How fans can design, vote on new Columbus Aviators mascot

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Professional football is coming back to Columbus in March and local fans will have a chance to design and name the new team's mascot.

The Columbus Aviators will join the United Football League for its 2026 season, which will begin on March 27. The league announced on Thursday that fans have the chance to submit ideas for the Aviators' mascot on social media.

If you have a design or a design idea to submit, you can tag the Aviators on Facebook, Twitter/X, or Instagram. A voting link will be shared sometime in November for fans to start voting on concepts for the Aviators' mascot. The winning design will be revealed in December and fans will vote on the name in January.

The UFL announced the Aviators as one of three new teams joining the 2026 spring season, which includes eight total teams. Louisville and Orlando will also kick off their inaugural seasons with Columbus, along with mainstays Birmingham, Dallas, D.C., Houston, and St. Louis.

During the teams' introductory news conference, former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones, who led the team to the 2014 national championship, was introduced as the team's ambassador.

The Aviators will play its home games at Historic Crew Stadium, which hosted Crew games from 1999 to 2021 before the MLS club moved to Lower.com Field in the Arena District.

This will be the first professional football team in Columbus since the Destroyers of the Arena Football League, who played at Nationwide Arena from 2004 to 2008 and again in 2019.