The Monumental Challenge of Rebranding a Sports Team

The fans remember the highlights but the franchises remember the technology, data, and inventions that powered their season. Host Tyler Kern sits down with the innovators, leaders and founders that are taking sports into the future.

 

In July of 2020, the Washington football team ditched their previous name under intense social and economic pressures. The team plans to stick with their generic name until early 2022.

Marketing strategy and activation firm Metaforce conducted a simulation to rename the team. They performed a series of panels and focus groups involving players and long-time fans to rename the team.

On this episode of Salary Capped, Host Tyler Kern talked with Allen Adamson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Metaforce, about the rebranding of the NFL franchise, which doesn’t happen that often. Metaforce marketing company has deep expertise with strategy, go-to-market planning, branding, creativity, and activation.

When Adamson initially heard news stories about the Washington Football team changing the name, he hoped they didn’t move fast, as the reports mentioned, because it would be hard.

“The older the name, the more heritage there is, the harder it is to replace it because everyone is so in that world that everything else looks terrible.” – Allen Adamson

Adamson said they did what they did with any other corporate or product client. They interviewed management to find what is at the heart of their organization. They also talked to former players and fans to try to identify what is at the root of the organization, besides the name. They dug into the DNA, the culture, the stories such as “what fathers tell their sons about the team.”

Listen to hear more about what goes into the renaming of an NFL franchise.

Listen to Previous Episodes of Salary Capped Right Here!

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

safer HVAC chemicals
Stronger Training Pipelines and Smarter Social Media Can Help Solve HVAC’s Talent Shortage
June 9, 2026

The skilled trades are at a crossroads. By some industry estimates, for every five experienced technicians retiring, only two new ones are entering the field—highlighting a growing HVAC talent gap. At the same time, buildings are becoming more complex, more connected, and more dependent on high-performance mechanical systems. The stakes are real: without a…

Read More
design
Where Design Meets Durability: Why Commercial Surfaces Must Support Safety, Cleanability, and Long-Term Value
June 8, 2026

When a commercial space fails, it often fails quietly: a lobby floor that becomes slippery when wet, a hotel bathroom that is difficult to clean, a healthcare surface that cannot withstand constant disinfection, or an office finish that looks great until afternoon glare makes the room uncomfortable. These are not purely aesthetic problems; they are…

Read More
creative career
Crafted Journey How To: Building a Creative Career Across Scripts, Stages, and Sound
June 8, 2026

Creative careers rarely move in a straight line, especially for writers working across stage, screen, audio, books, and independent film. Sustaining that kind of life often means finding opportunities wherever they appear, building a strong network, staying open to different formats, and saying yes to collaborations that can lead somewhere unexpected. The stakes are…

Read More
EMR
EMR Strategy, Consulting, and Career Pivots with MedSys Co-Founder Mark Embry
June 8, 2026

Electronic medical records (EMRs) have moved from a back-office upgrade to a frontline determinant of care quality, clinician burnout, and hospital economics. With U.S. hospitals often spending tens to hundreds of millions—sometimes exceeding $100 million—on EMR implementations, the stakes have never been higher for getting both the technology and the human adoption right. As…

Read More