If you’re looking to start a website for Ravens fans, be sure you keep the team’s name out of the URL. The Baltimore Ravens have been flexing their muscles and forcing fan sites containing “Ravens” in the name to rebrand themselves. Ravens24x7.com, the oldest and arguably the best of the fan’s sites is currently undergoing a name change, while RavensGab.com has be renamed to BaltimoreGridIronReport.com.
Tony Lombardi, Ravens24x7.com’s owner and operator, posted that he was “forced” to announce a name change to his nine year old website.
Lombardi provided additional details on the the Ravens24x7 message board.
First and foremost I am flattered by the support and I thank you all.
Secondly, this didn’t become this (fka Ravens24x7.com ) without a ton of support starting with the writers (many of which were discovered here), Admin Steve, the moderators and all of you. I thank you all again.
Lastly, I don’t have an axe to grind with the team. I get it. Our biggest concern is migrating to something easily remembered which can be used to inspire a cool logo; comes off the tongue easily; and captures in a few syllables what we do. That’s our challenge.
Matt Jergesen at BaltimoreGribIronReport.com — formerly RavensGab.com — explained the cease and desist his company received for using “Ravens” in their URL.
A few months ago we were contacted by our superiors from the Mother ship – www.nflgridirongab.com and they said that they had received an e-mail from the Baltimore Ravens public relations department. In said e-mail they asked or rather told us to cease using the name “Ravens” in our title or risk legal action.
It shouldn’t surprise me when I hear news like this coming from The Castle, but somehow it always seems to catch me off guard. I’ve said for the past couple years that the Ravens have been on a path that pushes their fans further away and I believe they are no longer interested in growing local support for the franchise.
Guys like Lombardi have helped to promote this team and provide unique coverage of it in this city free of charge. The content and effort put into Ravens24x7.com goes unmatched. The Ravens should be thanking Ravens24x7.com for helping to build a community and promote the franchise, not threatening the site.
If you think this is an NFL-wide ruling, you’re wrong. Google “Steelers fan site” and see the list of Pittsburgh URL’s that pop up. SteelerAddicts.com, SteelerConnection.com, Steelersfever.com, SteelersSal.com and SteelerGridIron.com don’t seem to be threatening the Pittsburgh brand. Didn’t Steve Bisciotti say that he wanted to model the Ravens organization after the Steelers?
This move by the Ravens organization is classless. I was ashamed when Terrell Suggs sent cease and desist letters to fans making “Ball So Hard University” t-shirts and I’m ashamed that the Baltimore football franchise is threatening to sue fan’s websites. Its ridiculous.
Say what you will about the Orioles and the way their organization is run. We all know it’s going to be a long baseball season. But at least they aren’t threatening their fans with cease and desist letters.
Zach Wilt is the Founding Editor of BaltimoreSportsReport.com. You can follow him on Twitter @zamwi or send him an email: zach@baltimoresportsreport.com.
This is almost as bad as that Cafe wanting to forbid anyone in Baltimore from using Hon or Hun.
I can’t say what I’m actually feeling because the Intimidator would not be happy with me,,,,,,,,,,,,,let’s just say I believe it’s more of the same from the Harbaugh era , what I don’t understand is why Bisciotti is going along with this,,,,,,,,,,he is a business man and should know the value of positive publicity , Tony Lombardi has done the Ravens proud , his coverage is much better than the local papers,,,,,,,,,,I have to believe this has Harbaugh’s finger prints all over it ,most of these changes that are not fan-friendly have started after Harbs came on board , what gives,,,,,,,,,,,,I would appreciate a quality explanation for this action , though I doubt we will get one,,,,,,,,,this pisses me off big time………..sorry Intimidator………..
Spy – I am anti-Harbaugh so go ahead and bust on him and Bisciotti… This team management is a joke…
doesn’t it feel good to be an a$$,,,,,,these guys have won more games than you and i ever played in pee-wee ball. It’s great being an armchair QB/GM and think i know everything there is to sports. You and I should be married……..I’d take those handle bars and pooowwww baby!
Obviously this is the guy who really wants to be me,,,,,,,,,,,
I’m still a little pissed about this. I get it, I think. What bugs me mostly is that this is not an NFL decision but rather one only being pursued by the Ravens P.R. Department. They don’t seem to think that a disclaimer at the top of the page under the header is sufficent enough. We’ll move on. I just need to ask any sites who were nice enough to link to us to note the change.
I feel bad for Tony as well because he’s worked hard to build a recognizable brand for close to 10 years.
The Ravens need to make sure they “police” their trademark by sending cease and desist letters to people using it. Otherwise, they could lose their rights under the trademark.
Not true , ultimately the NFL has all the rights , the Ravens operate under the NFL’s umbrella ,,,,,,with all the power of God , the Ravens are in no danger of losing any trademark rights,,,,,,,,,I’m still looking for a legitimate reason to do this,,,,,,,,,,
The more I think about it the more I’m starting to think Bisciotti is close to ruining this great organization,,,,,,three years ago you couldn’t say anything bad about the Ravens around this town but today you hear several bad comments about this organization,,,,,,,,the direction they are headed is not fan-friendly and they better watch out because there are bad times with any ball club and that is when they need fan support and it just may not be there,,,,,,,,,,,
Amen, Spy. With the other pro team in town in the abyss, you would think this would be when the Ravens would really turn on the charm and play the “good cop”. Instead, they appear to be taking advantage and flexing their muscles.
BTW, did someone wrote on your behalf, above, to The Intimidator? Doesn’t look like your recent work.
*write
Not wrote
Yes , MGW , that was not me………
Um, did the KGB vacate Russia and take over the Ravens?!?
Its definitely unfortunate, but that’s the nature of trademark and copyrights. Trust me I work at a screen print shop and can you imagine how difficult it is coming up with “Ravens” designs without putting the word Ravens in it at all?