A staple of the baseball park experience since the 1960s, MLB mascots are more prevalent than ever in the modern game. Sure, three teams don’t have official mascots, but most of the others have more than one!
Given the stacked schedule of the MLB and the fact that seven team mascots are already immortalized in the Mascot Hall of Fame, you’d think that these baseball characters would make a fair bit of money.
Well, in many instances, you’d be correct. It turns out that several MLB mascots are well compensated, according to publically available figures. So, let’s dig into the numbers.
How Much Does the Average MLB Mascot Make?
There are many conflicting figures out there concerning exactly how much each MLB mascot makes, but putting it down to an hourly rate from the figures that can be found, the average MLB mascot makes around $100 per hour.
With MLB games generally taking around three hours to complete, including the time required before and after the game, that’d put MLB mascot per game wages at around $400 on average, but maybe a little bit more.
In theory, with there being 162 games in an MLB season, 81 of which are played at home, the average annual salary of an MLB mascot would be in the region of $32,400.
Still, there’s said to be quite the gap between the highest-earning and most popular MLB mascots and the lower-paid performers for just the hourly or game rates.
On top of this, mascots can make more money by attending events beyond a regular season MLB game, such as for fan and community occasions or as attendees at private parties. Some will also get a bump in the playoffs.
Which MLB Mascot Earns the Most Money?
While the figures vary significantly, many estimate that Wally the Green Monster of the Boston Red Sox is the MLB mascot that makes the most money, supposedly bringing in from $50,000 to $70,000 each year.
Other resources point to a three-way split between the Phillie Phanatic (Philadelphia Phillies), Mariner Moose (Seattle Mariners), and the original baseball mascot himself, Mr. Met (New York Mets), as the top earners for private gigs.
Each of them is said to cost at least $600 per hour for making special guest appearances at events, and Phillie Phanatic can even command as much as $1,000 per hour.
Of all of these high-earning mascots, though, it looks the most likely that Mariner Moose would stand to get a greater postseason bonus and perhaps more bookings next season, with Seattle in the top ten of the MLB odds to win the next World Series at +2000.
MLB Mascots on Social Media
A way that the modern MLB mascot can make even more money and do some more promoting for their team is by setting up their own social media following.
Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok are all viable routes for additional earnings, especially as the short-form video platforms are seemingly perfect for the quick-fire comedic antics of a mascot.
The increased importance of social media is demonstrated by the growth of followers for the top MLB mascots on what used to be Twitter. Wally had 30,900 followers in 2015, and now they’ve got 48,600.
Still, at the very top of the followers rankings in US sports for mascots, both ninth and tenth belong to MLB teams. Tenth is the Kansas City Royals mascot, Sluggerrr, with just over 194,000 followers across all platforms.
Top of the pile is the most likely, per the sport betting Canada has on offer, to win the next World Series. Blooper of the Atlanta Braves boasts the most X followers at over 128,000 and over 258,000 in total.
On average, an MLB mascot can be looking at earning around $32,000 for their game-day performances, but those at the top end can earn much more from appearances and perhaps even from social media.
*Credit for all images in this article belongs to Alamy*
