Skip to main content

Home Film Film News

Quidditch changes it name in bid to distance sport from JK Rowling

The sport has been renamed to distance the sport from JK Rowling's “anti-trans positions in recent years”

By Nick Reilly

Quidditch players in real life (Picture: Alamy)
Quidditch players in real life (Picture: Alamy)

A real life recreation of Quidditch – the game popularised in the Harry Potter books – is being renamed as Quadball as the sport’s governing bodies seek to “distance themselves from the works” of author JK Rowling.

Both governing bodies Major League Quidditch and US Quidditch said at the end of last year they would conduct a series of surveys to find a new name for the game.

They said the name “quidditch” being trademarked by Warner Bros was one of the reasons for doing so, but also explained how Rowling has “increasingly come under scrutiny for her anti-trans positions in recent years”.

Major League Quadball, formerly known as Major League Quidditch, claimed that changing the name “opens unprecedented opportunities for growth, exposure and partnerships”.

The International Quidditch Association will also be adopting the new name worldwide, it has been confirmed.

Mary Kimball, executive director of US Quadball, said in a statement: “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.

“Our organisations are committed to continuing to push quadball forward.”

Rowling’s public views on the trans community have faced heavy criticism in recent years from the stars of Harry Potter’s big screen franchise, as well as a number of LGBTQ groups.