The fans have spoken and the NBA has listened. The Hornets are coming back to Charlotte.

According to ESPN.com, the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved changing the Charlotte Bobcats team name back to the Hornets during its summer meeting on Thursday. The name change will officially take effect at the beginning of the 2014-2015 season.

Numerous grassroots campaigns in North Carolina over the past year had indicated that fans were not happy with the Bobcats name and wanted the Hornets back. And after the New Orleans franchise decided to change its name to the Pelicans earlier this year, the Hornets brand became available again.

“It is so true that it was a subject of conversation for the last couple of years,” said NBA commissioner David Stern. “Fans of the old Hornets would say, ‘Please give us back our Hornet name.’ I laughed at it initially. But it stayed there bubbling below the surface, and there’s something to it.”

According to team officials, 2,000 of the team’s season ticket holders celebrated the name change with a downtown party that also featured appearances by past Hornets players Muggsy Bogues, Rex Chapman, Dell Curry, Kendall Gill and Kelly Tripucka.

Team owner Michael Jordan – who had been in discussions with the league about the name change since he bought the team in 2010 – was pleased to give the fans what they wanted.

“We’re thrilled to bring back the Hornets to Charlotte and the Carolinas,” Jordan said in a statement. “The passion and enthusiasm around this name change by fans in this market has been unmatched. They overwhelmingly told us what they wanted, we listened and we couldn’t be happier with the Board of Governors’ approval of the name change. With the young team we are developing on the court, the direction of our business and the return of the Hornets name, we are extremely excited about our future. The buzz is back!”

While it’s unclear if the name change will result in more success on the court, for now, at least Charlotte fans have something to cheer about.

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