Washington Redskins New Name Odds

By Dan Cancian On 7/13/20 at 5:32 AM EDT

The Washington Redskins are expected to officially drop the reference to Native Americans from their name on Monday morning, after pressure from sponsors prompted the team to review its moniker.

The franchise's name has been a source of controversy since it was adopted in 1933 and two weeks ago FedEx, which holds the naming rights to the Redskins' home stadium, formally requested the team to change its name.

After PepsiCo and a host of other major sponsors followed suit, the Redskins announced on July 3 that they had begun a thorough review of the name.

Redtails

The bookmakers' favourite at 3/1, Redtails has become a hugely popular option over the last couple of weeks since it was first proposed by a Reddit user.

"The Redtails were a unit of black fighter pilots in WWII back when the military was still segregated," the user wrote on Reddit. "Redtails even works with the fight song, just change 'braves' to 'men.'"

Washington's owner Dan Snyder and coach Ron Rivera have both expressed a desire to have a team name honoring the military and naming the franchise after the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II would do just that.

Generals

At 4/1, Generals is the second-favorite to replace Redskins. The historical connection is obvious and few teams would be more deserving to call themselves "Generals" than a franchise playing in a city named after George Washington, arguably the most famous general in American history.

Presidents

Perhaps even more than Generals, Presidents would be a nod to Washington's role in American history. Naming the city's football franchise after Washington's most famous residents may seem a logical choice and the bookmakers have Presidents as a 3/1 third-favorite to be the name on the jerseys next season.

At the same time, presidents are far from universally popular figures and the franchise may opt for something less likely to alienate parts of its fanbase.

Lincolns

Much like Generals and Presidents, Lincolns would come with a strong historical connection to the city and removing a reference to American Indians in favor of renaming the team after the President who abolished slavery would send a strong message in the current climate.

Lincolns, however, is a 6/1 outsider at the time of writing.

Veterans

A fifth-favorite at 8/1, like Redtails and Generals, Veterans would fulfil the requirement of honoring the military.

Should Washington opt for Veterans, however, it could prove difficult for the franchise to retain its color scheme as the name conjures pictures of red, white and blue patterns.

According to the bookmakers, there are a host of other names in the running. Capitols is a 9/1 shot, although it's unlikely to be a viable alternative as it could lead to considerable confusion with the Washington Capitals, the city's NHL franchise.

Americans, Memorials and Monuments are all 10/1 shots, followed by Kings, Roosevelts at 12/1 and Redhawks at 15/1.