FedEx asks Washington Redskins football team to change its name

Shipping giant FedEx, which owns the naming rights to the Redskins' home stadium FedEx Field, has asked the famous football team to change its name.

"We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name," FedEx told media outlets in a statement.

FedEx Chairman and CEO Frederick W. Smith is also a minority owner in the Redskins.

The football team, which has a logo that looks like a Native American, is facing pressure to change the name, an idea that the team owner has previously rejected.

"We'll never change the name," Redskins team owner Daniel Snyder said in 2013. "It's that simple. NEVER — you can use caps."

But the team is again facing pressure to change its name.

"On Friday, three separate letters signed by 87 investment firms and shareholders worth a collective $620 billion asked Nike, FedEx and PepsiCo to terminate their business relationships with the NFL’s Washington Redskins unless the team agrees to change its controversial name," Adweek recently reported.

While this is not the first time the team name has come under scrutiny, the national conversation has recently become focused on racial issues in the wake of the May 25 death of George Floyd. 

Mississippi lawmakers passed and Gov. Tate Reeves signed legislation to retire the state's flag that was the only remaining state flag in the union emblazoned with the controversial Confederate Battle emblem. NASCAR has banned Confederate flags from its events. President Trump has publicly come out against the idea of renaming military installations named after Confederate leaders. The major brand Aunt Jemima will undergo a name and design change.