2016 Mascot Madness is a mascot tournament sponsored by the International Mascot Hall of Fame. Using the same 64-entrant format that is used by the NCAA's Division I Basketball Tournament, "March Madness", Mascot Madness breaks all the mascots up into 4 distinct regions, based on the sport their team plays. The four regions for the 2016 tournament are Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Hockey.
History
Mascot Madness was announced in early January 2016, as a way of helping to promote the inaugural class of the International Mascot Hall of Fame, coming in 2017. Future editions of Mascot Madness are already in the planning stages, 2017 Mascot Madness is tenitively scheduled as "Colleges vs. Minor Leagues", while the 2018 Mascot Madness has been dubbed "United States vs. The World".
On February 21, 2016, the International Mascot Hall of Fame announces the tournament entrants for the 2016 Mascot Madness. 48 entrants (12 from each of the four sports) will be announced as 'top' seeds for the upcoming tournament. The remaining 16 spots (4 from each sport) will be wild-card entries, where mascots will compete from February 21 to February 29 via the International Mascot Hall of Fame Twitter account.
Participants
The participants in the 2016 Mascot Madness are broken up into four categories:
Baseball
- Phillie Phanatic (Philadelphia Phillies)
- Mr. Met (New York Mets)
- Bernie Brewer (Milwaukee Brewers)
- Sluggerrr (Kansas City Royals)
- Wally the Green Monster (Boston Red Sox)
- The Swinging Friar (San Diego Padres)
- Pirate Parrot (Pittsburgh Pirates)
- Lou Seal (San Francisco Giants)
- Raymond (Tampa Bay Rays)
- Mariner Moose (Seattle Mariners)
- Orbit (Houston Astros)
- Slider (Cleveland Indians)
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Basketball
- Jazz Bear (Utah Jazz)
- Benny the Bull (Chicago Bulls)
- Bango (Milwaukee Bucks)
- Go the Gorilla (Phoenix Suns)
- SuperMascot Rocky (Denver Nuggets)
- Rumble the Bison (Oklahoma City Thunder)
- Hugo the Hornet (Charlotte Hornets)
- Harry the Hawk (Atlanta Hawks)
- Grizz (Memphis Grizzlies)
- Clutch the Bear (Houston Rockets)
- The Raptor (Toronto Raptors)
- Blaze the Trail Cat (Portland Trail Blazers)
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Football
- Staley Da Bear (Chicago Bears)
- Big Red (Arizona Cardinals)
- Pat the Patr (New England Patriots)
- Blitz (Seattle Seahawks)
- Captain Fear (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
- Chomps (Cleveland Browns)
- Who Dey (Cincinnati Bengals)
- Miles (Denver Broncos)
- op (Phdelphia Eagles)
- Billy Buffalo (Buffalo Bills)
- Roary the Lion (Detroit Lions)
- Steely McBeam (Pittsburgh Steelers)
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Hockey
- WildWing (Anaheim Ducks)
- S.J. Sharkie (San Jose Sharks)
- Harvey the Hound (Calgary Flames)
- Youppi! (Montreal Canadiens)
- Bailey (Los Angeles Kings)
- Gnash (Nashville Predators)
- Spartacat (Ottawa Senators)
- Mick E. Moose (Winnipeg Jets)
- Fin the Whale (Vancouver Canucks)
- Slapshot (Washington Capitals)
- Stanley C. Panther (Florida Panthers)
- N.J. Devil (New Jersey Devils)
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Format/Schedule
Qualifying
With 48 positions awarded to the top mascots in each sport, 16 final 'wild-card entries' were announced, which will fill the bottom four seeds in each sports region. All mascots not already named to the tournament are eligible for wild-card entry. Details on qualifying will be posted each day on the International Mascot Hall of Fame Twitter account. Voting will be open from Sunday, February 21, 2016 until 6pm Eastern time on Sunday, February 28, 2016. The 16 wild-card entries will be announced on the evening of February 28, 2016.
Round-of-64
The round-of-64 will be a series of 32 heads-up matchups, pitting one mascot against another, with voting to occur on the International Mascot Hall of Fame social media accounts, as well as here at sportsmascots.wikia.com. Voting will be open from the morning of Monday, February 29, 2016 through to 6pm on Saturday, March 5, 2016. Winners will be announced on the evening of March 5.
Round-of-32
The round-of-64 will be a series of 16 heads-up matchups, pitting one mascot against another, with voting to occur on the International Mascot Hall of Fame social media accounts, as well as here at sportsmascots.wikia.com. Voting will be open from the morning of Sunday, March 6, 2016 through to 6pm on Friday, March 11, 2016. Winners will be announced on the evening of March 11.
'Mascot Madness Sweet Sixteen'
The Mascot Madness Sweet Sixteen will be a series of 8 heads-up matchups, pitting one mascot against another, with voting to occur on the International Mascot Hall of Fame social media accounts, as well as here at sportsmascots.wikia.com. Voting will be open from the morning of Saturday, March 12, 2016 through to 6pm on Thursday, March 17, 2016. Winners will be announced on the evening of March 17.
'Mascot Madness Elite Eight'
The Mascot Madness Elite Eight will be a series of 4 heads-up matchups, pitting one mascot against another, with voting to occur on the International Mascot Hall of Fame social media accounts, as well as here at sportsmascots.wikia.com. Voting will be open from the morning of Friday, March 18, 2016 through to 6pm on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Winners will be announced on the evening of March 23.
'Mascot Madness Final Four'
The Mascot Madness Final Four will be a series of 2 heads-up matchups, pitting one mascot against another, with voting to occur on the International Mascot Hall of Fame social media accounts, as well as here at sportsmascots.wikia.com. Voting will be open from the morning of Thursday, March 24, 2016 through to 6pm on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Winners will be announced on the evening of March 29.
'Mascot Madness Championship'
The Mascot Madness Championship will be 1 heads-up matchup, pitting one mascot against another, with voting to occur on the International Mascot Hall of Fame social media accounts, as well as here at sportsmascots.wikia.com. Voting will be open from the morning of Wednesday, March 30, 2016 through to 6pm on Monday, April 4, 2016. Winners will be announced on the evening of April 4, which is International Mascot Day.