The Cleveland Indians are in the process of changing their name and everyone has an opinion.
Names like Spiders and Guardians are floating around social media and seem to have some traction.
But the organization recently announced they are going over around 1,200 options.
How many of those are actually under consideration is unknown.
Fans are eagerly waiting any news and 92.3 The Fan’s Daryl Ruiter dropped some news about ownership’s current legal situation.
According to USPTO records the Cleveland #Indians Baseball Co LLC already owns trademark rights to: Blues, Naps & Bronchos (previous & unrelated to name change). They're challenging applications for Natives, Foresters, Warriors, Guardians, Cleveland Baseball Club, Heroes, Squires
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) June 7, 2021
So what should fans think of this news?
A Complex Situation
The fact the Indians are trying to win some trademarks doesn’t mean those names are necessarily under consideration.
It just means they want to have anything related to the team and avoid a situation where someone else is selling merchandise or trying to extort the team for money.
This is a similar situation as to what the Washington Football Team is going through.
Those with some foresight can snatch up a bunch of trademarks and then the team has to fight, or pay, to get them in their possession.
Teams that decided to make a change and linger on the decision will always deal with this problem.
The Indians are trying to stop that before it can begin.
Some Interesting Options
As expected, fans on social media already have strong opinions about these names.
Natives is perhaps the one drawing the most attention, given its obvious connection to the current name.
While the word does just mean someone from a specific area, the connection is way too strong for it to make any sense given the fact the team is changing names in the first place.
Squires is another one drawing some jokes, however, it likely refers to Squire’s Castle.
Those from the Cleveland area realized this from the start.
Want to learn more about our team name process? Visit https://t.co/IHa68yEQGA for more info and to sign up for updates! #OurCLE pic.twitter.com/nr0Vlt3i4H
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) June 3, 2021
Heroes is honestly one that could have some fun potential, even if it is a bit ridiculous.
It is fascinating to see a team struggle to narrow down new name options.
This seems to be a situation where there are so many choices it becomes hard to make one and move forward.
At this point it is clear that no matter what name is chosen, a large amount of fans are going to complain.
That is already happening before a new name has even been selected.
As long as the team decides against Natives, everyone can simply accept a change had to take place and focus on the actual baseball.
In a league where teams are named the White Sox and the Cubs, this decision should not take too much longer.
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