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November 22, 2021

Cleveland Guardians Debut Official Merch

Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team, formerly known as the Indians, has begun selling official branded merchandise bearing its new Guardians name and logo.

By  Christopher Ruvo

With a new name comes new merch.

red Cleveland Guardians baseball cap

Sales of this cap bearing the new Guardians branding were brisk in the team’s online MLB shop. Available here.

Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team, known as the Indians since 1915, rebranded as the Guardians in July 2021.

Still, the team had to officially finish the 2021 season as the Indians and clear a legal hurdle (which it has done) before it could begin selling official Guardians branded merchandise, though there was already unofficial merch galore.

With everything now in order, the Guardians debuted their official merchandise on Friday, Nov. 19, both online and at the brick-and-mortar team store. There was a little hiccup with the team store sign, but that didn’t stop fans from swooping in to snap up hats, hoodies jerseys, T-shirts and more. 

Karen Fox, director of merchandising for the Guardians, told Cleveland.com that 100 fans were inside the team shop within 15 minutes of it opening on Nov. 19 – all of them eager for the new gear. Fox said the number of patrons was four times the normal foot traffic of an average Friday in November.

“It was like when you were a little kid waiting for Christmas morning, that’s kind of how it feels for our merch team and the whole organization,” Fox said. “Just that, here we are, a new era and you can see all the fans that are excited about it, too.”

The Guardians sent out gift boxes of merch to influencers in the Cleveland community. Some of them, including NFL Network sportscaster and Cleveland area native Chris Rose, posted unboxing experiences on social media.

The official online shop was outfitted with Guardians merchandise, too, with men’s and women’s styles. Some of it was already almost sold out by Monday, Nov. 22, according to the site.

navy blue women's Guardians shirt

Women's Cleveland Guardians Nike Navy Wordmark T-Shirt. Available here.

The Guardians get their new name from the Guardians of Traffic – historic, locally iconic pylons on the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, also called the Hope Memorial Bridge, which connects downtown Cleveland to Ohio City. The statues have long been used in local marketing and art.

Over the summer, the Indians announced the name change on Twitter in a video narrated by Tom Hanks. The name change came about, as ESPN explained, following “months of internal discussions triggered by a national reckoning by institutions and teams to permanently drop logos and names considered racist.” Team executives felt the name “Indians” fell into that derogatory category.