After 106 years, the Cleveland Indians bowed to woke critics and dropped its name last year. But on the heels of rebranding itself as the “Guardians,” the team has struggled to fill stadium seats with fans.
The team, of course, has justified its decision to dump more than 100 years of tradition and history as a way to “unify” the “community.”
“We believe our organization is at its best when we can unify our community and bring people together – and we believe a new name will allow us to do this more fully,” the team said in a press release when it announced its intentions to dump the “Indians” moniker in 2020.
A Cleveland Guardians fan waits to enter the ballpark prior to the home opener against the San Francisco Giants at Progressive Field on April 15, 2022, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Whatever the team’s intentions, fans seem to have lost interest in the team’s first year outing as the Cleveland Guardians. Attendance and TV ratings have been collapsing.
Cleveland TV ratings have fallen off by 30 percent, according to Forbes.
Granted, a season with few stars has not helped the team, but TV ratings are not the only place where fans show a disinterest in the Guardians.
In 2019, the last “normal” year before pandemic craziness set in, the Indians saw an average of 21,465 fans per game. This year, though, the team has only averaged 15,025 fans per game.
The Guardians are not exactly the worst team in the MLB, either. They are only two games behind American League Central leaders, the Minnesota Twins.
It may not be certain that the name change has set fans off from supporting their team. But in the last two years, their ratings and attendance have been the worst in decades.
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