As of this Friday, Cleveland will officially be known as the “Guardians” moving forwards. After previously making the announcement that the rebrand would take place after the 2021 MLB season, things hit an unexpected snag when a local roller derby team which had been calling themselves the Guardians filed a copyright infringement claim against the club.
However on Tuesday both sides reached an amicable resolution which will allow both teams to continue using the moniker. Financial terms (if there were any to speak of) were not publicly available.
The “Indians” as the team was previously known as, used the nickname since the club’s inception in 1915. However due to increased pressures from outside organizations, and the sports wide modernization of teams such as the Washington Football Team, Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Chiefs, and various teams at the college and grassroots levels of sport, owner Larry Dolan felt it was time for a change.
Tomorrow, the team will rebrand all of its social media handles, website, and other digital and physical assets to the new Guardians namesake. Cleveland Guardians merchandise will be sold initially at team owned stores only, before slowly being released to 3rd party retailers across Ohio and eventually world wide.
The concept for the Guardians was originally inspired by the 8 art-deco statues which adorn the Hope Memorial Bridge near the stadium.