Prior to the launch of the 2018-19 Philadelphia Flyers season, Gritty was introduced to the world. Initially met with shock and fear, the mascot earned the City of Brotherly Love’s approval within 24 hours and now stands as one of its A-list celebrities. It was only a matter of days before Gritty rose to the top of USA Today’s ranked list of NHL mascots.
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The idea of creating a Flyers mascot began at the NHL All-Star game in 2017, where many of the other teams’ mascots gathered for a fan event. It was apparent to the Flyers marketing team that an absent mascot program was a missed opportunity. Launching a mascot created the opportunity to engage younger fans and developed another vehicle to interact with the community, considering that a mascot could lend a fun Flyers experience to 250-300 games and community events each year.
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Within the first month, Gritty generated a huge amount of media coverage, reaching nearly 70 million people on TV and earning 5 billion impressions online, worth $151 million in earned media. Gritty has been a media sensation, making appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live and the TODAY Show.
Since Gritty cannot speak in person, the team uses social media as an avenue to build his voice and personality – amassing more than 200,000 Twitter followers in his first few months.
