Edmonton Eskimos sponsor threatens to drop team if they do not change their name

A sponsor of the Canadian Football League's (CFL) Edmonton Eskimos has threatened to drop its support of the team unless it changes its name.

This comes after the team conducted "an extensive year-long formal research and engagement program with Inuit leaders and community members across Canada," and found that there "were a range of views regarding the club's name but no consensus emerged to support a name change. The club has therefore decided to retain its name."

The team had been facing down condemnation from various social justice organizations with claims that the term "Eskimo" is "racist" and discriminatory toward the Inuit.

In response, Belairdirect, a car and home insurance company that makes up one of the 13 partners of the team, announced on Tuesday that the team's name is no longer appropriate, according to CBC News.

"One of our core values is respect, which is founded on seeing diversity as a strength, being inclusive and collaborative."

"Guided by this value, in order for us to move forward and continue on with our partnership, we will need to see concrete action in the near future including a commitment to a name change."

Edmonton's team has seen a number of calls over the years to change its name as renewed criticism over sports names in Canada and the US comes amid the death of George Floyd.

Belairdirect's threat comes just days after FedEx asked the Washington Redskins to change its name due to similar reasons.

"We recognize that there has been increased attention to the name recently and we will ramp up our ongoing engagement with the Inuit communities to assess their views," the CFL team said.