EN GARDE!

We Were the Cleveland Guardians First: Roller Derby Team Sues Baseball Team

The team formerly known as the Cleveland Indians allegedly hijacked a smaller team’s name and symbols.

In a quest to decolonize its own name, Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team colonized a smaller team’s name and symbols. The Cleveland Indians changed their name to the Cleveland Guardians in July, but the name was already in use by a local roller derby team, which has sued. The local team claims it made the MLB team’s management aware of the shared name early in the process of the baseball team’s transition, and now it wants the team to stop all use of “Guardians.” The roller derby team has gone by the Guardians since 2014. The suit reads, “It is inconceivable that an organization worth more than $1 billion and estimated to have annual revenues of $290 million plus would not at least have performed a Google search for ‘Cleveland Guardians’ before settling on the name.” A lawyer for the roller derby team said the baseball team offered four figures for the naming rights, which was declined. The baseball team responded, “We have been and continue to be confident in our position to become the Guardians. We believe there is no conflict between the parties and their ability to operate in their respective business areas.”