Could Cleveland Guardians legal case push club back to drawing board?

Could Cleveland Guardians legal case push club back to drawing board?

The Cleveland Guardians have yet to take the field and the club’s new identity has already hit a snag. A local roller derby team by the same name is taking the baseball club to court over the “Cleveland Guardians” namesake, leaving the Major League Baseball team in limbo in terms of the moniker as the 2022 season draws closer.

The organization already started taking the steps of removing the Cleveland Indians from sight around Progressive Field so going back doesn’t seem to be much of an option, but should this legal case continue the club could be faced with some difficult decisions with a short window of time.

Hopefully, the legal case is handled before the season starts and all of this doesn’t matter. However, the organization needs to start planning now for any outcome that could result from the court case. That means being prepared for anything.

As an organization, the Cleveland Guardians need to start planning for the best and worst results that could come from this court case. Since the club owns the copyright to the name, it seems like it should be a quick case that might even just be settled out of court to expedite the process. Even so, there needs to be a course of action if set up if that isn’t the case.

Given that the team has already made strides in the short time since the end of the season to start the name change process, the only options are to move forward one way or another. How that will happen is what could still be altered by the course of the legal situation. But what are those routes? What options do the Cleveland Guardians have if Guardians isn’t on the table for at least the 2022 season if not beyond? And if Guardians is off the table for 2022, does the team change course for the long haul and not just one season?