Minor League Baseball

‘Last Week Tonight’ Awards Rebrand to Detroit Tigers’ Double-A Erie SeaWolves

John Oliver announced earlier this month that he and his staff at HBO's "Last Week Tonight" would help rebrand a minor league team, drawing responses from 47 different clubs.
Sam Connon|
Los Angeles, CA, USA; John Oliver at the 76th Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles, CA, USA; John Oliver at the 76th Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Los Angeles. | Kevork Djansezian-USA TODAY

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Detroit Tigers

Earlier this month, John Oliver dove head-first into the world of minor league baseball.

The Emmy-winning comedian dedicated a segment on his HBO show, "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver," to the charming eccentricities running rampant through the numerous levels below MLB. At the end of the episode, he prompted teams to reach out and request a full, blind rebrand courtesy of Oliver, HBO and the show's writers.

Oliver confirmed that 47 different minor league clubs submitted themselves for consideration over the past two weeks, and that is out of the 206 that are currently operating. Among those that didn't get picked were the Lake County Captains, Amarillo Sod Poodles, Quad Cities River Bandits, Eugene Emeralds and Fredericksburg Nationals.

As for the winner of the contest, Oliver revealed them Sunday night after spending a half-hour discussing President Donald Trump's tenuous relationship with the press. The Detroit Tigers' Double-A affiliate – the Erie SeaWolves – were ultimately offered the rebrand.

"They wrote to us with a list of 11 good reasons to pick them, one of which was 'The SeaWolves play baseball nowhere the sea,'" Oliver said. "Which yeah, that's a problem, Erie, we can help you fix that. So congratulations to the SeaWolves, you're about to be called something else."

Oliver committed to providing Erie with a new name, mascot and theme night, on the condition that the team itself has zero input on the rebrand. The show sent a contract to the SeaWolves, who will have to sign in order to get the process underway.

It remains to be seen how long that would take, or when the rebrand could be implemented. But Oliver just tossed the SeaWolves a meatball, and now it's on them to decide what happens next.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and other "On SI'' baseball sites. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for “UCLA on SI’’ and won awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for “New England Patriots on SI’’ and was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Follow Sam on Twitter @SamConnon.

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