Mascot Hall of Fame
Hall of fame for North American sports mascots
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mascot Hall of Fame is an online museum for sports mascots. Prior to this, it operated a physical location between 2018 and 2024 as an interactive children's museum. It was founded by David Raymond who was the original Phillie Phanatic from 1978 to 1993, along with co-founder Christopher Bruce.
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| Established | 2005 |
|---|---|
| Location | Online |
| Type | Hall of fame |
| Founder | David Raymond |
| Website | mascothalloffame |
Mascots were first elected to the hall of fame in 2005. Subsequent elections occurred in 2006, 2007, and 2008. No additional elections took place until 2017. Regular inductions did not begin until 2022.[1]
Mascots are elected into the Mascot Hall of Fame by the voting public and are reviewed by an executive committee made up of performers, sports executives, and other individuals intimate with the mascot community. The mascots go through a nomination process that ends with the executive committee selecting six finalist in each category to be placed on the ballot for consideration.
Over the years, the Mascot Hall of Fame has added additional awards, including Best Corporate Use for Brand, and Best Live Mascot.
To be eligible for the Mascot Hall of Fame, a mascot must have existed for a minimum of 10 years. They must also impact both their sport and community, inspire their fans, and consistently give memorable and groundbreaking performances.[2]
History
The Mascot Hall of Fame was founded as an online-only hall by with an induction ceremony taking place each year in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. However, in September 2014, Raymond's mascot company signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of Whiting, Indiana, to develop a permanent Mascot Hall of Fame on the south shore of Lake Michigan.[3][4] The educational, STEAM based, fully interactive museum opened December 26, 2018.[5] On July 22, 2024, the hall of fame announced that the Whiting, Indiana museum would close on September 14, 2024. The organization will continue online and are actively searching for a new location to host the museum.[6]
Raymond has stepped back from day to day engagement with the Hall which is now run by his co-founder and curator of the Hall, Christopher Bruce.[citation needed]
Mrs. Met became the first female mascot elected to the Mascot Hall of Fame in the class of 2026. This made the New York Mets the first team to have two mascots in the hall (the other being Mr. Met, who was in the class of 2007).[7][8]
Inductees
Gallery
The Phillie Phanatic with the Montreal Expos' Andrés Galarraga in 1987
Western Kentucky's HOF mascot Big Red
Aubie, Auburn University's mascot
Clutch the Bear, the mascot of the Houston Rockets, on Halloween 2005
Bucky Badger, University of Wisconsin-Madison's mascot
Clutch in 2013
K.C. Wolf, the mascot of the Kansas City Chiefs
Brutus Buckeye, Ohio State University's mascot
Lil' Red, University of Nebraska's mascot
Benny the Bull, the mascot of the Chicago Bulls
Mr. Met and Mrs. Met, the mascots of the New York Mets
Smokey IX, former mascot of the University of Tennessee
