Few elements of American sports culture unite fans and players alike quite like a good mascot. The Old Dominion state has that in spades thanks to the host of college teams in the state, attracting fans and Virginia sports betting interest.
Whether it be a longstanding NCAA emblem like James Madison’s Duke Dog or Cavman the Cavalier at the University of Virginia, the commonwealth is no slouch when it comes to mascot-related excellence in the college ranks.
When people watch sports, sometimes they are curious about a particular team’s mascot. National Mascot Day is June 17, so BetVirginia.com wondered which mascots Virginians are looking up. We used Google Trends to find search volume of the term “Mascot” over a 12-month span (June 2023 to June 2024) and figure out the most searched mascots in Virginia.
Perhaps it is a surprise that the mascot with the highest search interest score during the time period that we measured in Virginia does not represent one of the state’s many universities. Instead, the recently created emblem of the Washington Commanders football team, Major Tuddy the pig, is No. 1.
The swine mascot of the NFL franchise (which went through a major rebrand in recent years) drew a score of 13 according to our metrics. That beat out JMU’s Duke Dog, which recorded a nine search interest score, and UVA’s cavalier mascot, Cavman, which had a score of six.
Throw in William & Mary’s Reveley the Griffin and Virginia Tech’s HokieBird, with two points apiece, and you have the full rundown on the Commonwealth’s top five favorite mascots in 2023-24.
Stay with BetVirginia.com for more lifestyle stories, plus reviews of VA sports betting apps you’ll want to check out before you sign up.
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Christopher Boan has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
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