Quidditch Organizations Change Name to Quadball

US Quidditch and Major League Quidditch are rebranding as US Quadball and Major League Quadball while the International Quidditch Association, which governs the sport at the international level, is also planning to adopt the new name worldwide as part of a rebranding process that began in December.

USQ, the national governing body for the sport and MLQ, the semi-professional league with 16 teams in North America, began a joint process to rename the real-life sport in December. The governing bodies pursued the rebranding after J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter book series, came under scrutiny for her anti-trans positions. The sport inspired by quidditch is looking to continue to grow beyond the book’s sporting origins as well.

“In less than 20 years, our sport has grown from a few dozen college students in rural Vermont to a global phenomenon with thousands of players, semi-pro leagues and international championships,” said USQ Executive Director Mary Kimball. “Our organizations are committed to continuing to push quadball forward.”
Quadball received strong support across demographic groups in the surveys. The name refers to both the number of balls and the number of positions in the real-life sport. USQ and MLQ will own the trademark for “quadball” in the United States.

“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 organizations to take the next step,” said MLQ Co-Commissioner Amanda Dallas. “We are now able to pursue the kinds of opportunities that our community has dreamed about for years.”

MLQ will adopt the new name upon completion of the 2022 MLQ Championship in Howard County, Maryland, on August 20-22. USQ is adopting the new name effective immediately.

“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,” said Chris Lau, chair of the IQA Board of Trustees and co-founder of the Hong Kong Quidditch Association. “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.”