the other side, you have leaving everything as status quo (which is effectively "free") and you have major tailwinds with what you've got going.

If you're the ownership of the team, I think we can safely assume that all you care about is maximizing the (long term) value of the team.

On that basis, why would anyone not chose the latter?

We are approaching this from the standpoint of emotional attachment (i.e., irrationality) whereas the owners are simply doing the rational thing which is maximizing value.

I would love the name to change, but there's just no reason for the people who are so empowered to do it.
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All of this is true, and it's certainly why the further they made it through the postseason, the more momentum they built in the season, with Jayden ALONE --- it all factored to increases in revenue and lowered chances of moving away from the team.

HOWEVER: if a large enough contingent of *paying* fans (season-ticket holders, other) were to voice serious concerns, I think there is a nonzero chance that they would listen. It would have to be people who are visibly proven to spend demonstrable, regular money. That generally would mean season ticket holders. It's the only way to have any chance to balance the other side.

You are right, though - any appeal about this being the last vestige of Snyder is probably out the window as a convincing argument against the other information they have. The STH part is also going to be a hard sell against the numbers they already have. The hope of enough clamor from proven paying fans against the numbers they already have, convincing them of the uphill battle being worth it -- yes, very slim.

I support people's thought to voice their opinions, and consider the approach first - I still think, it doesn't hurt to try, and sometimes it's good to register discontent. However, it should come as no surprise for all of it to fall on deaf ears.

I would also add - it's not even just what you wrote here. Others have validly mentioned, for everyone who complains that they want to change the name - there is now a contingent that can take a strong stance to keep it, having already supported this name. That is another consideration. In the Harris mind, as well - if he doesn't say "YES, we are keeping this name" he may assume some percentage of fence-sitters will wait to open wallets. Further, he may not view it as a good idea to hose them after already saying the name will be kept.
 
CrimsonHide1970 said:
Simultaneously?
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Different age groups, so games are two hours apart. I am a single Dad (no mother involved in any way), so coaching both of my kids ensures i can get both to practice and be at both games. So i hold 11U practice at 5:30 to 7, then 15U practice at 7 - 8:30. Best way i could think of to work it all out and let them both be in football without worry of how to make it.
 
iheartskins said:
If you're the ownership of the team, I think we can safely assume that all you care about is maximizing the (long term) value of the team.

On that basis, why would anyone not chose the latter?

We are approaching this from the standpoint of emotional attachment (i.e., irrationality) whereas the owners are simply doing the rational thing which is maximizing value.

I would love the name to change, but there's just no reason for the people who are so empowered to do it.
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This.

Generational Wunderkind at QB, merch sales through the roof, everyone talking about the franchise in Washington positively for the first time in a quarter century, why upset the apple cart? Harris could sell the team today and make a tidy profit on the excitement and expectations for the franchise in DC, his stewardship has already brough to fruition. I don't like it and will forever feel the name is crap. However, standing pat is the rational thing to do with his and the other stakeholders money. Any outsider would call him crazy to mess with the recent wild success on and off the field. We take it personally because of what was ripped from us. Now that we have what we perceive as an actual true "fan" as an owner, we are giving him grief for not doing what we all think he should (or think we would) do if we were in his position.

In the end we have gotten everything we dared dream of in an owner except that he is not going to risk his six billion investment on fans - most of which are long in the tooth - hatred of name of franchise for which we know will never be good enough in our hearts (or probably his) unless it went back to Redskins- a patent impossibility

I suspect he feels that tweaking the uniforms to be closer to the classics and allowing the old logo to be softly displayed around the edges - and not treat it as pornographic- will be enough to get the majority of the glory days fans holding out to let the name thing go. And he is probably right. At least speaking for myself. Fix the uniforms, don't treat the old logo as some biohazard, and build me a stadium, and let's move forward and win some more SBs
 
SkinsGuru said:
Different age groups, so games are two hours apart. I am a single Dad (no mother involved in any way), so coaching both of my kids ensures i can get both to practice and be at both games. So i hold 11U practice at 5:30 to 7, then 15U practice at 7 - 8:30. Best way i could think of to work it all out and let them both be in football without worry of how to make it.
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Well done, dad. Well done.
 
I don't know if this is the same thing, but other coaches on my staff let kids know not to tell me that they are Cowgirl fans. I have a strange way of forgetting to play these kids. Its an odd affliction I have dealing with these situations. But we do try to warn them.
 
I will do what I've since the C name was adopted. Refer to the team as Washington or the Redskins. I am never using the current name. It's a terrible name absent of its connection to Dan Snyder. When you take Snyder's involvement into account it just makes it worse. It's like stamping a "Dan Snyder" name badge on all team apparel and related paraphernalia.
 
I think often we forget just how much of an impossible situation this is for the new owners also. The fanbase is literally all over the place on this issue.

There are fans who utterly REFUSE to accept any name but Redskins.

There are fans who want to go back to “Football Team” so we don’t really have a name and are still the Redskins in absentia.

There are fans who wanted the name changed from Redskins for a variety of reasons (racially charged…distraction, tired of the issue etc etc.) but despise Commanders and only like the names they like. Most of which would be damn near impossible to obtain.

There are fans who only want Commanders changed because Snyder picked it and would rather be the Washington Shitheads if it meant Snyder doesn’t get that “win”

There are fans who are so fatigued by the issue they didn’t want to have to go through this again even if they don’t like Commanders.

There are fans who genuinely like the name or have come around to the name and just want to move forward now. The gear is selling and they are making money.

All over the place

I am reminded of a quote from Costner’s Wyatt Earp biography. At one point in the film Doc Holliday tells Wyatt “for some people…this world ain’t never gonna be right“ and that is how it is with the name of this football team.

For many it’s never going to be right, and that’s just the way it is.
 
This was a business decision. They took the route of least resistance. We will never fully know why. iheartskins probably has most of it right. So if all we wanted in an owner was a shrewd businessman, congrats folks - you got one. I'm not saying that's ALL he is, but that is what he is first and foremost.

I was hoping there would be some consideration of what the fanbase wants.

Not so much. And then after slamming the door on what you know to be the majority of fan's desires, you put out a love letter about how much you appreciate and care about the fans. That's some serious balls Harris :)

Want to be a shrewd businessman, ingratiate yourself to Roger Goodell and league power brokers, and take the path of least resistance - your $6 billion gives you every right to do that. But own it. Don't wrap it up in a bunch of emotional bullshit about how real you are with this fanbase. You just crapped all over this fanbase. But maybe if you live long enough our kids will love you.

Yes - I'm thrilled Snyder is gone.
Harris and company are light years better.
I'm thrilled on the football side of things.
I still have my fan card proudly in hand.
I will wear whatever the team gear is, because that's what fans do.
But Josh Harris? At least for the forseeable future? He can suck it.
 
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I hear all that Boone

The lip service that's paid by ownership to caring about the fans is exactly that - as a quick press release to tip their hat in saying they "care" is also effectively "free" as it can easily be generated by the PR team and will potentially be enough to assuage most fans.

The days of team ownership really caring about the fan base are, I think, very much a thing of the past if they ever existed at all.

PSLs, huge licensing deals, huge player contracts, $20 beers, stadiums named after corporations, year-round training (unlike the old old days when players smoked cigarettes and had off season jobs that were listed in the media guides that you and I scanned years ago)...this is the natural result of all of that.

There's just too much money involved to treat owning a franchise really as anything other than owning any other operating company.

It's never really been a family; it's just way, way more transparent how little we matter now, particularly as individual fans. I have no way of knowing but I have to think Jack Kent Cooke felt much the same way as current ownership, we just didn't have nearly the level of access then as we do now to how he felt.

Ownership is running the business to maximize returns to shareholders (i.e., themselves) at the expense of everything else, as well perhaps they should given the design of our economic system. And really as most closely held companies are operated.

Doing more than "lip service" to fans will only be done if the underlying value of the franchise is dependent on making fans happy.

And given how happy they've made us in arguably far more important ways (e.g., winning, franchise QB, not being so inept all the time, etc.), making us happy about the name has just been deemed (probably rightly) not that important.
 
Refreshing to have a new owner who is open to communication. REALLY appreciate that!

 
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