Washington Football Team president Jason Wright stressed a list of potential team names sent to fans is not meant is not the final list, is not meant to be taken as a vote, and is not the sole way the team will pick its new name.
“I want to reiterate that the survey is not meant to be a vote -- or a meaningless exercise,” Wright wrote Thursday on his blog on the team’s website.
He called the feedback stage was an “important step in our efforts to collect feedback on the types of names put forward by our fans and those we hope to bring into the family. Wright added the franchise has “an organizational culture to keep improving, a fan experience to revamp, a stadium to refill with our fans” and with many issues they wouldn’t “waste anyone’s time” with a useless exercise.
Last week the organization became emailing season ticket holders with a list of potential team names and asking them to "select your two most preferred names."
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Among the options sent to fans: Griffins, Warriors, Armada, Rising, Swifts, Commanders, Pilots, Rubies, Renegades, Monarchs, Presidents, Wild Hogs, Riders, Redwovles, Ambassadors, and Washington DC Football Club.
While the email to fans noted the list was not final, Wright really wanted to emphasize how this list was not final in his weekly piece on the team's website.
“The names included in the survey are not a final or a comprehensive list. Let me say that again: the names included in the survey are not a final or a comprehensive list,” he wrote.
“As you might have seen, [the potential names] take many different directions, and reading what is appealing (and appalling) to the public is helpful in that regard,” Smith wrote. “Using these surveys as the sole means of selecting our new name, brand and identity, however, was never what we had in mind.”
The organization is not currently at the point in their search to “significantly” narrow the options, but Wright added they are moving as fast as they can.
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“Once we have a short list of finalists, we will still need to go through the months-long work of legal wrangling, trademarking, merchandising feasibility and dozens of other uninteresting but really important steps that go into the launch of a new name,” Wright wrote. “That's why our new identity won't be on the field until the 2022 season”
Wright defended the public nature of picking a name by arguing getting fan input was always part of the plan and would continue throughout the process.
“A good business is customer-oriented, and a great franchise is tapped into the pulse of its fans. We have to do it this way,” he wrote.
While positive reactions from fans were ideal, Wright said some of the more negative and visceral reactions from fans helped the process, as well.
“Positive reactions to categories are very helpful to us as we debate which options to take forward. Allergic reactions to categories of names are also useful, and you certainly provided those,” he wrote. “Comments like ‘absurd’ and "utter trash,’ though less helpful than more thoughtfully laid out perspectives, can nonetheless be used to guide us forward.”
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And, of course, Wright added he expects when the team's new name is announced there will "no doubt be vocal discontent alongside the excitement of those who love the new moniker."
“There is no way to land a new brand without some dissatisfaction," he wrote. “But our hope is that our fans can understand that the final decision will be raised up by the pillars they built during this process.”
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