Cleveland Indians owner Paul Dolan said the team received “final clearance” for the club’s new name. That may not be the case.

The team announced Friday that it will rebrand as the Cleveland Guardians following the 2021 season. The rebrand, however, could become complicated if a men’s roller derby team with the same name seeks an injunction, or a separate trademark dispute isn’t settled. 

Both could be resolved, but Sneaker Law Firm founder Zakari A. Kurtz told FOS it could cost Dolan a chunk of change. Rebranding the $1.16 billion team will alone likely run at least $10 million, Kurtz said.

Kurtz said the roller derby team — which has used the name for a decade with a logo resembling the one Cleveland unveiled last week — could be the biggest impediment to the name change. 

• The team has also owned a Cleveland Guardians website domain name since at least 2014. A representative for the roller derby team declined to comment to FOS.
• “If they don’t settle with the Indians and the team chooses to use the name, the roller derby team could sue to stop them,” Kurtz said. 

The Indians also filed a trademark for Cleveland Guardians on Friday, an application that wasn’t disclosed in the trademark system until Wednesday. A Delaware-based firm filed for trademark protections for the Cleveland Guardians in 2020, one that was opposed by the Indians’ legal team. 

An Indians spokesperson declined to comment.

Spotify doubled its ad revenue from a year ago as it continues to invest heavily in sports audio.

The 15-year-old audio streaming company posted $2.75 billion in Q2 revenue, a 17% bump from the same period last year. Monthly subscribers rose 20% to 165 million, and active ad-supported users were up 24% to 210 million.

The company’s ad revenue rocketed up 110% year-over-year to $324.4 million. Ad sales increased 28% from Q1, despite only 1% growth among users with ad-supported memberships.

While it started with a heavy focus on music, Spotify has sought new users through sports content.

• In March, Spotify made sports a centerpiece of its live audio push by acquiring Locker Room and its creator, Betty Labs. The app relaunched as “Spotify Greenroom” in June.
• In February 2020, Spotify acquired The Ringer and its 30+ sports and culture podcasts for $196 million. 
• Last August, Spotify and Riot Games partnered to create a hub for “League of Legends” esports podcasts.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek would like to take his sports ties a step further. Ek, who has a net worth of $4 billion, put together a $2.83 billion bid for Arsenal FC. The offer was rebuffed by owner Stan Kroenke.

On the same day Simone Biles withdrew from the individual all-around gymnastics competition at the Tokyo Olympics for mental health reasons, her sponsor — Athleta — launched a wellbeing platform.

AthletaWell offers online and off-line activations, including workout content, and supervised chat spaces.

Athleta also announced a partnership with Obe Fitness, which includes free access to exclusive workouts for AthletaWell members. Athleta recently contributed to Obe’s $15 million Series A funding round.

These days, Athleta is more closely competing with other top companies in the $83 billion athleisure market.

• The brand recently launched in Lululemon’s home country, Canada.
• Simone Biles left Nike earlier this year for Athleta, two years after Allyson Felix, the most decorated track and field star, did the same following a 70% pay cut from Nike while pregnant.

AthletaWell is a free-of-charge benefit of its loyalty program — more than 50% of Athleta’s sales today are from those members. 

Athleta hopes to reach $2 billion in annual net sales by 2023.