Zoo Sponsorship of Sports Teams

[snowleopard]

While watching the soccer/football Championship playoff game the other day (Leeds United vs. Southampton), I was surprised to see Flamingo Land as a sponsor. That establishment is a zoo and theme park in the United Kingdom and it was great to see their logo on the sleeves of the Leeds players.





Are there any other sports teams that are sponsored by zoos or aquariums? I know that there are plenty of zoological facilities with exhibits sponsored by corporate giants (ex: Toyota Elephant Passage at Denver Zoo), but how many examples are there of teams with zoo logos on their apparel?

 

[PossumRoach]

I believe Nasu Animal Kingdom once sponsored baseball team Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and even provided a live eagle as a mascot. The zoo did once have a mobile zoo event next to the stadium once as well. I am not sure if this still goes on. Maybe @Veno might know more about this connection.

 

[lintworm]

While watching the soccer/football Championship playoff game the other day (Leeds United vs. Southampton), I was surprised to see Flamingo Land as a sponsor. That establishment is a zoo and theme park in the United Kingdom and it was great to see their logo on the sleeves of the Leeds players.

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Are there any other sports teams that are sponsored by zoos or aquariums? I know that there are plenty of zoological facilities with exhibits sponsored by corporate giants (ex: Toyota Elephant Passage at Denver Zoo), but how many examples are there of teams with zoo logos on their apparel?

Burgers' Zoo has sponsored the local professional footbal club, Vitesse, for a relatively short time. They made an appearance on the sleeve.

When Diergaarde Blijdorp was in financial trouble, Feyenoord, the biggest football club in Rotterdam made room for them on the shirt (for free). They also designed a rather famous plush toy "Ollie the elephant" who was even used as a mascot by their die-hard fans (who normally aren't that cuddly).

 

[Kalaw]

Not exactly a sponsorship, but an interesting story that is somewhat relevant to this thread. FC Köln in Germany (a historically big football club that just this season get relegated to Bundesliga 2) has a long-standing tradition of goats, all named Hennes (we are now on Hennes XI). So important are these goats to the club that, in 1950 (?) their badge was edited to feature a goat on it, which remains the case to this very day. Between home games, Hennes lives at Zoo Cologne.

 

[birdsandbats]

The other way around, the Green Bay Packers have sponsored Bruemmer Park Zoo - rather bizarrely, considering there are two zoos in Green Bay they could have chosen.

 

[Arek]

In Wrocław, the city authorities forced the zoo to sponsor Śląsk Wrocław club (football and basketball sections). Zoo Wrocław is a company owned by the city, and the club also belongs to the city.

 

[Green_mamba]

While watching the soccer/football Championship playoff game the other day (Leeds United vs. Southampton), I was surprised to see Flamingo Land as a sponsor. That establishment is a zoo and theme park in the United Kingdom and it was great to see their logo on the sleeves of the Leeds players.

Flamingo Land has also sponsored Hull City FC and was the main shirt sponsor in 2015. This football side are actually being sponsored by Flamingo Land next season
There is also a sports complex in Scarborough called the 'Flamingo Land Stadium'.
https://www.flamingoland.co.uk/blog...sorship-of-scarboroughs-new-football-stadium/

 

[Nile Hippo Expert]

The MLB's Los Angeles Angels have the San Diego Zoo Safari Park as a sponsor.