Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wasn’t willing to offer his opinion about whether or not the use of the nickname Redskins is disparaging, but says he understands why the United States Patent and Trademark Office used that as a criteria to strip away trademark protection from the Washington team this week.
And while he thinks that decision, which is being appealed, is a “deterrent” to the continued use of the name, Jones does not believe that the economic consequences of the action would be great enough to force the other NFL owners to pressure Redskins owner Dan Snyder to make a change he has vowed not to make.
“All owners share the economic benefit of our marks,” Jones said, via Jarrett Bell of USA Today. “To the extent that all owners are not protected as much as we were, it implies that there would be a financial consequence. Certainly, they are impacted. To the degree that it would cause another owner to get into the business of the Redskins, I doubt it. I don’t see it being of that consequence economically. I don’t see it as having enough economic consequences to create any inertia. But that’s not to address anything about anybody’s opinion, one way or another.”
Economic pressure and/or lobbying from the NFL and the other owners are going to be the likeliest ways to move Snyder off his position. Jones seems to suggest that the other owners won’t be feeling enough of an economic squeeze from the loss of the marks to push Snyder and they probably won’t until the pressure starts to come from league sponsors threatening to pull their money. There’s been no sign that such pressure is imminent, although that’s not stopping people from pushing owners to take a stand against the Redskins name.