Cleveland Guardians Baseball, Roller Derby Teams Settle Name Dispute

The Cleveland Indians faced a lawsuit after selecting a new team name that matched an existing roller derby team in The Land — and Tuesday morning (November 16), the parties reached an “amicable resolution.”

“The Cleveland Guardians Baseball Company, LLC and Guardians Roller Derby are pleased to announce an amicable resolution of the lawsuit filed by Guardians Roller Derby, whereby both organizations will continue to use the Guardians name,” a joint statement reads.

That’s all that’s been confirmed as of publication time. The Associated Press notes that other terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

The decision comes one day after sales of Cleveland Guardians baseball merchandise was postponed in stores without explanation; however, the Cleveland Scene reports that the new settlement means merch sales can move forward.

The name change was a long time coming for the Indians, and after narrowing down a list of about 1,200 options, officials announced in July that they’d selected “Guardians.” This marks the first name change for the Cleveland team since 1915.

But an existing roller derby team — established in 2013 — filed suit last month, arguing that the name could not be used by both teams. The argued in the filing, in part: “Major League Baseball would never permit the ‘Chicago Cubs’ lacrosse or ‘New York Yankees’ rugby teams to operate alongside its storied baseball clubs and rightly so. Confusion would otherwise result. Imagine seeing a ‘New York Yankees’ shirt for sale and buying it. Which team did you just support?”

The Major League Baseball team previously explained why “Guardians” was selected as the new team name. Owner Paul Dolan said in a statement at the time, referring to the pride, resiliency and loyalty of Cleveland:

“‘Guardians’ reflects those attributes that define us while drawing on the iconic Guardians of Traffic just outside the ballpark on the Hope Memorial Bridge. It brings to life the pride Clevelanders take in our city, and the way we fight together for all who choose to be part of the Cleveland baseball family. While ‘Indians’ will always be a part of our history, our new name will help unify our fans and city as we are all Cleveland Guardians.”