MASCOT
The definition of a mascot is a term for any person, animal or object and is believed to bring luck to the team they're representing. Today 27 out of 32 teams have a mascot in the NFL. The belief in the ritual in sports is much more popular in college football. On average, a mascot can make about $25,000 annually but the most popular well branded characters can make six figures annually.
San Diego is the hometown to one of the world's most popular mascot in the KGB San Diego Chicken. Born at 3rd base in March of 1974 during the Padres game. The KGB Chicken entertained the fans at the Murph for years until he left to take his act nationally. He was fired in 1979 by KGB (a local radio station) after a dispute. In 1996, Boltman was created by Charger fan Dan Jauregui. The Chargers have never took on official rights or claims to the invention and we will examine that claim later in this article. Dan has earned his reputation as the as unofficial the mascot with his creative creation and decades of service dedicated to his craft. He is now known nationally as being a face of the Chargers and beloved by many San Diego Fans of the Chargers.
Dan would buy season tickets and then in the RV section of the stadium he would change into his costume hours before the game. and. He would seek out the kids and picture seekers in the sections of Plaza and Field level. He stayed until in costume with his adoring fans way after the games completion even after enduring frequent 100 temperatures and much hotter temps inside his costume.much later after the games had ended. He became as much of a symbol that represents the San Diego Chargers as much as tailgating and the cannon being fired off after the team scores at home games. (The cannon has been used since 1961 and was recently bought from the founder Ron after the team moved in 2017. ) Boltman Facebook page asked this question with a response of over a 1,000 people it sits at SELL 55% vs 45% going to LA.
Much of the fan base is divided at two totally different spectrum on this debate between the San Diego fans and LA fans. Dan Fouts, Burt Grossman, and many of the Alumni players (Superstar former Chargers) refuse to have anything to do with the team in LA. There is no Ring of honor presently in LA like the one they had in San Diego with the jerseys of the star alumni players hanging from the rafters on game days.
Former players and the fans have broken off into two fractions.
1. Loyal to the soil (fans who have written off the team)
2. Loyal to the players (Fans who have followed the team to LA.)
Now it seems with Dan pondering Boltman future. Even the Gumby on steroids character is brought into the argument.
REVEALED FOR 1ST TIME ANYWHERE
He inquired about selling the character in 2010 on EBay. He has invested easily over $160,000 in costume changes and upgrades over the years. The value of the costume in unknown because of a variety of factors. The teams never claimed Boltman as their "official" mascot and the team moved away from the city the mascot represented for over two decades.
One thought is to put the costume and the intellectual rights up for bidding. Dan has pledged 50% of the proceeds will go to Rady's Children Hospital. Back in 2010, the Chargers PR Director Bill Johnston said "the team has no interest inquiring the costume". Why wouldn't the team want to embrace a figure that so popular within the fan base?
THE TRUTH BEHIND BOLTMAN AND CHARGERS MARRIAGE
Dan has had a turbulent history between himself and the team since the creation in 1996. In 1999, the Ramona real estate agent sued Dean Spanos. Many believed it was for reimbursement expenses he absorbed over 20 years. He actually won the lawsuit against Dean Spanos for Breach of Contract. He then choose to settle out of court for $30,000.
Dan was also one of the original activists for Save Our Bolts. When the team relocated he sought out to sue the NFL and the Chargers for anti-trust violations. The city attorney said "The city is not planning to file any charges due to a clause in the 2006 lease that made the NFL and the Chargers that included "an absolute waiver" over any future litigation concerning relocation. Even though former city attorney Mike Aguirre supported Dan claims.
"Never has a client and his lawyer been more perfectly matched."
STATEMENT FROM CITY ATTORNEY JAN GOLDSMITH
New York Attorney Jim Quinn has prevailed on five different anti-trust cases against the NFL. Jim Quinn’s legal statement was submitted to Jan Goldsmith by email in mid-June of 2015 There was no response from the city attorney to Jim Quinn.
ATTORNEY JIM QUINN STATEMENT
“The Chargers strongly feel that their lease agreement in 2006 excludes them from any liabilities in team relocations with respect to antitrust violations. The Chargers are not excluded from a lawsuit based on their 2006 lease agreement for the following. The simple answer to why the City is not barred from filing an antitrust complaint against the Chargers and the NFL is that the document the city apparently signed back in 2006 does not prevent them from suing now in 2015 because under the law (including US Supreme Court precedent) a party cannot waive future unknown antitrust claims because it is against public policy. Otherwise an antitrust victim would be powerless to sue about something they couldn’t know about in the future. You can only waive or release past claims”
REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE
The Chargers have claimed that he was never an "official mascot of the team." However with some research I found some videos and pictures from the Charger archives that contradict that statement made by the team.
1. Images of Boltman being on the field at the teams home games
2.Boltman being announced over the PA system in 1996 and 1997.
3. He was even selected to go to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii where he ran out of the tunnel with the Pro Bowl Charger players.
He was also the first charger fan selected to the Pro Football's Ultimate fan Association at the NFL of Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. He did not go to the ceremony nor does he attend of PFUFA annual ceremony during Hall of Fame Weekend.
BOLTMAN ARRESTED?
Dan character was used by the city during 2015 for PR purpose photo shots mostly during city council meetings. Dan showed up in costume at the at the Mayor's request. Now that the team is in LA , Dan doesn't know if he wants to continue representing the team that moved away mostly ignoring their 56 year history in San Diego that Dan played a part of for two decades.
Dan is over 50 years old now and doesn't know what to do with the intellectual rights to Boltman. After agonizing for months after the relocation he attended his first Chargers game in Carson as Boltman. He was met with security who tried to evict him from the stands because of a rule of no masks outside of your seat. The video of the incident is here. There was no rule posted on the team website or Stubhub and lead to confusion between some fans and security all season long.
BLASPHEMY!!!!
What if Mark Davis decided to reward the Raider fans and obtain the Boltman character? Do you want to see Boltman is Silver and Black? The Rams could kidney punch the Chargers in the FightForLA by buying the rights and transforming him into another teams humorous entertainer. I actually have called the Raiders, Rams and Chargers for comment on the character up for sell to the highest bidder. Could Boltman future involve a new twist as a regular on porn hub? How can we save Boltman? Is he worth saving? Should Boltman retire the character in San Diego or sell the rights and costume to the highest bidder to try and recapture the tremendous expenses the costume consumed for 20 years?
STATEMENT FROM THE LA RAMS KEVIN DEMOFF
I used my resources to reach out to the Chargers, Rams and Raiders for a comment. The Rams COO/VP Kevin Demoff said, " I hope the sale raises a great amount for San Diego Children’s Hospital!"
Is Boltman a symbol of San Diego or more of a branding of the Chargers? Please comment below.
The final results from Boltman Facebook page with over 1400 voting.
Sell it 55%
Follow to LA 45%
https://www.facebook.com/ChargersBoltman/
Discuss below in the comment section and have a Happy 4th of July Everyone! Thanks for reading.
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