Trademark Application Hints Cleveland Indians May Be Changing Name To ‘Guardians’

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After it was reported in early December that the Cleveland Indians would be changing their name and getting rid of ‘Indians,’ the speculation and rumors have been non-stop.

The announcement from the franchise wasn’t a surprise by any means. The Indians started phasing out its ‘Chief Wahoo’ mascot in 2019 and after Washington dropped their ‘Redskins’ nickname and adopting Washington Football Team, the move seemed rather inevitable.

While we don’t know when the team will announce its new name, we do know that the franchise will still be called the Indians for the 2021 season so we have a full year to throw out suggestions and speculate which name the team may adopt.

The Indians could copy the Washington Football Team and roll with the ‘Cleveland Baseball Team,’ but that seems unlikely at this point.

One name that has picked up steam as of late is ‘Guardians’ and seeing as how a trademark application was just filed for ‘Cleveland Guardians’ with a reasoning of ‘entertainment in the nature of baseball games,’ it certainly sounds like Guardians is a very real possibility.

Cleveland fans shouldn’t get ahead of themselves, however, after the Washington Football Team got in a battle with a trademark squatter that snatched up many of the viable options Washington could have gone with for its new nickname. Then again, with the phrasing of ‘entertainment in the nature of baseball games,’ it’s tough not to assume that Guardians will be the team’s new name come 2022.

The city of Cleveland does have a connection to guardians with its officially named ‘Guardians of Traffic’ statues lining the Hope Memorial Bridge across the Cuyahoga River.