Changes of any kind to a team's name, brand, logo, etc., requires league approval. No. The Washington situation was primarily PR. There was enough of an uproar for the NFL to lean on Snyder to do the right thing; an amicable name change was a win-win for all involved. But had the uproar been larger and, most importantly, more financially impactful - or, if Snyder had flat-refused, the league absolutely would have forced a name change. Remember, the league controls all finances and resources & has full jurisdiction over punishment. The name was going to be changed. Similarly, Bud Adams was adamant he wasn't going to change the Oilers name in Tennessee. Public pressure finally led him to make the switch - but don't think for one second the NFL, seeing swaths of open seats, wasn't leaning on him, too.
Exactly. Imagine if Jerry Jones announced he was changing the Cowboys' name... I know the gut reaction is that the Texans are not the Cowboys, and that's true - but the league doesn't see it like that. All of their names, colors, logos have tremendous built-in equity. And those brands are worth *billions* of dollars. Changing a name is costly. The NFL is not going to allow it "just because." There needs to be a viable financial reason.
For sure. But that is different from the NFL not allowing you to change a name right? That’s all I’m saying.
As it did in 2012 when the Astros planned on throwing back to ALL of their previous jerseys for their 50th and were, at first, told by MLB that they couldn't use the six shooter logo (arguably one of the greatest logos in the history of sports). MLB finally relented and they wore them twice. https://www.mlb.com/es/astros/news/astros-to-keep-pistol-on-colt-45s-jersey/c-27141166 Wanna hear a cool story, bro? I walked into a Modell's Sporting Goods store in Columbia, MD about 30 years ago and ran across an entire rack of Cooperstown Collection Colt.45's jerseys for $50 which at the time was, like 80% off. I snatched one up wondering why a store in MD would have so many Colt.45's jersey. And then it dawned on me. Some employee saw "throwback Colts jersey" in a catalog and ordered a bunch of them thinking they were old NFL Baltimore Colts jerseys. Only downside was they were all blank backs. I shoulda bought them out and put them on eBay. And, finally, sure enough...money played SOME role in the name change as Colt Manufacturing apparently wanted a cut of the merchandising. https://astrostalk.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/whats-in-the-astros-name/ " The Colt .45’s name would not extend to the Astrodome. The firearm company of the same name wanted to share revenues with the team for using the name. Team President Roy Hofheinz wanted no part of revenue sharing so he hired an unnamed artist to begin concepts of a new name and identity for the 1965 season when the Domed Stadium was scheduled to open." And the name "Astros" wasn't an immediate hit apparently. "The Astros name was not without its doubters. In January, 1965 an organization called CETA (Call ‘Em Tros association) was formed and distributed bumper stickers that had the “AS” part of the Astros name marked out. Handouts were passed out featuring the phrase, “Refuse to recognize the name.” Another small group named the Astro-Suppression Society, intended on passing out stickers saying, “Let’s Call Them the Houston Astronauts.” The name controversy was short-lived."
And how about 2 instances where a team didn't NEED to change their name after a move because the name already fit perfectly with their new city? The Rocket's move from San Diego and the old WHA Aero's move from Dayton, OH (where they never played a single game).
That just means you just can’t change it to the name they didn’t approve, not that you can’t change it all. This is like saying trades aren’t allowed by the league since all trades are subject to their approval. And just to be clear, this is completely different from what you were saying earlier…
You're trying to "Well, actually..." this on the basis on some flimsy semantics, for reasons I truly don't understand? Not approving a name change is 100% the same thing as not allowing it. Sure, teams can *try* it, I guess - but it will not be approved because the league is LOATHE to make changes on that scale unless there's a compelling (financial) reason to do so. How do I know this? Decades and decades and decades of evidence. There have been three name changes for reasons not tied to relocation/protest since, like the 1900s (IIRC, the last was 60 years ago). If, as people here have argued, it's financially viable (it's not), why have teams not taken advantage of it? If, as you're arguing, the NFL would be agreeable to it, why have teams not taken advantage of it? Take a moment to sincerely answer those questions. The Texans are not going to change their name. And if they tried to change their name, the NFL would not allow them to because there is not a single compelling (financial) reason to do so.
Their merchandise revenue, season ticket renewal, ratings, and national interest is at an all time low. Not that long ago, they were in the top 1/3 of NFL franchise valuations. Sure, only place to go is up... but these are all factors to the re-design sentiment on Kirby.
Think you are misreading my post. Just because a name change is subject to approval doesn’t mean it is completely prohibited. It just means the *new* name would have to be approved. No different from a uniform or logo change being subject to approval. The league could deny a proposed uniform because is too similar to another team’s, but it doesn’t mean they can’t change it at all. You are asking why teams don’t change names? There are a lot of reasons including money, history, and most likely the simple fact that there isn’t a need to. But that doesn’t mean leagues aren’t allowing them to. The fact that you found instances of name changes, albeit old ones, outside of the reasons you mentioned just prove there isn’t a rule against it. It is really a moot point since Cal isn’t changing anything like you said so I’ll just leave it at this.
The ONLY reason the Texans dropped from top 8 in valuation is because LA got 2 teams and the Raiders moved to Vegas. Had nothing to do with what has gone on in the last few years. They dropped from 8 to 11. Winning will increase revenue no matter what the Uniforms look like. Texans still Officially averaged 67,911(Texans get the money whether you use the ticket or not) per game, down from 72,000. People are hanging on to their PSL/Season tickets. Merchandise revenue is not a driver of franchise valuation. Texans will win again and they will be fine.
They were #7…. Supplanted by the Eagles and Bears, who didn’t move to California. Chargers aren’t above them. Every NFL team’s valuation goes up… but the Texans didn’t see the same increase as others due to their piss-poor performance and general fan apathy. They set an all-time low in in-stadium revenue this year indicating nobody went to the games. PSL/Season-ticket renewals were confirmed by Texans sales-people at being at an all-time low… the waiting list has gone from 3 years to non-existent in less than half a decade. You’re full of **** as usual… You’re the living embodiment of the “this is fine” meme…
LOL. Their valuation has gone up every year. The Eagles won a superbowl recently in a major market. Bears are in the 3rd largest media market in the US. Houston is #7. Texans valuation is $4.7 billion, Eagles 4 $4.9 and Bears 5.8. Yeah, renewals were down, but the official attendance was only down 4,000. Texans were still making money. Official attendance is all that matters. As bad it was, Texans will be fine.
I thought you said they were all hanging on to their season tickets? Even your bullshit calls you out on your bullshit! Also, the Texans were ahead of both of them not that long ago and after the Eagles won their SB…. Despite the Texans being even lower in media market size back then and still haven’t won anything of note in their existence. You’re asking why they would even consider changing things even as basic as the uniforms… and you’re being given the answer. Yes, every NFL team makes money… but when the earnings don’t improve as much compared to other teams, that’s a sign that something is not right. Earnings and attendance are down significantly… these are red flags in any business setting that promote/demand something be changed. This may be the first time that Cal McNair is actually smarter than somebody else… things may be eventually fine if the team eventually wins again, but that doesn’t erase the **** hole they’re in at the moment and the impetus as to why they’re changing stuff. They’re literally the most irrelevant franchise in all of sports… on both a local and national level… in an era where the NFL is literally the most popular form of any sort of entertainment out there.
Um, I wasn't asking why....lol. I said it really doesn't matter. Winning cures everything in sports. Will new colors and new uniforms bring in more revenue? Sure. It will not make or break the Texans as a business. And people are hanging on to their season tickets. The Texans were drawing around 20,000 in person this season, however, the official ticket sales were around 68,000. Why? People are not using tickets...but those tickets were already sold. People are not giving up the money put into PSLs and lose that by not renewing season tickets. You are not understanding how many is made in the NFL. TV/Streaming is #1, Advertising and Company sponsors are #2, Seats sold #3, Merch #4. Texans will be fine. The NFL revenue sharing is the key to their business model.
They’re not on the verge of bankruptcy…. But they’re at an all time low in interest, season ticket renewals, stadium-driven revenue, ratings… which will lead to a decreased sponsorship/advertising revenue.. which has led to a significant drop off in their rate of return due to all of the above, leading to several teams leap-frogging them in value. If you’re so far up your ass that you can’t admit this is the worst this team has ever been… from a performance, financial, and fan interest standpoint, you’ll never “get it”. And that’s why nobody takes you seriously. You’re incapable of evaluating the situation in a rational manner. You’re the exact type of fan that enabled the Texans to let things get this bad in the first place, and you’ll always give them a pass. But I guess all teams need Karens….
