Aviators to use alternative team name, uniforms for promotion

For Saturday’s home game against the Tacoma Rainiers, the Aviators will go by the Las Vegas Gamblers during a “What If” night promotion. That includes new alternative uniforms, logos and color schemes.

The hat logo features a cartoonish western character throwing a pair of dice, while the jersey features a western font, the character logo on the left sleeve, with a poker chip stripe design accenting the borders of the sleeves.

“We wanted to go with a western theme to pay homage to Las Vegas’ humble beginnings,” Edward Dorville, Aviators vice president of retail operations, wrote via email. “We added the welcome sign elements to the spurs and belt buckle after a few iterations to tie the logo to Las Vegas. We also made sure the numbers on the dice had significance to our city. We always strive to give everything a purpose. For the jersey, we added the profile of the poker chips to the sleeves in the second iteration to further tie the brand elements.”

Upon its unveiling Monday on social media, Aviators fans were overwhelmingly in favor of the Gamblers theme and the merchandise launch that accompanied the announcement.

“I’m very appreciative of the fans’ reaction when it was unveiled today. We had a feeling that’s how it was going to be received,” Dorville said. “I’d like to clarify that this is for every Las Vegan, especially those who moved to Las Vegas in search of a better life. Las Vegas was the fastest growing city in the 20th century that was born in the 20th century. Jobs were a major reason for the increase in the Las Vegas population. It’s the reason that brought my family to the desert.”

With alternate identities being a big hit in the minor leagues, Dorville said the “What If” nights will be a promotion for the foreseeable future, with one to two ideas unveiled each year. Another name and logo is already planned to be unveiled later this season.

Although the plan for the alternate identities is to be a one-off offering, ideas that are popular with fans could be implemented more times in the future.

“That happened with the Stars jerseys last season as we celebrated our 40th anniversary,” Dorville said. “We ended up incorporating it more days than we initially programmed it for. I can see that happening with the Gamblers jerseys, if not within this season in upcoming ones. But if you ask me, currently, Saturday will be it for now. We’ll regroup after the event to discuss.”

Because of constraints and limitations the team works under, including only working with licensed vendors, the Gamblers’ alternate identity is an effort two years in the making. That includes a collaboration between the retail and marketing departments at the Aviators. The team also brought in Brandiose to assist in the design.

“It goes through a lengthy process, including trademark search and vetting by MiLB,” Dorville said. “We have several ideas, rooted by our knowledge and love of the market. We are hoping to solicit ideas from the fans through an online submission form for the seasons to come.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.