The Cleveland Guardians

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland MLB team officially has its new name.

The team announced Friday morning that it will be changing its name from the Cleveland Indians to the Cleveland Guardians through a video posted to its Twitter account. The name will begin to go into effect following the conclusion of the 2021 season.

“We are excited to usher in the next era of the deep history of baseball in Cleveland,” team owner and chairman Paul Dolan said through the team’s press release. “Cleveland has and always will be the most important part of our identity. Therefore, we wanted a name that strongly represents the pride, resiliency and loyalty of Clevelanders.

“‘Guardians’ reflects those attributes that define us while drawing on the iconic Guardians of Traffic just outside the ballpark on the Hope Memorial Bridge. It brings to life the pride Clevelanders take in our city, and the way we fight together for all who choose to be part of the Cleveland baseball family. While ‘Indians’ will always be a part of our history, our new name will help unify our fans and city as we are all Cleveland Guardians.”

Progressive Field looms in the background when facing the 43-foot “Guardians of Traffic” that have stood tall for nearly 100 years on the Hope Memorial Bridge. These sculptures are meant to symbolize progress, a concept that’s now trickling over to the city’s baseball team.

Cleveland first announced last summer that it would begin having conversations with local community members and Native American groups about the possibility of a name change. The organization announced in December that it was beginning a search for its fifth name in franchise history -- and first change since 1915.

“Since the announcement to change the name in December, our team has been hard at work to ensure we pick a name that our community, fans, partners, employees and players will be proud to have represent Cleveland Baseball,” Cleveland’s president of business operations Brian Barren said in a press release. “Through our research and discussions, we identified a few key themes that were most important to fans -- connect to the city of Cleveland, honor our rich baseball history and unite our community -- and we believe Guardians upholds all three of those pillars.”



This research included approximately 1,200 nickname options, 40,000 fans surveyed and 140 hours dedicated to interviewing those fans, community leaders and front office personnel. What ultimately was decided was to begin a new chapter with some sense of continuity.