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Guardians baseball team will share name with roller derby team

The conflict over the Guardians name in Cleveland has come to an end.

The Cleveland Guardians baseball team and the Cleveland Guardians roller derby team released a joint statement on Tuesday morning, announcing they will share the same name going forward.

Via News 5 Cleveland:

“The Cleveland Guardians Baseball Company, LLC and Guardians Roller Derby are pleased to announce an amicable resolution of the lawsuit filed by Guardians Roller Derby, whereby both organizations will continue to use the Guardians name."

The Guardians — previously known as the Indians — announced the name change in July, which would go into effect for the 2022 baseball season. Official merchandise was supposed to go on sale at 9 a.m. on Monday, but that launch was postponed for unspecified reasons.

The team didn't comment about the launch delay, but it's possible it could have been due to the federal lawsuit filed by the roller derby team in October, which alleged that they would be irreparably harmed if a second Guardians team suddenly existed in Cleveland. The derby team, which has been operating in the city since 2013, also alleged that the baseball team offered them a check for "just four figures" to purchase the intellectual property rights to the name, and when that offer was rejected, went ahead and announced the name change anyway.

No details about the "amicable resolution" have been announced, but with the lawsuit resolved, the Guardians can continue to move forward with the team's first name change in over 100 years. No new date for Guardians merchandise sales have been announced.