The Redskins Will Brook No Dissent, From Fans or Otherwise

FedEx Field might offer one of the worst fan experiences in professional sports, but at least it’s soon to be the stadium with the lowest likelihood of paper cuts.
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↵↵That’s because the Redskins, employing perhaps the lamest pretext ever, are banning all signs from their stadium citing concerns over fans being poked in the head by sharp poster corners. Surely it has nothing to do with the ever-increasing frequency of placards bashing the team’s play, or imploring Dan Snyder to sell the team or fire Vinny Cerrato. ↵

↵↵Taking it a step further, an ownership that has long been openly hostile to critical media has instituted a ban on interviews by TV crews with trucks in the tailgate area. In both the case of the posters and the tailgating fans, the team is claiming that these policies were always in place, though none of the reporters covering the team have thus far indicated that ever being enforced before. ↵

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↵↵On every level, this is the worst possible way for any sports franchise to deal with fan criticism. Rather than allowing negative signs into the stadium, which would probably be seen by at most a few thousand people and quickly forgotten, the franchise is instituting ridiculous and oppressive policies, which only serve to cast the organization as paranoid and resentful of its supporters. These changes generate story after story enumerating the many contradictions and the mounting public outrage they generate. And eventually a once loyal fanbase splinters to nothing. ↵

↵↵(H/T to D.C. Sports Bog on the photo) ↵

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