Who are Las Vegas’ pro sport mascots?
Las Vegas has been flooded with new sports franchises over the past seven years, and with them are their eccentric (and somewhat off-putting) mascots.
Here’s a guide to Las Vegas’ current sports mascots:
Raider Rusher
While many die-hard fans might see Gorilla Rilla as more of a mascot than Raider Rusher, the spiked-helmet wearing football player still holds the throne as the team’s official, but widely unpopular, mascot.
Raider Rusher debuted in 2013, seven years before the team’s move to Las Vegas, as part of the NFL-produced Nickelodeon kids show “Rush Zone,” where each NFL team had its own animated mascot.
Raider Rusher does attend games, but he’s more visible at special kid-oriented events like the Junior Raiders Training Camp or community events like the Clark County Latino Festival.
Though the mascot was created with kids in mind, adult sports fans have made their disdain for the figure well-known. One CBS Sports writer even called him “the most inept-looking mascot the world’s ever seen.”
Chance — Golden Knights
Chance, the Golden Knight’s Gila monster mascot, debuted in 2017 during the team’s inaugural season.
Gila monsters are Nevada’s only venomous lizard species, and can be recognized in the wild by their black-and-orange patterned bodies, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife.
According to the NHL, Chance emerged from an underground burrow at Red Rock Canyon to check out the Knights’ Summerlin practice facility, City National Arena, and soon grew to love the welcoming hockey community.
“Chance represents the inclusive culture of hockey,” the Knights wrote in 2017. “He demonstrates how important life skills can be developed by playing hockey, such as strong character, dedication, fitness and teamwork.”
These days, Chance can be spotted at Knights games, community events and, on occasion, giving away free gas.
Bucket$ — Las Vegas Aces
Ke$ha isn’t the only star with a dollar sign in their name.
The mascot debuted for Las Vegas’ WNBA championship-winning team in 2018.
He is a jackrabbit who, like Chance, came from the Mojave Desert and found refuge from the desert heat at the Michelob Ultra Arena, according to the team.
The Aces say Bucket$ was “pulled out of a hat by his foot by the Aces who were in search for a new home themselves.”
Bucket$ (unlike the unpopular Raiders Rusher that came dead last in Sports Illustrated’s NFL mascot ranking) was selected as the WNBA’s Mascot of the Year in 2022 — the same year the team won its first WNBA championship.
Las Vegas Lights Football Club — Cash the Soccer Rocker
Lights FC’s leather-clad, motorcycle-riding mascot Cash the Soccer Rocker was unveiled in 2018.
The mascot’s name honors the Cashman family of Cashman Field, where the team plays.
The motorcycle part of Cash’s look ties into the team’s partnership with Las Vegas Harley Davidson that Tim Cashman, the grandson of Tim Cashman who is the namesake of Cashman field, is part owner, the Review-Journal reported in 2018.
Dollie-Llama, an actual llama also joins Cash as an official mascot at Lights FC home games.
Spruce the Goose and Aviator — Las Vegas Aviators
Spruce the Goose and Aviator were introduced as the mascots for the Las Vegas Aviators in 2019 after the team rebranded from the Las Vegas 51s, retired their 18-year-old extraterrestrial mascot, Cosmo, and moved from Cashman Field to Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin.
Spruce the Goose’s name is a play on a nickname of Summerlin founder Howard Hughes’ infamous wooden H-4 Hercules plane that only flew once. The team’s Aviator mascot similarly pays homage to Hughes’ legacy as an aircraft enthusiast who once dreamed of Summerlin becoming a major hub for aircraft-related industries, according to author and former Review-Journal columnist Geoff Schumacher.
Summerlin says Spruce once lived in the Fountains of Bellagio and was involved in “Show Biz” from a young age with his parents, who were in a nameless magic act on the Strip.
Aviator’s origins, on the other hand, are much murkier.
One rumor is that Aviator, according to Summerlin, was once a part of Nellis Air Force Base’s top secret “Intergalactic Jet Propulsion System,” in which he participated in secret missions and, “for this reason, he can never reveal his true identity.”
“No one knows exactly where he came from or how he ended up at Las Vegas Ballpark, but his flight suit and gear are really out of this world, suggesting he’s had some pretty fantastic adventures and seen some astonishing places,” Summerlin’s website states.
In April, the team held a promotion where the Aviators became the Gamblers for one night that led to record merchandise sales. But, despite the name’s popularity, Aviators President Don Logan said the Aviator name is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
Coming soon: Stomper — Athletics
With the Athletics’ move to Las Vegas in the works, Stomper will soon join Las Vegas’ ever growing collection of sports mascots
Stomper debuted as the Athletics’ mascot in 1997, but an elephant has been associated with the team since 1902, according to the MLB.
The elephant image came after MLB player John McGraw said the team, then called the Philadelphia A’s, would not make money and said they “have a big white elephant on their hands.”
A’s owner Connie Mack then began using a white elephant as the team’s unofficial mascot, and despite the team switching to a donkey mascot from 1965 to 1980 under owner Charlie Finley, the elephant has persisted as a team icon, MLB said.
Though the team has not yet started playing games in Las Vegas, Stomper has already gotten in on some classic Las Vegas fun. He was spotted wearing Elvis Presley’s iconic white jumpsuit at the Tropicana implosion — sideburns and all.
A’s mascot Stomper is ready for Las Vegas in his Elvis garb. #vegas #athletics #mlb pic.twitter.com/UXAdO7fgXm
— Mick Akers (@mickakers) October 9, 2024
Click here to read our (unofficial) ranking on the best current and former Las Vegas mascots.
Contact Taylor Lane at tlane@reviewjournal.com.
