There are two Cleveland Guardians businesses now.
It is Black Friday and some shoppers can snag some bargains but there is one item that might not have a reduced sales price. Cleveland Indians shirts and hats. The Cleveland Indians brand is no more and while some gear is still available, once it’s gone it will be gone forever or at least that is the plan. The Major League Baseball Cleveland franchise is now known as the Cleveland Guardians and MLB Cleveland Guardians merchandise is available as is Roller Derby’s Cleveland Guardians merchandise. Cleveland’s Major League Baseball franchise and the local Cleveland roller derby team reached a settlement in a naming dispute. There are now two Cleveland Guardians businesses. The roller derby team has been the Cleveland Guardians since 2013 and team owners had registered the name with the Ohio secretary of state in 2017, The Dolan family rebranded its baseball company during the summer and both businesses worked out an agreement that allowed the Dolan family to rebrand the baseball team.
It is not easy to change a brand name in sports as it was in 1915. There is a process that includes the selling of products. The new brand name, Guardians, comes complete with the old team colors. Chief Wahoo, the Cleveland Indians logo, went into semi-retirement after the 2018 season. But the logo was being used less and less over a nine-year period. Since 2009, baseball consumers in Arizona have not seen the logo during spring training out of respect to the state’s Native American population. The team was named the Indians in 1915. Chief Wahoo was created as a promotional tool in 1947. The logo and the team name will now become museum pieces. Now comes the big Guardians merchandise push in time for the holiday shopping season. The Cleveland Indians name is gone.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
