"Sometimes, the liabilities outweigh the value of a sporting brand" says Timothy Dewhirst

The new NFL season opens this week, but the public eye has been on the game even in the off season with the "Deflategate" cheating scandal. In this article from the Globe and Mail, marketing professor Timothy Dewhirst describes a central branding issue that has taken a back seat to the scandal and affects one of the league's most valuable franchises, the Washington Redskins. Dewhirst provides a historical glimpse of how sporting brands developed and how they have changed over time to reflect modern social values.