Washington Redskins name ruled not obscene by FCC: Report

The name of the Washington Redskins NFL team will not be considered a profane term when used on radio airwaves, according to the Federal Communications Commission's response to a petition Thursday.

The petition called for a Virginia radio station owned by football team owner Dan Snyder to not have its license renewed due to its repeated use of the word "Redskins." John Banzhaf III, a professor at George Washington University, and others said use of the name during NFL games was objectionable because it’s a “derogatory racial and ethnic slur” against American Indians.

The FCC dismissed the petition, saying that the law defines terms of a sexual or excretory nature as profane and not those that mean a football team and granted a renewal of the license for WWXX(FM) in Buckland, Va.

Banzhaff called the ruling against his petition "no more than round one." 

Last month the team won the right to review a decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel the mark as disparaging. Snyder has repeatedly said the name was intended to honor Native Americans and he won’t change it.

The rulings are the latest in a decades-long dispute over a brand estimated by Forbes magazine to be worth $145 million.

Native American groups and politicians have been calling for Washington's team name to be dropped and some media outlets have been deliberately omitting the franchise's name from coverage.

Don't expect this issue to end anytime soon.

FCC will consider petition to ban 'Redskins' name from airwaves: Report

It looks like opponents of the nickname Redskins may have found a way to hit NFL team owner Daniel Snyder where it is heard most — the airwaves.

The head of the Federal Communications Commission says the agency will consider a petition to ban the Washington Redskins name from the public air frequencies.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said Tuesday that the commission "will be dealing with that issue on the merits, and we'll be responding accordingly."

A law professor has challenged the use of the name on broadcast television, saying it violates FCC rules against indecent content. Native American and other groups have demanded the name be changed, calling it a racial slur.

The FCC, which enforces broadcast indecency violations, received a petition from legal activist John Banzhaf III, asking that regulators strip local radio station WWXX-FM of its broadcasting license when it comes up for renewal for using the name "Redskins."

Banzhaf says the word is racist, derogatory, profane and hateful, making its use "akin to broadcasting obscenity."

Wheeler did not offer a timetable for a ruling on the matter. He has previously said he finds the name "offensive and derogatory," but that he hoped Snyder would change it without any formal action.

Snyder has vowed never to change the name.