Interviews & Articles
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America's Top Sports Mascots
Jan 27, 2009
Marketing :: America's Top Sports Mascots
Tom Van Riper
Forbes Magazine
Revenge is sweet. For two straight years, the New York Mets have been edged out of the National League playoffs by the rival Philadelphia Phillies. But frustrated Mets fans can take heart in this: Their beloved Mr. Met has returned the favor by nosing out the Phillie Phanatic atop our annual list of America's Top Sports Mascots.
Perhaps it's an omen that things will improve for New York in 2009. Even if they don't, Mr. Met's sustained success over 45 years shows one thing: The Mets' family friendly image continues to be strong, a successful differentiation from the corporate, humorless Yankees across town (what mascot could anyone imagine the Yankees employing? Pinstripe--the hedge fund billionaire?).
But even the furriest on-field friends are all business now. Once a fun gimmick used to entertain fans between breaks in the action, mascots morphed into an important marketing tool, chiefly to bolster franchises' appeal to kids. There's nothing like adding a Muppet character to a sporting event to hook a young fan for life.
To see which score best with the public, Omnicom Group's The Marketing Arm measured awareness, appeal and likability among sports mascots. Through its Davie Brown Index, the firm gathered data on nearly 100 mascots of professional and major college sports teams, gauging reactions from a cross section of people that demographically represent the U. S. population.
This year, Forbes included college mascots for the first time, many of which are adding fans far beyond the schools they entertain. They dominate the rankings, snapping up six of the top 10 slots. Among the highest scoring: the University of Georgia Bulldogs' Hairy Dawg, Michigan State University's Sparty (as in Spartan) and the University of Minnesota's Goldy the Gopher, who is hugely popular with local fans despite looking like a squirrel.
Hairy Dawg debuted in 1980, when Georgia, a rising football power led by running back sensation Herschel Walker, defeated Penn State in the Sugar Bowl for the national championship. The university decided to upgrade from a smaller dog mascot to counter rival Florida's tough-looking alligator, Albert. The Dawg hasn't looked back since.
Nor has LSU's Mike the Tiger. In old school tradition, Mike is a real tiger. The original Mike goes back to 1936, after his purchase as a 1-year-old from a Little Rock, Ark., zoo. He prowled the sidelines for 20 years before his death. The current Mike lives in a lush, 15,000-square-foot habitat on the LSU campus, complete with a roaring waterfall and a stream.
The other two pro teams on the list: Boston Red Sox mascot Wally the Green Monster (No. 4) and Benny, the Chicago Bulls mascot (No. 5). Nearly 40 years old, Benny is a pioneer for the current generation of NBA mascots that entertain fans with dancing and stunts during breaks in the action. Hidebound Red Sox fans have finally come to embrace Wally since his 1997 unveiling. Team officials developed a clever backstory: Wally was an old fan who decided to move inside Fenway Park's "Green Monster" left field wall in 1947. He popped out of the scoreboard after 50 years as a hermit. Yuck. Sounds like he needs Mike's agent.
