Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris insists team won’t change its name again

Washington Commanders controlling owner Josh Harris said Monday the team name is not changing.

Harris said the name is here to stay after inheriting it when he and his group bought the team from longtime owner Dan Snyder in 2023.

“I think it’s now being embraced by our team, by our culture, by our coaching staff, so, we’re going with that,” Harris said at his season-ending news conference. “Now, in this building, the name Commanders means something. It’s about players who love football, are great at football, hit hard, mentally tough, great teammates. It’s really meaningful that that name is growing in meaning.”

The Commanders reached the NFC Championship Game in quarterback Jayden Daniels’ rookie year, exceeding expectations in general manager Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn’s first season in charge.

Harris, who grew up as a Washington football fan, had previously said upon taking over that the team would not be going back to its old name that Snyder dropped in 2020. Aspects of the team’s history, including old uniforms, could return, and it’s unclear if there would be a new logo.

“As far as rebranding and bringing [back] our past, which obviously I grew up with and all the Super Bowl championships and our future together, you’re going to see us head back towards honoring our past and bringing it together with our future,” Harris said.

Asked multiple times about a new stadium, Harris reiterated talks are ongoing with Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. In August, he said 2030 was a “reasonable target” for opening.

“I grew up with a great stadium, and I understand what it’s like to play in a stadium where it’s hard for the visiting team to play,” Harris said, referring to RFK Stadium, the team’s home in Washington from 1961-96 before moving to Landover, Maryland. “We need to have a great place where our fans can show up, and, as much as possible, we want that to be an advantage to our team in terms of winning on the field.”

That site is one of the places being considered, and it’s a possibility thanks to a law transferring control of the land from the federal government to the city. Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell lobbied lawmakers on Capitol Hill in support of the bill late last year.

Given that, it seems like the preferred destination, though the Commanders are not closing the door on Maryland or Virginia, but fans seem to want a return to the RFK Stadium area.

“Maybe because of the history, it’s the location that when we do surveys is the most acceptable,” Harris said. “But there’s a lot of things that go into this. … That doesn’t mean that there’s not a lot of support in Maryland, a lot of support in Virginia. There is, but obviously D.C. is kind of aligned with the history and happens to be the easiest place to get to for the most number of fans.”

Harris has been through these sorts of negotiations recently, last month abandoning a plan for a new downtown arena for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and reaching an agreement with the city and owners of the NHL’s Flyers to construct one near their current building in the South Philly stadium complex where the Eagles and Major League Baseball’s Phillies also play. He called that “a good education.”

“Obviously, it’s a little more complicated here because it’s multi-jurisdictional, but we’re keeping our eye on the same thing and trying to balance everything and do what we think is the best thing for the city, for the overall region and the fans and the team,” Harris said. “And that’s how we’re going to think about it.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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