Gritty. It’s a word that the Cambridge Dictionary defines as “strong and determined in dealing with an unpleasant situation.” It’s also the name of the Philadelphia Flyers’ unpleasant mascot.
Yes, a little more than a month ago, the Philadelphia Flyers announced they would be introducing a brand new mascot for the 2018–2019 season, and it most definitely has been making a splash among the NHL community and its fans.
Looking like a cross between a Muppet and a monster, Gritty already boasts more than 153,000 followers on Twitter. For comparison, the Los Angeles Kings’ mascot, Bailey, and the Nashville Predators mascot, Gnash, have almost 54,000 and 50,000 followers, respectively, while New Jersey’s NJ Devil has 20,600 and both the Chicago Blackhawks’ and Columbus Blue Jackets’ mascots have about 10,000 or less.
Many, such as sports talk radio host Joe Giglio, believe Gritty is a terrible idea, but in actuality, this googly eyed monster may be one of the best decisions the Flyers organization has made for boosting its following.
According to the Sports Business Journal, the Flyers experienced one of the biggest declines in television ratings on NBC Sports Philadelphia between the 2016-2017 season and the 2017-2018 seasons. This decline was the fifth highest in the league at 25 percent. The four teams ranked above Philadelphia for biggest decline were the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers.
It is interesting to see that there was such a large decline in ratings, considering the Flyers ended their 2017–2018 season third in the Metropolitan Division, facing a 4-2 series loss to their cross-state rival the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of playoffs. This was an improvement for the team from the season before, in which they finished third-to-last in the Metropolitan Division, missing out on the playoffs entirely.
It doesn’t matter that the team is winning games if viewership is dropping so drastically in one year. A decrease in viewership equals a decrease in the number of fans that are tuning in and paying attention to the team. Ultimately, decrease in viewership means a decrease in revenue for the team, which is the opposite of what any team wants.
Enter Gritty. He’s undoubtedly the most talked-about mascot in the NHL right now, and the Flyers are capitalizing on his quick rise to fame.
On Sept. 24, both Gritty’s Twitter page, @GrittyNHL, and the Flyers’ official page tweeted pictures and videos of the new mascot, which were soon retweeted by teams across Philadelphia as well as mascots throughout the NHL. Since his grand entrance, he’s had a dominant Twitter presence that seems to be creating a formula for success both on and off the ice.
First, the Gritty Twitter account is constantly posting new content, tweeting at least once a day. The content posted is meant to be funny and cause engagement with followers, often including pictures, videos and GIFs that play off of popular culture or show Gritty engaging with famous figures, such as Guillermo from Jimmy Kimmel Live.
For example, one of the first images the account tweeted was of a recreation of Kim Kardashian’s famous Paper magazine shoot, where Gritty was instead pictured holding a Gatorade water bottle that sprayed into a glass photoshopped onto his back.
Gritty’s page also actively engages with other accounts on Twitter, such as his “Sleep with one eye open tonight, bird,” response to the Penguins’ mocking of the new mascot. Active engagement with other Twitter accounts increases visibility, therefore giving the mascot more opportunities to gain followers.
Gritty is nothing short of wild when the Flyers hit the ice. He has been seen bodychecking fans during intermission activities, dumping a bag of popcorn on a Rangers fan’s head and falling all over the ice, and it’s exactly what the team needs.
Philadelphia needed something new and exciting to hook new fans as well as regain viewership from fans who have previously stopped watching the team. Gritty is fun and unpredictable, and you don’t need to know the rules of hockey to follow his antics. He’s a way for the team to attract more than just the active Flyers fans, instead creating a character that may cause those who do not follow the team to want to tune in to see what Gritty does.
We’re only about a dozen games into the season, so it is hard to observe the long-term effects, or lack thereof, the addition of Gritty may have for the team, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the Flyers regain some of that lost viewership by the end of this season.
