Cleveland MLB Team Sued by Guardians Roller Derby Team to Block Name Change

Cleveland's Major League Baseball team has hit a speed bump as it prepares to rebrand with a new nickname. 

Per TMZ Sports, the Cleveland Guardians roller derby team has filed a lawsuit this week against the MLB club to block it from using the nickname. 

The lawsuit alleges the MLB team "surreptitiously" filed for the Guardians trademark "in the small, East African island nation of Mauritius, effectively hiding the application unless one knew where to look."

TMZ noted that Guardians derby team owner Gary Sweatt said at one point the MLB team did reach out to make a deal about the name, but the offer was "a nominal amount, likely no more than fifteen minutes of annual team revenue."

The Guardians also said in the suit that the MLB team's logo looks "remarkably" similar to theirs and that they "cannot fulfill merchandise orders due to suppliers believing the baseball team has the rights to the name," per TMZ.

Cleveland announced in July that it was changing its nickname to Guardians: 

The change is expected to take effect at the end of the 2021 MLB season. It's unclear if the lawsuit might delay the change.  

The Guardians roller derby team was established in 2013. They haven't had a season since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but are planning to return next year.