One Of The Most Popular Sports Mascots In America Is From Illinois

When the team is winning they are there cheering.  When the team is losing they are still right there keeping the crowd entertained.

The team mascot can be just as popular, if not more popular, than the people on the team.  In Illinois, one stands head (a big head) and shoulders over the rest...and almost over all other mascots in America.

Being A Team Mascot Is No Joke

So you can't shoot, hit or throw.  You can still make a good living putting on a costume and silently cheering on the team.  The average annual salary for a professional mascot in the U.S. is a reported $60,000 per year.

So the folks at gambling.com did the research to figure out which mascot was the most popular based on their social media following.  There are some surprises on the list including the top spot and just how popular one Illinois mascot is.

Number 10 - Kansas City Royal - Sluggerrr

There are only two baseball mascots on the list.  Starting with the Royals mascot having a combined 194,321 followers.  You'd think the Phillies mascot would be on the list, but he doesn't crack the top 10.

Number 9 - Atlanta Braves - Blooper

Not really sure what this is supposed to be.  But it's the most popular MLB mascot based on social media following.

Number 8 - Minnesota Vikings - Viktor

The first NFL mascot is also the only one in the top 10 that looks like a real person.  Unless you count that Blooper thing.

Number 7 - Houston Rockets - Clutch The Bear

This is the first of two Houston sports mascots to be in the top 10.  Does the other one come with garbage cans?  Let's keep looking.

Number 6 - Carolina Panthers - Sir Purr

This is also the cutest mascot on the list.  Seriously, how is that intimidating at all? Feels like it might nuzzle you to death.

Number 5 - Seattle Seahawks - Blitz

With 533,000 social media followers "Blitz" is in the middle of the pack for mascots.

Number 4 - Utah Jazz - Jazz Bear

Jazz Bear is number 4 on the list with 0.0 Facebook followers.  The majority of their popularity comes from TikTok.

Number 3 - Houston Texans - Toro

Look how happy he looks to be in the Wild Card.  That's cute.  Toro actually has the most Facebook followers of any team mascot at 146,000.

Number 2 - Chicago Bulls - Benny The Bull

The number one mascot in the NBA.  The mascot with the most Instagram followers.  (425,000)  Benny the Bull has a combined 6,000,000 followers on social media.  That is more than mascots 10-3 combined.  Benny has been there for some of the best moments in sports.  But he is still not the most social media popular mascot.

Number 1 - Indianapolis Colts - Blue

Blue has a whopping 8,265,000 social media followers to be the most popular mascot in all of U.S. sports.  However, 8,000,000 of those followers come from TikTok.  So for some reason, it doesn't feel like he should be number one.

You can take a look at each of the mascot's social media following below thanks to gambling.com.