The Detroit Tigers‘ Double-A affiliate is the Erie SeaWolves. At least they’re called that, for now.
As announced on the HBO Max’s “Last Week Tonight,” late-night host John Oliver has chosen the minor league SeaWolves for a major rebrand.
This effort started on a May 4 episode of the show, where Oliver analyzed the eccentricities of minor league baseball teams and offered a complete rebranding of one organization.
“We are willing to use all of our resources and stupidity to give one minor league baseball team a total rebrand. We will give you a new team name. A new mascot. We will even throw you a theme night. It will be personalized and it will be bespoke,” he said on the show.
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John Oliver accepts the award for outstanding scripted variety series at the 76th Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater on, Sept. 15, 2024, in Los Angeles.
According to Oliver, 47 minor league teams contacted the show pitching to be chosen, and at the end the SeaWolves were selected.
The SeaWolves have not been informed how exactly the show wants to rebrand them according to team president Greg Coleman:
“We’ve had a lot of media inquiries, starting with the local media, and we have to tell them we would also like to know what’s going on,” he told MiLB.com’s Benjamin Hill.
The SeaWolves have been the Tigers’ double-A affiliate since 2001. Before that, they were the affiliated with the Anaheim Angels from 1999-2000 and with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1995-98 (hence the name SeaWolves and pirate theming).
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: John Oliver offer to rename Erie SeaWolves, Detroit Tigers’ affiliate