Cleveland Guardians Probably Could Have Done More Research For Its Domain Name
Image via Cleveland Guardians
Last week, Cleveland’s MLB team unveiled its new name, switching from the ‘Indians’ to the ‘Guardians’. The new name was inspired by the large stone edifices, known as traffic guardians, that flank both ends of the Hope Memorial Bridge.
The team took more than a year to decide on the new name, spending over 140 hours interviewing fans and community leaders, including a survey of over 40,000 supporters. However, it seems to have had an oversight on one of a brand’s most important assets: its URL.
Turns out, according to Deadspin, clevelandguardians.com has been taken by a local male roller derby team. It’s been named the ‘Cleveland Guardians’ since 2011, and currently owns the domain name, as well as social media usernames on Facebook and Instagram.
The MLB team filed a trademark application for its new name on July 23, though the roller derby team followed with their own submission on July 27.
It seems that the roller derby team has been out of action for nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and only recently updated its website for the first time since 2018. This could give the MLB team a chance to argue that the long gap in activity could mean the name is up for grabs.
Plus, to settle the dispute quickly, the Guardians could offer the roller derby team an out-of-court settlement that would be hard to turn down. If it does go to court, it’s hard to imagine the roller derby team could pay for a defense to rival that of an MLB team, too.
The lesson? Always do a thorough Google search before deciding on a brand name. In a time when brand URLs are more important than ever, it’s incredible to see a big name get tangled up in such a silly mistake.
[via Deadspin, cover image via Cleveland Guardians]
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