Amazon Pulls Redskins Gear As MD Governor Calls For Name Change

WASHINGTON, DC — Amazon is removing Washington Redskins merchandise from its site, following the lead of mega-retailers Walmart and Target, which announced in recent days they were pulling gear with the Redskins name and emblem from their sites. The moves come after team announced last Friday that it was conducting a "thorough review" of its name.

Supporters of a name change gained another convert Wednesday when Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said that Redskins is a “hurtful name” and said he “absolutely” agrees it should be considered a racial slur. FedEx Field, where the team plays, is located in Landover, Maryland.

Prior to Wednesday, Hogan had not publicly expressed opposition to the team name. In 2014, Hogan told The Washington Times that he likes to “call them the Washington Redskins.”

In a note to sellers on Wednesday, Amazon said that it would remove products featuring the Washington team, including jerseys, T-shirts and jewelry, CNBC reported. Sellers were given 48 hours to remove any products flagged by Amazon, according to the report.

For decades, Native Americans and other groups have called on the Washington team ownership to change its nickname, widely considered a racial slur against Native Americans.

Walmart and Target pulled Washington Redskins merchandise from their websites after the team announced last Friday that it would conduct a "thorough review" of the team's nickname. Reports also emerged that minority owners in the team are looking to sell their financial stakes in the franchise, which total up to 40 percent. Majority owner Dan Synder, who has said he will never change the team name, owns the remainder.

“With the announcement from the Washington team and the NFL, we are removing products with the team’s name and logo from our stores,” according to the Amazon notice sent to sellers, as reported by CNBC. “Failure to properly close or delete all restricted product listings from your inventory may result in deactivation.”

Reports have emerged that there is "no question" that Washington is expected to change its name before the first kickoff this fall, scheduled for Sept. 10.

Protests across the country following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis have forced businesses and policymakers to review building names, statues and other imagery associated with racist historical figures.

SB Nation's Hogs Haven is reporting that Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, could be interested in purchasing the minority stakes in the team. Should that happen, "the die is then cast for him to eventually take over full ownership," Hogs Haven said.

On Monday, President Donald Trump came down on the side of keeping the team name. "They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct," Trump tweeted.

Appearing on the “Today” show Wednesday, Gov. Hogan, a fellow Republican, disagreed with the president. He joined a growing list of politicians who have called on the Redskins to make a change. District Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) also recently reiterated their stance that the name should be changed.