Case Study: “Chief Wahoo” Mascot & Logo

J480 Sports PR - Fall 2020

Summary:

After much protest from indigenous people across the United States about the Cleveland Indian's mascot “Chief Wahoo” and the name “Indian,” the Cleveland Indians finally decided to respect Indigenous people and remove the mascot. This action undoubtedly came due to the rising civil unrest and racial tension in the US.

“Chief Wahoo” was abandoned after the last game of their 2018 season on October 8th, 2018. Ironically, on Indigenous Peoples Day. They currently hold a block “C” as their logo in place of “Chief Wahoo.” Changing their mascot will require a lot of change within their stadium, merchandise, uniforms, promotional items, etc. The main stakeholders of this campaign are:

● MLB

● Cleveland Indians Baseball Team

● Indigenous communities all over the US

● Financial stakeholders of the Cleveland Indians

● Community around Cleveland, Ohio

● Fans of the team and MLB

● Supporters and Non-Supporters of the decision

Analysis of Campaign:

This campaign and action was a long time coming and came as a big surprise due to their years of ignoring protests from Indigenous peoples. Nonetheless, it started a trend of other teams and schools doing this. In addition, they opted not to change their team name to the “Indians” even though that is also a demand. Overall, this action by Cleveland did a lot for the community and is well worth investing in its new uniforms, merchandise, and promotional things.

Pros of the campaign:

● Gained a lot of good press and built a better reputation

● Indigenous communities respect them slightly more

● Inspired other teams to follow suit

Cons of the campaign:

● Expensive to have to create all new merchandise, uniforms, promotional items, etc.

● Upset some of their fan base

● They will have to create and brand an entirely new identity(which could also be a pro)

Evaluation and Future Directions:

As an Indigenous person, I was elated that they decided to finally suspend the mascot that encourages cultural appropriation, discrimination, and racial stereotypes. Organizations like this give people a platform to spew hate towards my people and allows them to be openly racist towards Indigenous people, all in the name of sport.

While this was a significant first step, more must be done. The word “Indian” has been used as derogatory for a long time. Many indigenous people condemn its use by non-natives as some are trying to reclaim it as our own. In addition, the word promotes colonial thought processes and racial stereotypes. Speaking on stereotypes, “It almost always portrays Native people as existing only in the past: savage, warlike, primitive,” said Rebecca Nagle, an activist and author.

In the future, they need to change the name just like The Washington Football Team did from their former racist name, the “Redskins.” The mascot change was a significant first step, but a name change needs to happen next to create trust in Indigenous communities. They should also look into actively working with or donating to communities and reservations near them.

Questions:

What are the risks of making a change as significant as this one?

One of the most significant risks with this decision is that they may have upset and lost some of their fanbase. Their fans often come to games wearing headdresses or painting their faces, both examples of cultural appropriation. Usually, fans of teams in the NFL are very dedicated to their team and wouldn't stray away from this, but people also tend to be very passionate about their mascot. It is unknown how the fans will react to the decision. However, during this time of racial tension and civil unrest, people who may not have known much about other cultures before are educating themselves now. These people may see how they were in the wrong before and celebrate the decision that Cleveland made.

How could this decision influence other teams in all sports?

We saw that two years later, another major team in the NFL changed its name from The Washington Redskins to The Washington Football Team. Major teams changing their racist names like this has sparked a cascade of smaller teams and schools to change their names as well.

Citations:

Blackburn, Nov 19, Pete. Cleveland Indians Fully Phase out Chief Wahoo Logo, Unveil New Uniforms for 2019. 19 Nov. 2018, www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/cleveland-indians-fully-phase-out-chief-wahoo-logo-unveil-new-uniforms-for-2019/.

Sheryl Ring, Esq. “A Conversation on Chief Wahoo with Activist and Author Rebecca Nagle.” Beyond the Box Score, Beyond the Box Score, 28 Jan. 2020, www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2020/1/28/21110774/native-americans-chief-wahoo-tomahawk-chop-race-conversation-rebecca-nagle.

Link to original document of case study: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PG4wDUl6ul0xVWGM5xeZkS33p_ruVJzMQaIbre5psag/edit?usp=sharing