By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
The Las Vegas Aviators will have a second “What If” promotion night this season where the Triple-A minor league team changes its identity for a game and is called the “Whales” in another one-off promotion where the team wears “Whales” hats and jerseys for that one game.
The Whales promotion follows a successful “What If” promotion where the Aviators were called the “Gamblers” for a game last month. Fans liked the Gamblers’ one-night identity so much that they bought out the Gamblers baseball caps.
While a “whale” is a nickname for a gambler who wages big amounts of money, the “Whales” identity were not created for the Aviators because of the success of the “Gamblers” name, said Ed Dorville, vice president of retail operations for the Aviators.
“These ideas take time and go through an extensive design and approval process with MLB. Therefore, the Whales idea did not come about because of the success of the Gamblers, they were both submitted at the same time for the 2024 season,” Dorville explained to LVSportsBiz.com.
As Aviators President Don “Donny Baseball” Logan pointed out to LVSportsBiz.com, “They were both names considered back in 2018.”
As for the Gamblers sold-out ballcaps, the Aviators are working on restocking the shelves.
“Due to the success of the Gamblers, we have already ordered more merchandise. Licensed merchandise can take more than two months on average to receive, depending on the vendor, sometimes as much as 12 months. We expect to be stocked up with Gamblers gear once more sometime next month if all goes well,” Dorville said.
The Aviators will announce when the What If Whales game will take place.
There will also be two “What If” promotion games in 2025 for the Aviators.
Dorville said, “We’ll share our sound explanation on why it (the Whales) was chosen. The fact that they both have a gambling connotation happened by chance. In 2025, we’re going a little quirkier, definitely excited about those as well.”
He noted, “We are finalizing the two “What If” Night ideas for 2025, that includes the names, the on-field hats and on-field jerseys. Even those two names for 2025 were submitted without knowing the success the Gamblers would have either, that’s how the deadlines go for these projects…lengthy process.”
It’s important to note that these new one-game “What If” identity names for the Aviators have nothing to do with how fans feel about the Aviators name.
Summerlin master developer Howard Hughes Corporation, which owns the baseball team and stadium, named the club the Aviators after the company moved the team from downtown Las Vegas to suburban Summerlin and rebranded it because Howard Hughes was a pilot. The “What If” promotion is part of a Minor League Baseball program.