Cleveland Rebrand?

[RonCo]

My son in law lived in Cleveland for a long time (they're now in Detroit). He's much more of a soccer fan than a baseball fan, but he's into sports branding and whatnot. The past few weeks he's been working on a side-project that proposes a new concept for the Cleveland baseballers...he posted it on his website, and now NBC Sports has picked it up. Very cool, eh?

[usnspecialist]

That is pretty cool, although I'm not sure how I feel about the rebrand.

[bcslouck]

That is cool. The uni's do look really good. Don't like the idea of replacing Indians with Forest Citys/Cities though. I feel like they'd have to come up with something better or find a way to make it work with Indians, if they're even allowed to keep the name. Very cool and interesting thought though.

[Lane]

wow! love those uniforms. a lot of good stuff going on here, the uniform designs, the color choice, the complete disconnect from the current nickname.

I wouldn't be a fan of adopting the soccer style naming, but that's really the only thing I don't like about this.

Really cool...thanks for sharing, Ron.

[7teen]

Screw MLB, someone needs that uniform and team HERE IN THE BBA!!!

[RonCo]

Personally, I love the rebrand itself, too. But taste is taste.

[RonCo]

If I rebrand the Nine in any way, I know who I'll talk to first.

Rather than repost, here are my thoughts...

[RonCo]

Nick does cool work on soccer kits, too.

[felipe]

They look sharp!

Great work!

I am totally against any sort of rebranding for the Indians though.

[indiansfan]

It is really cool that NBC picked up his story and I agree the designs look very cool. I also like his idea of going back tp the team's earlier history, but I think less than 5% of current fans know anything about the city's teams that predate the Indians. However, as someone who started going to Indians games in the 1960's and has lived her most of my life, the idea of a rebranding would be a non starter. The team has recently agreed to remove the Chief Wahoo logo from any of their uniforms. The logo has primarily been used on fan clothing for many years now as the team has distanced itself in their use of it. They haven't used it as a mascot for decades, instead they have used the ridiculous pink Slider character. No that needs to be replaced! The team said they will continue to sell some merchandise in the gift shop in part to maintain their trademark and thus control over how the logo is used. Also the local attitude toward removing Chief Wahoo is probably running 2 or 3 to 1 against the move, so I think the team is doing a good job in trying to balance this between the national view and the locals. Fans will still be allowed to wear Wahoo in the stadium. Personally I know people who do not find the current image offensive to their heritage while the version used in the 30's and 40's was clearly racist in nature. The team made it much more cartoonish after that. I also know people who have no connection to the heritage that find it racist. People here seem to be all over the board and I even know folks that say it is racist but lets keep it anyway. However I have no problem in removing it as nothing is gained by offending people.

Regarding the name, the team was named to honor a popular player Louis Sockalexis who is believed to be the first Native American big league player. While he only played a short time for the Spiders, he made a lasting impression. When the team decided to change the name from the Naps it was suggested by some fans and sports writers to name the team the Indians in honor of Sockalexis who had died a couple years earlier. The placing of an Indian logo on the uniforms was also done to honor him, although if you look at the early images they clearly would be considered offensive by modern standards. I doubt anyone consulted any Native Americans at the time, it was a group of white folks attempt to honor Sockalexis while probably having no understanding of Native American culture.

While Redskins is a name that has been used as a slur (and should go), Indians doesn't convey the same insult particularly when you take into account the name's origin in Cleveland. To go down this path would mean to change the Braves, then the Chiefs, then the Celtics, etc. Non religious folks may find the Saints offensive and the list goes on.

2 interesting facts .

#1 Sockalexis was injured jumping out of the 2nd floor of a brothel missing several games while here in Cleveland. That sounds like one of our crazy off season BBA injuries!

#2 Is there any other city that has 2 major sports teams named to honor individuals? The other being of course the Browns.