Magic Johnson: Relocation, Renaming NFL’s Commanders ‘On The Table’

Former NBA great Magic Johnson, part of the new ownership group for the NFL’s Washington Commanders, said Friday that it’s possible the team could gain a new nickname, as well as return to play in the nation’s capital.

“I think, Craig, everything’s on the table,” Johnson told Craig Melvin on “Today,” “especially after this year. We’ll see where we are with the name, but I can’t say right now.”

The Commanders were known as the Redskins from 1933, when the team was in Boston, until 2019, when then-owner Dan Snyder buckled to pressure to change the nickname and team logo because some found them disparaging to Native Americans. From 2020 to 2021, it was known as the Washington Football Team, and in 2022 it became the Commanders.

The NFL on Thursaday approved Snyder’s sale of the team for $6.05 billion to an ownership group led by billionaire private equity investor Josh Harris and Johnson. The team’s headquarters are in Ashburn, Virginia, and its home stadium, FedEx Field, is in Landover, Maryland.

Melvin asked Johnson if there are plans to move the team back to the nation’s capital, where it played from 1937 to 1996. The Commanders’ lease with FedEx Field expires in 2027.

“We’re going to spend this year understanding what we have in place, and then I’m sure that will come up,” Johnson said. “The Commanders, the name of the team, will come up eventually. But right now, we’ve got enough work to do that will keep us busy.”