Discussion: Redskins Brush Off Trademark Ruling: 'We've Seen This Story Before'

Boycotts of advertisers of nationally televised programs hasn’t worked before? Are you sure?

Simple chain of events:

  1. Determine the ads which are to be seen on a Redskins game.
  2. Organize a campaign writing to those advertisers informing them that their products are going to be boycotted if they allow their ads to be shown in the same hour as the offensively-named team.
  3. Any advertisers who do not arrange to have their ads shifted to a different night of Monday Night Football (etc) will have their products boycotted.

It really is a simple chain of events, and it does work. The key to it is that you need to have enough people writing in at (2) to convince advertisers that at (3) they really will see a meaningful dip in their bottom line if they do not move their ads.

Advertisements are very much movable. While others will likely flow in to take their place, the net devaluation of those spots will put pressure on the NFL to in turn put pressure on the Redskins.

A second tact which is actually higher-stakes but harder to pull off replaces “advertisers” with “broadcasters”, which would be the network airing the game and the cable / satellite company delivering it. People boycotting shows or cutting back on their cable subscriptions is a massive threat to the NFL bottom line. Of course, it is also much less likely to work, as people will generally not cut their cable no matter how horrendous the service is; a racist-named football team isn’t likely to case movement.

I find it depressing how many people seem to think that the massive trainloads of cash flowing into the NFL will flow in no matter how shoddy a product they put out. The NFL makes money off advertisers and merchandise and broadcast licensing (something like half of your cable bill goes to sports leagues, even if you don’t subscribe to ESPN or the various sports “season ticket” packages). To affect the NFL’s bottom line - which is the only way to make them take any kind of action - you need to devalue their advertising.

Oh really?

But have you seen 1,000 new companies sprout up, selling cheaper merchandise with the Redskins name on it?

Gonna lose some big money, jackoffs.