Wildlife Diversity in Global Team Sport Branding
Abstract Many sport organizations worldwide have capitalized on wildlife iconography to develop their brand. Given the ongoing global biodiversity crisis and the importance of sport in modern societies, representations of wildlife in the sport industry offer enormous potential for shifting social norms, raising funds and promoting biodiversity conservation initiatives within the industry itself. We collected data on professional teams that use wild animals either in their name, logo, or supporters’ nicknames across 50 countries and across 10 team sports. We identified 727 sport organizations using wildlife iconography or nicknames. Mammals and birds are the most represented classes, and lions (Panthera leo), tigers (Panthera tigris), and grey wolves (Canis lupus) are the most frequently selected species. Threatened species and species with a declining population trend are more represented than other species, with differences across regions. This is a critical first step toward integrating biodiversity conservation in the sustainability agenda of sport organizations.
Authors
- Jessica R. Murfree (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7774-4003)
- Melanie Sartore‐Baldwin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2981-6703)
- Ivan Jarić (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2185-297X)
- Céline Bellard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2012-1160)
- Franck Courchamp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7605-4548)
- Enrico Di Minin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5562-318X)
- Corey J. A. Bradshaw (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5328-7741)
- Ugo Arbieu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0655-8756)
- Samuel Roturier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7936-3108)
- Diogo Veríssimo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3519-6782)
- Madeleine Orr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3478-3686)
- Pierre Courtois (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3997-828X)
- Ricardo A. Correia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7359-9091)
Institutions
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- Australian Research Council (AU)
- Stockholm Environment Institute (GB)
- University of Turku (FI)
- Flinders University (AU)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- East Carolina University (US)
- York University (CA)
- AgroParisTech (FR)
- Stellenbosch University (ZA)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Helsinki Institute of Physics (FI)
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
- Sustainability Institute (ZA)
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (AU)
- Institut Agro Montpelier (FR)
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ)
- Institute of Hydrobiology (UA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- BioScience
- Published
- 2025-10-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf181
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Animal and Plant Science Education
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.88
Funders
- European Commission
- Koneen Säätiö