Dec 14, 2020 - Sports

Cleveland Indians owner says team will keep name until new one is chosen

Orion Rummler

A man wearing a jersey with the word "Indians" on it runs across a baseball field — Franmil Reyes #32 of the Cleveland Indians celebrates after scoring against the New York Yankees on Sept. 30 in Cleveland, Ohio. Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images

The Cleveland Indians will adopt a new name after meeting with Native American groups who say the team's moniker is racist, owner Paul Dolan told AP in an interview on Monday. “The name is no longer acceptable in our world," he added.

Driving the news: Washington, D.C.'s NFL team temporarily rebranded as the "Washington Football Team" after making a similar decision, but Dolan stressed that the Indians will not use an interim name.

“We don’t want to be the Cleveland Baseball Team or some other interim name,” he told AP.
"We will continue to be the Indians until we have identified the next name that will hopefully take us through multiple centuries.”

What to watch: “We’ll be the Indians in 2021 and then after that, it’s a difficult and complex process to identify a new name and do all the things you do around activating that name,” Dolan said. “We are going to work at as quick a pace as we can while doing it right."

Add Axios on Google

Cleveland Indians owner says team will keep name until new one is chosen

What to read next