D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wants the Washington Redskins to change more than just its name.
Her remarks during a news briefing Monday come a day after a report by The Washington Post that the team’s minority owners are all trying to sell their interest in the organization.
Bowser said she thinks “this would also be a great opportunity for the team and the league to look for more diversity in their ownership,” adding that she hoped “they will make that a part of their discussion if there’s actually going to be some transfers in ownership.”
Washington’s NFL team said it would review its name, which has long been denounced for being considered a racial slur against Native Americans, in an announcement last week.
“I think that the team called ‘Washington’ anything should be playing in Washington,” Bowser said.
Without going into detail, she added, “I would hardly say that the name is the only issue that would have the team or Washington choose to have a stadium.”
“I am happy to see the team and the league moving in the direction to change the name, and I hope they make clear what the process is to do that,” Bowser said.
In June, Bowser stated her desire for the NFL team to return to the District but under a new name.
The team called D.C.’s RFK Stadium home from 1961 to 1996 before the move to what is now known as FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.
President Donald Trump criticized the NFL team and MLB’s Cleveland Indians for announcing their team name reviews. In a tweet Monday, Trump called the moves an attempt to be “politically correct.”
