After 105 years, the Cleveland Indians have reportedly decided to change their team name, according to David Waldstein and Michael Schmidt von The New York Times.
The decision comes after decades of protests from indigenous groups and fans who have criticized the name as racist. The decision could be officially announced next week.
It wasn’t immediately apparent after The times‘Reporting on how Cleveland plans its new name. One option that is reportedly being considered is to go ahead with no replacement name first and consult the public on creating a new one.
A similar approach was taken in the NFL earlier this year by the Washington Football Team, which decided to end the use of a name that had long been considered a racial fraud.
When Cleveland will complete its transition to a new name is also unclear. According to reports, a plan is to be considered to keep the current name and uniforms for the 2021 season and then work on moving away from looks as early as 2022.
The team name change follows Cleveland’s decision earlier this year to phase out the logos and images of its former cartoon mascot Chief Wahoo, who had also been criticized as racist. That decision was welcomed at the time as long overdue, but many insisted that more needed to be done.
In July, hours after Washington announced it would change its NFL team name, Cleveland’s baseball franchise announced it would be conducting a “thorough review” of its nickname in consultation with indigenous groups in Ohio and the United States.
“We are committed to having a positive impact on our community and we take responsibility for promoting social justice and equality,” the team said in its July statement. “Our organization fully recognizes that our team name is one of the most visible ways we connect with the community.”
