FedEx, which has the right to name the stadium in which the Washington Redskins play, asked Thursday that the team change its nickname.
“We have communicated to the Washington team our request to change the name of the team,” FedEx said in a statement obtained by ESPN.
FedEx paid the Redskins $ 205 million for naming the rights to the stadium in 1998 as part of an agreement that will continue until 2025. Frederick Smith, president and chief executive officer and president of FedEx Corp., also owns a minority stake in the Redskins.
Team owner Dan Snyder has been pressured to change the nickname, with protesters targeting team sponsors, according to Adweek.
FedEx, Nike and PepsiCo have each received letters signed by 87 combined investment and shareholder companies worth $ 620 billion asking companies to cut ties with the team unless they change their controversial name , Adweek reported on Wednesday.
In 2014, The Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin asked FedEx shareholders to reconsider the naming rights agreement, but shareholders voted to stay with company officials and continue the business relationship, according to Memphis Business Journal.
Snyder has been under more pressure in recent weeks to change his name given the social climate after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.
Native American leaders want Snyder to change the name, which the franchise has used since 1933. In the past, groups have protested the name and tried to win in court. These efforts have failed.
The Washington Post reported that Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives, made it clear that the nickname had to be changed if the team wanted to return to the district.
This position serves as a potential barrier if the franchise wants to return to the neighborhood when its lease on the grounds of FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, is effective after the 2027 season. Washington is examining sites in the district, Maryland and Virginia.
District officials had made it clear that they would like the franchise to return to the city, where it played until it left RFK Stadium after the 1996 season. The federal government owns the land, but the Norton last year introduced a bill that demanded that it be sold to the city at fair market value.
John Keim of ESPN contributed to this report.
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