Despite all of the bad news around the US as coronavirus cases continue to rise and some sectors find themselves having to slowly go back into lockdown, there has been some clarity in this time of uncertainty – the major US sporting events are looking to be just around the corner with MLB, the NHL, and the NBA all set to get started toward the end of July and the start of August, but the biggest name missing could see a different team lineup as we head into the start of the September season.
The big change could come to the NFL after recent pressure has led to the Washington Redskins falling under mountain pressure from the outside and will now consider changing their franchise name – whilst they wouldn't be the first franchise to change their name they would be the first this century to do so, but does call into question what may happen to other teams too. During the current social situation with the ongoing protests, it hasn't only been pressure from fans as it had been reported that officials, FedEx, and Nike had also placed pressure for different branding – whilst no new name has been chosen just yet it does signal the change is close, and has also spurred others to take a harder look at their own naming or logo structure too as earlier this month the Cleveland Indians also announced a review of their name.
(Image from thehill.com)
The change has been met with some mixed feelings – there are many that have been very positive toward the change suggesting that it puts an end the a time of insensitivity and allows many who may have been affected by the name to look past the change without it affecting them, and have credited the recent public movements for a big reason behind this change, but there are also those suggesting that a team name should hold such weight – either way we could be heading into the September season with a slightly different roster of teams to read from, and some slightly new branding to get used to.
There is some good news through all of this however, and the positive note to take is that the major sporting events are finally on their way back after the long hiatus and this means that punters have something to look forward to as well – there have been recent changes for some as a recent online ban to credit card betting had recently been put in place alongside some changes to online regulation such as the Gamstop initiative aimed at reducing gambling participation options for problem players, fortunately Max give a great non gamstop list of betting sites and online casinos that players can use for the return of sports to find a little entertainment during these uncertain times – make sure to keep an eye on the results too, we're bound to see some big upsets in the coming weeks as teams try to discover where they fit after a few months away from the sport.
