Client: Washington CommandersThe NFL in America's capital
The reveal: 2.2.22A new name, announced on TODAY
The process: 18 monthsMore than 40,000 fan submissions
Our part: Teaser to case studyA film for every stage of the launch
The film: 20M+ viewsOur most-viewed work at the time
Reach: 87.3B+The team's reported total reach, not a RIOT figure

In 2022 the Washington Football Team became the Washington Commanders after an eighteen-month process with fans, alumni, players and the community around D.C., Maryland and Virginia, and more than 40,000 fan submissions along the way. A storied franchise was choosing a forever name, and it had to land in a single morning.

Washington Commanders rebrand case study film by RIOT: the TODAY show reveal, franchise legends, fans and the new Commanders identity

One franchise, one forever name. We made the films that carried Washington there, and the one that told the story afterwards.

2.2.22

It started with a date. 2.2.22: a run of twos that anyone who looks for signs would call an angel number, the one said to mean balance, alignment and a fresh start. For a franchise about to begin its next chapter, the calendar could not have lined up better. Our forty-four-second teaser went out on the TODAY show in January, gave the country 2.2.22 to circle, and set the tone for everything that followed: confident, proud and built on the team’s history rather than running from it.

The TODAY show set announcing the Washington Football Team rebrand

On the morning itself the name, the story and the identity arrived all at once, with the official rebrand film at the center of it. We co-created it with the team, and it became our most-viewed creation to date: more than 20 million views across social, over 3 million on Twitter alone.

The launch

Four films, one name

4 Jan 2022The dateA teaser broadcast on the TODAY show set 2.2.22 as the day Washington would reveal its new name, brand and uniforms.
2 Feb 2022The revealIntroducing... Washington Commanders, the official rebrand film we co-created, launched across every platform at once.
Feb 2022The legacyThe Brand Evolution and Historical Journey, two films honoring nine decades of history.
Apr 2022The storyA case study film recapping the whole launch, made for the team's Cannes Lions entry.

The legacy

A new name only works if it honours the old one. For The Brand Evolution we told the franchise’s story through its helmets, decade by decade, shot at the team’s facility in Ashburn, VA, with every scuff and dent left exactly where the game put it. Historical Journey went the other way: archive footage, black and white into color, building to the new name.

Telling the story

Two months later the team asked us to tell the whole thing back: a case study film for its Cannes Lions entry. The script moves like the launch did. America’s capital and a storied franchise; one mission, to pull off a historic rebrand; the challenge of embracing change while keeping tradition; then the reveal, broadcast to a nation, delivered to the people and carried by conversation from every corner of the planet. Former Washington running back Tim Hightower voices it.