Oct
23
Two weeks ago, I addressed the seeds of the Burgundy Revolution, a term coined by Washington Post blogger Dan Steinberg and widely adopted by disgruntled and disillusioned Redskins fans to name their movement against Redskins owner Dan Snyder. But while I said then that none of the fan-run Web sites and Twitter accounts was close to threatening Snyder’s hold on the franchise, I might need to rethink that assessment.
Criticism of Snyder is reaching a fevered pitch since last Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and the subsequent decision to relieve coach Jim Zorn of his play-calling responsibilities. The online “home” of the 
Burgundy Revolution, now at Hatetheowner.com, began the Black Monday movement, calling for fans attending the team’s Monday Night Football home game against the Philadelphia Eagles to dress in black and boycott all stadium vendors. Last week, when the site asked fans to participate in Black Sunday, 20 percent participated, the Washington Examiner’s Rick Snider estimated. And this week, with a national audience on ESPN, the black-bedecked turnout should swell.
The revolution is gaining momentum on Twitter, led by the site’s own @BoycottSnyder, as well as @SelltheTeamDan, @SavetheSkins, @LetsBuytheSkins, @Regionalceleb, Dan Steinberg’s @dcsportsbog and more. And the tags #BlackMonday1026 and #Burgundy Revolution are gaining widespread usage among tweeting Redskins fans.
The Burgundy Revolution is also imploring fans to ditch their season tickets at season’s end and instead buy tickets from non-Snyder-connected sites such as eBay and Craigslist, and even has a list of Snyder-owned entities to boycott. FanExodus.com asks fans to boycott the team too, providing a pledge to sign and a list of demands for Snyder. HogsHaven.com takes a less hostile approach, not asking Snyder to sell the Skins but pleading for action, an apology and cooperation with fans. A letter on the Web site from “The Revolution” to Snyder said, “You are lucky to have us, Mr. Snyder. Make us lucky to have you.” Most are less forgiving, including a fundraising effort for 10 ads on sides of D.C. Metro Buses reading “Sell OUR Team Danny Boy.” And here, there is even a petition from D.C. diamond dealer Mervis Diamond Importers for owner Ronnie Mervis to buy the team and an open letter to Snyder. All of this is on top of all the sites I linked to last time, and still more are out there.
In just a few short weeks, the Burgundy Revolution has grown from the ranting and venting of individual fans into a solid coalition of protesters thanks to the World Wide Web. No, the team is not for sale. But as the Revolution gets more organized, the bigger an impact it will have, on Snyder’s pocketbook and the local and national media. Though the fans may not get Snyder to sell the team, or even acquiesce to the majority of their demands, they have proved that they will not back down. Soon enough, Snyder will have to respond to this growing faction of the Redskins fan base.
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2 Responses to “Message to Dan Snyder: Respect the Burgundy Revolution”
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GO KATE!!! Love the blog
As a passionate sports fan myself, I could not love the Burgundy Revolution any more. To see how much a fan base can hate its owner and all of his maneuvers is brilliant. The entire black wardrobe and not buying anything that will make Dan Snyder any money is classic and I just love the show of enthusiasm by the Redskins fans.
From an entertainment standpoint, I hope Black Sunday/Monday goes off without a hitch. I have to say I would love to see the Monday Night Football crew try to cover that!
Great blog as always Kate, and Professor Walker has it right, saying you have the blog of the semester thus far.