The Indians' ticketing and digital numbers "predictably have soared" since their AL Central-clinching victory against the Tigers on Sept. 26, according to Kevin Kleps of CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS. From that date through Oct. 13, the club's unique users and impressions on Facebook "nearly doubled from the previous 18-day stretch, and its shares on the social platform rose 63.1%." The Indians' Twitter account "had 44 million impressions from Sept. 26 to Oct. 13, a rise of 58.9% from the previous 18 days." Page views on Indians.com after clinching also "almost doubled, and unique visitors increased 66% from the previous 17 days." On the ticketing side, the club has "sold 850 full-season equivalents since July and has already surpassed 9,000 season-ticket holders" for '17. The current full-season equivalent total, which is "up 25% year-over-year, includes 1,000 accounts (full- and partial-season packages) that have joined since July." Those numbers "should continue to increase as well" (CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS, 10/17 issue).
MOTION DENIED: The CP's Diana Mehta noted an effort to ban the Indians "from using their full team name and logo" when they played the Blue Jays in the ALCS was "dismissed by an Ontario judge" yesterday. Justice Thomas McEwen's ruling came "just a few hours before the baseball teams met" in Game 3 of the ALCS at Rogers Centre. He issued the decision after lawyers for indigenous activist Douglas Cardinal "sought to bar" use of the Indians name and logo in Ontario, arguing they "amounted to racial discrimination." Lawyers who made arguments on Cardinal’s behalf yesterday suggested that the Indians could "use spring training jerseys -- which didn’t have the full name and logo -- during their games, while Rogers Communications, which broadcasts the games, could be ordered not to use the team logo on screens in the stadium where the Jays play" (CP, 10/17). The Columbus Dispatch's Jack Torry in a special to USA TODAY writes under the header, "Cleveland Indians Name Is A Tribute, Not A Slur." There is "no question that when the Cleveland team chose its nickname, one reason" was Louis Sockalexis, who in 1897 became the first Native American to play in MLB. The team's Chief Wahoo logo is "more problematic," but to "twist the team’s nickname into a slur against American Indians takes a creative mind" (USA TODAY, 10/18).
