Earlier this month, the Washington NFL franchise announced its new team name, replacing the Football Team with the Commanders. Team president Jason Wright and other decision-makers made it known that Washington wants to celebrate its legacy while moving forward at the same time, and reviews on the rebrand were mixed.
Some fans were eager to embrace the Commanders name and the new garb that came with it, while others favored other options that could not be chosen due to existing trademarks held by other teams, such as "Wolves" and "RedWolves". Recently the Washington Post conducted a citywide poll of 904 D.C. residents to gauge how fans like the new name. The results revealed that about half of fans "dislike" or "hate" the Commanders choice, and very few "love" it.
The poll was taken from Feb. 2-14 and has an error margin of +/- 4 percentage points. The results also do not add to 100 due to rounding. For the full results of the poll, click here.
| Interest level | Percentage points |
|---|---|
Love | 5% |
Like | 36% |
Dislike | 32% |
Hate | 17% |
No Opinion | 11% |
It's a good thing that more fans "like" the name as opposed to hating it, but the numbers clearly show that the new moniker did not strike a chord with fans. This was not the only poll the Post ran, as it also asked residents which of the most recent three names they liked the most. Surprisingly, the "Washington Football Team" had the most support.
| Team name | Percentage points |
|---|---|
Washington Football Team | 43% |
Commanders | 26% |
Redskins | 22% |
Other | 5% |
No opinion | 5% |
The "Washington Football Team" was reportedly a finalist for the team name, and it appears a good chunk of fans would have been happier moving forward permanently as the "Football Team." At the very least for the franchise, the Commanders name is favored over the old Redskins name.
Former and current Washington players have said that the new name is "growing" on them. It wasn't a name that excited everyone, but it should be widely accepted in the near future. Commanders star pass rusher Chase Young wasn't always a fan of the name, but he told CBS Sports this month that he's ready to embrace it.
"It grew on me just seeing the jerseys and everything that we are going to stand for with the name, knowing we're from D.C.," Young said. "It definitely grew on me, so I'm ready to go out there and be a Commander, and we're going to be commanding -- know that!"