In the 22 months since Josh Harris purchased the Washington Commanders, the team has transformed from a stain on the NFL into one of its hottest franchises, with a rookie of the year quarterback, an NFC championship game appearance and a future entrenched in prime time.
The renewed interest in the Commanders was evident last year, with a spike in sponsorship deals and sellouts at every home game at their Landover stadium. And the change in tenor around the team already has left a dramatic mark on the Washington region.
According to a Washington Post-Schar School poll, 61 percent of D.C.-area sports fans are fans of the Commanders, up from 45 percent of area sports fans a year ago. Among all D.C.-area residents, 53 percent say they are Commanders fans, while 45 percent do not root for the team. In 2023, 31 percent of D.C.-area residents said they were Commanders fans or that the Commanders were their favorite local team.
What’s more: Half of all D.C.-area adults now “like” or “love” the team’s name, which was changed in 2022 and became a hot-button issue for many fans who either clamored for a return to the franchise’s previous name, Redskins, or sought an alternative. In 2024, only 34 percent liked or loved the new name.
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