Quidditch, the real-life sport inspired by the magical game from the Harry Potter book series, has now changed its name in a major rebrand.
Two governing bodies, U.S. Quidditch and Major League Quidditch, announced their respective name changes on Tuesday, July 19, revealing they would now be known as U.S. Quadball and Major League Quadball.
The two sporting bodies previously made their intentions known back in December 2021, following controversial remarks made by Harry Potter author JK Rowling about trans people.
The International Quidditch Association (IQA) has also now announced similar plans to rename the sport at a worldwide level.
In a press release, Rowling's divisive comments were cited as being one of two reasons the sport is looking to make a change, with the second being a desire "to continue to grow like other sports that have sprung from humble origins."
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Chris Lau, Chair of the IQA Board of Trustees and Co-Founder of the Hong Kong Quidditch Association, said: “The IQA is very excited to be joining USQ and MLQ in changing the name of our sport and supporting this change across our members worldwide.
“We are confident in this step and we look forward to all the new opportunities quadball will bring. This is an important moment in our sport’s history.”
MLQ Co-Commissioner Amanda Dallas said: “Bringing full creative control of the name of our sport to the vibrant community of players and fans that has grown and sustained it will allow our organisations to take the next step.
“We are now able to pursue the kinds of opportunities that our community has dreamed about for years.”
Going forward, USQ and MLQ will now own the trademark for 'quadball' in the United States, while the trademark for 'Quidditch' is owned by film and entertainment company Warner Bros.
Players and fans were polled while the organisations were making their decision, with the name of quadball receiving strong support across demographic groups.
This new name makes reference to both the number of balls in the game, as well as the number of positions in the real-life sport.
The sport was originally adapted from the Harry Potter book series in 2005 by students at Middlebury College in Vermont, Xander Manshel and Alex Benepe.
In the years since, the game has become hugely popular across the US and elsewhere around the world, and is now played by almost 600 teams from 40 different countries
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