Get this: NFL owners, according to one new report, have indicated they will reject Josh Harris’ $6.05 billion purchase of the Washington Commanders unless he and his investment group change the way the deal is financed. That’s rich.
The Commanders are the Exxon Valdez of the NFL. Here comes someone willing to clean up the mess and owners don’t like the skimmers they use. Harris should say, “Fine. Keep Joseph Hazelwood. We’re done.”
Hey. There’s a name to consider for the football team — Exxon Valdez. The oil company may not be crazy about it. But they changed the name of the ship to the SeaRiver Mediterranean.
Maybe the trademark has expired on the Valdez. I’d suggest Commanders president Jason Wright’s crack research team investigate, but they appear to be too busy trying to save the name they picked for the team in their convenience store unveiling of the Commanders “rebrand” on 2-2-22.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark office denied Washington a trademark for “Washington Commanders,” noting that the name is to be likely confused with an existing trademark and prior applications that were filed before the team tried to register the mark.
This was the team’s response: “The trademark office’s recent nonfinal office action is an ordinary course step in the standard trademark registration process,” a Commanders spokesperson said in a statement. “We will respond to the Trademark Office’s office action and are confident that our registration will be issued.”
Just another day in Commanders’ land. Number of days without an embarrassment on the blackboard? Keep those erasers handy.
What makes it typically pathetic for this franchise is that Wright, their chief blunder officer, boasted how thoroughly they were going to make sure they didn’t have any trademark problems when he made a statement two months before the unveiling that they would not be picking any of the fan favorites like “RedWolves” because of the fear of exactly what has happened with Commanders.
“Early on we understood Wolves — or some variation of it — was one of our fan favorites,” Wright said in a statement. “As I’ve said all along, we take feedback from our fans seriously, and because of your interest in this name, we put Wolves on a list of options to explore fully. Once we began looking into Wolves, however, we became aware of a notable challenge: trademarks held by other teams would limit our ability to make the name our own. And without Wolves, variations like RedWolves wouldn’t have been viable either for these and other reasons.
“Understanding the weight and importance of our team name, and excitement around other name options — both internally and within our fan base — we didn’t want to risk going down a route that could be dotted with legal hurdles. The prospect of years of litigation wasn’t something that we wanted you, our fans, to have to bear as you begin to embrace a new brand.”
The laughable arrogance — and incompetence — is predictable, so much so that Dan Snyder himself, according to a recent report in Forbes, Snyder is banking on it. After he sells the team, Snyder is asking for 50% of the increase in the gross revenue Harris and Co. will enjoy once the team is sold and fans celebrate Snyder’s departure.
What is ironic is that I’m guessing most Washington football fans would love to, as Wright said, “bear” the fight against the Commanders name. Based on the public reaction, a majority of fans would love Harris and Co. to take over and change the name.
Part of that may be the segment of the fan base who are still angry about losing the Redskins name. And part of it was certainly turned off by the low-rent presentation of the new name Commanders. It felt cheap from the start.
Whatever is driving the criticism for the name Commanders, it is not going to disappear easily. There may be other priorities for new ownership — things like winning, a new stadium — but the lack of enthusiasm for the name Commanders is likely not going to simply be reversed. And now, thanks to Wright and his crack business team, fans may not have to live with it.
⦁ You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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