Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Grand Prairie chooses ‘AirHogs’ as name of city’s future American Association Baseball team

By Pegasus News wire

Grand Prairie Professional Baseball (GPPB) has announced the Grand Prairie AirHogs as the name of the future American Association baseball team located in Grand Prairie. The team will play its first home game in May 2008.

AirHogs was chosen because it complemented the stadium's aviation inspired architecture and the local aeronautical industry.

"In the same manner that Air Squadrons have unique recognizable nicknames, AirHogs will represent our team, organization and community," said Mark Schuster, Managing Partner of Ventura Sports Group.

AirHogs is a slang term by which military pilots sometimes refer to themselves. The team name was chosen based on three criteria: (i) the name had to be unique to professional sports names (ii) aviation-themed and (iii) a name and logo that kids will embrace.

The name AirHogs was submitted by Grand Prairie resident Mike Hasty during the "Name the Team" contest that was open to all residents of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The contest received more than 700 name entries. Hasty will receive two free season tickets for the 2008 baseball season and an on-field presentation on Opening Day.

The logo was designed by More Branding+Communication, a creative firm specializing in strategic brand consulting, based in Tulsa, Okla.

I'm guessing the Grand Prairie Flying Pigs was their first choice, but all the potential nay-saying jokes involving "yeah, when pigs fly!" turned them off to the idea.

"We wanted to create a mark that was exciting and showed an immediate connection with the name," said More Branding's Principal Justin Johnson. "We also desired something that fans could have fun with."

The final design was a stylized hog with wings and pilot goggles that implies forward-motion, flight and energy. More Branding also developed the design and look of the three AirHogs uniforms the team will use.

The team's stadium will host 48 home games May-August in the American Association of Professional Baseball league, as well as offer concerts, festivals, rodeos and other special events year round. Located between Lone Star Park and Nokia Theatre just north of Interstate 30 off Belt Line Road, the stadium will feature 87,000-square-feet under the roof, plus playing field and will include a Kids Zone play area, restaurants, soda fountain and a swimming pool overlooking the field. It will seat 6,000 (4,000 permanent seats, 12 luxury suites and 2,000 lawn seats).

Season tickets are on sale now and range from $288 to $480 per seat. Visit www.grandprairiebaseball.com for more information.

Source: City of Grand Prairie

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