The Toronto Maple Leafs Should Chase a Different Sport’s Free Agent

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team with a great squad of players. To improve the organization they should look at acquiring a free agent off the ice.

The Toronto Maple Leafs may be happy with their current lineup but until recently they didn’t even know that it could get even better. This improvement might come in a spot so unusual that most wouldn’t even consider it possible.

One of the world’s most famous sports mascots may become a free agent, available to the highest bidder. The Maple Leafs should consider making a monumental change and pay the fee required to bring the mascot into the organization.

The Leafs already have a mascot named Carlton the Bear. (Keep that in mind when you play Toronto Maple Leafs Trivia.) The 6’4″ anthropomorphic polar bear has been the Leafs mascot since October 10, 1995. The mascot is named for the street on which Maple Leaf Gardens was found, Carlton St.

Toronto shouldn’t try to replace Carlton. The bear is a part of the team’s history. Instead, they should look to find their mascot a partner. Carlton’s job is to keep the crowd entertained and cheering their loudest. An assist from another longtime expert can only be considered a roster upgrade. The best partner the polar bear could ask for is the legendary Phillie Phanatic.

The Phanatic is known as one of the best mascots in baseball. Representing the Philadelphia Phillies, the mascot is a giant green bipedal flightless bird with a conical shaped beak. This is not just any ordinary bird, it is one that loves engaging in hijinx. The Phanatic has been involved in some very notable rivalries including ones with other teams’ mascots and with opposing manager Tommy LaSorda. The bird was even banned from a World Series Game in 1980.

The Oct. 18, 1980 issue of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune explained that the Kansas City Royals asked to keep the Phanatic away as they battled their own fans’ desire to have a mascot too. That article described what to expect from the Phillie Phanatic.

"“He usually roams the field at various times during the game, knocking over groundskeepers, umpires, wagging an elongated tongue at opposing teams, and dancing to his own brand of rock music.”"

The Phanatic is much older than Carleton as the bird was first designed and created in 1977. The masterminds behind the design were Bonnie Erickson and Wayde Harrison who formed the company Harrison/Erickson (H/E), which is now known as Acme Mascots. They are now a big reason as to why the Maple Leafs could even have a chance at acquiring the rights to the big green bird.

The Future Hangs on a Lawsuit

The Philadelphia Phillies are currently engaged in a lawsuit against those same creators. According to the complaint, the firm was originally paid $215,000 for their work. Decades later, H/E’s lawyers sent the Phillies a notice of termination. It declares that the Phillies can no longer use the Phanatic’s image.

The ballclub didn’t want to let the mascot go so easily. The Phillie’s suit asks the court to “put an immediate end to H/E’s effort to hold up The Phillies with its threats of legal action and to make the Phanatic a free agent. By issuing a declaratory judgment in The Phillies’ favor and an injunction against H/E’s threatened actions, the Court will ensure that Phillies fans will not be deprived of their beloved mascot of 41 years and that The Phillies’ investment of creativity, time, effort and money in the Phanatic will not be liquidated by H/E.”

The lawsuit includes that H/E actually ended the 1979 license agreement in 1984. It claims that when the company took the $215,000 the Phillies were to get the rights that last “forever”. The ballclub also argues that they have invested millions of dollars in promoting the Phanatic.

In response to the lawsuit, the PR firm Baretz+Brunelle which represents H/E released a statement to SportsTalkPhilly.com. It gives the creators side to the story. The statement reads:

"“At the Phillies request more than 40 years ago, we created the Phanatic, giving him a story and a life. Over the decades since, we have taken care of him, even patching him back together when he needed it, and have had a good, professional relationship with the Phillies. We feel like he is part of our family and certainly a huge part of the fabric of Philadelphia. His value has grown with his popularity, and we felt that the Phillies franchise never offered a reasonable payment to extend the Phanatic’s license. Instead, we were sued by the franchise, which was incredibly disappointing.While we very much want the Phanatic to remain the Phillies mascot, we will not yield to this lawsuit tactic. We intend to respond to it and win,” said Bonnie Erickson and Wayde Harrison, professional artists and creators of the Phillie Phanatic."

In the United States, copyright law allows individual artists to recapture and renegotiate the rights to their work once 35 years have passed. The purpose of this law is to provide artists the opportunity to protect themselves from missing out on a creation that has increased in value. Harrison and Erickson are hoping to regain the rights to the Phanatic with them expiring in June 2020.

Not Unprecedented

If the Phanatic were to become a free agent and the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired the mascot’s rights, it wouldn’t be the first time that a baseball character changed sports. Another MLB mascot was a pioneer in this area. Interestingly, that mascot also has ties to H/E.

The current Montreal Canadiens mascot, Youppi!, is a creation of Acme Mascots. Youppi! wasn’t was commissioned by the Canadiens but rather the Montreal Expos, the city’s now-defunct baseball team. The Expos originally leased the character in 1979. When the club moved to Washington and became the Nationals, they revealed a new mascot, Screech the bald eagle. This allowed Youppi! to hang around Montreal where join the Habs.

The Competition

There is already an interested party for the Phanatic’s services should they become available. That’s from John Oliver, the host of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO. On his March 1 show, he had sportscaster Bob Costas lend his voice to a recruitment pitch for the Phanatic to become the official mascot of the show.

That effort went as far as Costas telling the Phanatic to “Name your price, you magnificent beast.” Oliver added, “Frankly, we’ve spent money on things way stupider than this.” The show also made note that the Phillies have recently introduced an updated design to the mascot’s costume. It includes a straight beak, much to fans and Oliver’s displeasure. This is why the show promoted the hashtag #RespectTheConicalHonker.

As much fun as having a mascot on a comedy program would be, the talents would be wasted. Instead, it would be best to bring the mascot to Toronto.

It’s certainly a longshot but with Gritty terrorizing the league in Philadelphia, the Toronto Maple Leafs could use the help to catchup. It would be great if they were somehow able to add the Phanatic to the team.