Cleveland Guardians Settle Lawsuit Over Name Dispute

The Cleveland Guardians roller derby team and the Cleveland baseball team announced the settlement of a lawsuit over the team's new name.

The Cleveland Guardians roller derby team and the Cleveland Major League Baseball team jointly announced the settlement of a lawsuit over the organization's new name Tuesday.

In late October, the roller derby team sued the baseball team alleging they knew the Guardians roller derby team existed "months before announcing the name change."

“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," the announcement read. 

In July, Cleveland's baseball team selected Guardians as its new name beginning in 2022, culminating a project that saw nearly 1,200 potential choices to replace the franchise's previous moniker.

Seven months earlier, the organization announced it would discontinue the use of Indians as its mascot following the 2021 season. In '19, Cleveland announced it would stop the use of the Chief Wahoo logo on its uniform.

The roller derby team had previously argued MLB "would never let someone name their lacrosse team the ‘Chicago Cubs’ if the team was in Chicago, or their soccer team the ‘New York Yankees’ if that team was in New York—nor should they. The same laws that protect Major League Baseball from the brand confusion that would occur in those examples also operate in reverse to prevent what the Indians are trying to do here."

Per the Associated Press, the baseball team began removing signage in and around Progressive Field this month and was looking to resolve the lawsuit ahead of the holiday season, so it can sell merchandise.