Sparky the Sun Devil
Sparky the Sun Devil performing in 2019
University	Arizona State University
Conference	Pac-12
First seen	September 21, 1951 ^[1]
Website	twitter.com/SparkySunDevil

Sparky the Sun Devil is the official mascot of Arizona State University.^[2] Originally the ASU athletic teams' mascot was an owl, then became a "Normal" (because ASU was founded as a normal school). It was later changed to a bulldog in an attempt to make the school – Arizona State Teacher's College at the time – appear more in line with Yale and other universities that held a higher level of respect.^[3] The State Press, the student newspaper, ran frequent appeals during the fall of 1946, urging the Bulldog to be replaced by the new Sun Devil. On November 8, 1946, the student body voted 819 to 196 to make the change. On November 20, as reported by the Arizona Republic, the student council made it official. The following day, the first Arizona State team played as the Sun Devils. Two years later, Stanford Alum and Disney illustrator Berk Anthony designed "Sparky", a devil holding a trident^[2] (colloquially referred to as a pitchfork^[4]). Anthony is rumored to have based Sparky's facial features on that of his former boss, Walt Disney.^[5]

Trademark

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Orange Julius beverage stands used the image of a devil with a pitchfork around an orange. The company later dropped the logo after threats of a lawsuit from the alumni association.^[6]^[7]

Redesign

On March 1, 2013, Arizona State announced they were joining forces with the Walt Disney Company to redesign the mascot costume, as part of an effort to modernize the character, and planned to use the character in comic books, children books and animated features. The school also announced that they planned to continue using the iconic mark in various ways, including marketing and selling apparel alongside the new version of the character.^[8] This change was met with backlash from students, alumni, and fans.^[9]^[10] Arizona State University President Michael Crow indicated that officials were meeting with student leaders to discuss the issue;^[9] afterwards, Sparky's new look was scrapped on March 19, 2013. The school later announced that it had created a program for members of the ASU community to vote on Sparky's redesign in which users were able to choose between different features for the mascot. The most popular features were used for a new look that will be fully unveiled at the first football game in the fall of 2013. His updated look includes many of the same features of the older mascot but with different material that is easier to clean. Unlike the more cartoon-like Sparky designed with Disney, the newest version is viewed as more representative of the historical drawing. It received 55% of the vote among 4 choices.^[11] A giant Sparky is used in the "Stomp the Bus" entrance video for the Sun Devils football team.

Pitchfork and Traditions

The hand gesture "The Pitchfork", which is widely used by those associated with Arizona State, is an extension of the trident that Sparky carries during football games. On football game days, Sparky will do push-ups after every ASU score to match the total of points they have in the game. When ASU travels on the road for football, Sparky will do push-ups on his pitchfork supported by the ASU Spirit Squad.

Controversy

In September 2015, the Arizona State Sun Devils football team played a game against the University of New Mexico. At halftime, there was a ceremony that included many city officials for a ceremony to go along with the City of Tempe Night at the stadium. As the city officials were lined up on the sideline of the field, Sparky leaped on councilman David Schapira's back. What Sparky did not know was that Schapira was still recovering from a back operation from July. Schapira filed a claim against the university over the injuries he suffered during the halftime ceremony. Schapira filed a claim for $120,000: $96,146 in damages for himself and $27,000 to reimburse Tempe.^[12] In May 2016, the two parties settled for $76,234.^[13]

References

^ "ASU Magazine Online - Fall 2005 Vol. 9 No. 2". Archived from the original on 2007-01-26. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
^ ^a ^b "Graphic Elements: The University Mascot". Communication Guide. Tempe, Arizona: Arizona State University. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
^ "100 Day Sun Devil Football Countdown To Kickoff, #98: ASU Mascot History Before Sparky". House of Sparky. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
^ Holexa, Emily (2005). "The Face Behind the Mascot: The real life of Sparky the Sun Devil". The Devil’s Tale. Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona State University. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
^ Lukas, Paul. "The Disney/ESPN Connection Suddenly Makes a lot more Sense". Uni-Watch. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
^ English, Jason (2007-04-10). "Three Things I Didn't Know About Orange Julius". mental_floss. Retrieved 2014-01-09. The former Orange Julius logo resembled Arizona State's Sparky, a Sun Devil with a pitchfork. The slogan: 'A Devilishly Good Drink.' After threats of a lawsuit from ASU's alumni association, Orange Julius retired its mascot.
^ Self, Will. "Branding is more fundamental to the US psyche than the Bible". NewStatesman. Retrieved 2014-01-09. …what put paid to it (or him) was a suit by the alumni of Arizona State University, from whose own logo Orange Julius had been freely adapted…
^ http://www.thesundevils.com/genrel/030113aaa.html^{[permanent dead link]}
^ ^a ^b [1]^{[dead link]}
^ "Students, alumni oppose new Sparky design | ASU News | the State Press | Arizona State University". Archived from the original on 2013-03-10. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
^ Ulm, Cody (May 9, 2013). "Fans consider Sparky redesign a success". House of Sparky. Retrieved Apr 1, 2019.
^ "Sparky's prank may cost ASU $120,000". azcentral. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
^ Ryman, Anne. "ASU Sparky's prank that injured Tempe councilman settled for $76K". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2021-09-08.

v t e Arizona State University
Academics	W. P. Carey School of Business Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering School for the Future of Innovation in Society Barrett, The Honors College Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law College of Integrative Sciences and Arts College of Liberal Arts and Sciences New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences College of Nursing and Health Innovation College of Health Solutions Watts College of Public Service & Community Solutions Morrison Institute for Public Policy School of Sustainability Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College
Campuses	Main (Tempe) Downtown (Phoenix) Mesa (future) Polytechnic (Mesa) West (Phoenix) ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City (Lake Havasu City) Thunderbird School of Global Management (Phoenix) ASU Online
Athletics	Arizona State Sun Devils "Maroon & Gold" Baseball (Phoenix Municipal Stadium) Men's basketball (Desert Financial Arena) Women's basketball (Desert Financial Arena) Women's beach volleyball (PERA Club) Women's gymnastics (Mullett Arena) Football (Mountain America Stadium) Golf (Karsten Golf Course) Men's ice hockey (Mullett Arena) Women's ice hockey (Mullett Arena) Soccer (Sun Devil Soccer Stadium) Softball (Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium) Swimming (Mona Plummer Aquatic Center) Wrestling (Mullett Arena) State Farm Territorial Cup Series
Media	Bilingual Review Press Journal of Policy History The State Press KASC KAET KBAQ (50%)
Buildings	Arboretum at Arizona State University Arizona State University Art Museum Arizona State University Research Park The Biodesign Institute Center for Meteorite Studies Decision Theater Gammage Memorial Auditorium Louise Lincoln Kerr House and Studio Old Main Skysong
Other	2004 U.S. presidential debates Alumni "A" Mountain ASU Foundation Fraternities and sororities Colleges and schools History Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve Karsten Golf Course Frank Kush Field Palm Walk Sparky the Sun Devil Stomp the Bus Sun Devil Marching Band
Founded: 1885 Students: 135,729 (77,881 on campus and 57,848 digital) Endowment: $1.39 billion

v t e Arizona State Sun Devils football
Venues	Normal Field (1897–1926) Irish Field (1927–1935) Goodwin Stadium (1936–1957) Mountain America Stadium (1958–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Arizona
Culture & lore	Sparky the Sun Devil "Maroon & Gold" Marching band Stomp the Bus
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907–1913 1914 1915 1916 1917–1918 1919 1920–1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball
Venues	College Gym Mesa Civic Center Sun Devil Gym (1953–1974) Desert Financial Arena (1974–present)
Rivalries	Arizona
Culture & lore	Sparky the Sun Devil "Maroon & Gold" Marching Band
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

v t e Arizona State Sun Devils women's basketball
Venues	Desert Financial Arena (1975–present)
Culture & lore	Sparky the Sun Devil "Maroon & Gold"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23

Mascots of the Pac-12 Conference

Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat (Arizona)
Sparky the Sun Devil (Arizona State)
Oski the Bear (California)
Joe and Josephine Bruin (UCLA)
Ralphie the Buffalo / Chip (Colorado)
The Oregon Duck (Oregon)
Benny Beaver (Oregon State)
Traveler (USC)
Stanford Tree (Stanford) (*unofficial)
Swoop (Utah)
Harry the Husky (Washington)
Butch T. Cougar (Washington State)