What happens when a pro team lets the internet pick its mascot? Meet Birdy McBirdface.

The Philadelphia Phoenix wanted to introduce a mascot.

The city’s Ultimate Frisbee Association team knew the mascot had to be a Phoenix, but once the costume was secured, the team, with just a week left before its first game, decided to create a poll on X and turn the power over to fans to choose its new name.

After the initial vote required a runoff, they officially introduced the winning mascot on Sunday. His name? Birdy McBirdface — or Birdy for short.

“I wanted Birdy McBirdface from the start,” master of content Adam Booth said. “I was a big — if there was a campaign for him, I would have probably been the manager of such a campaign. I just thought it was a great name. I thought it was a great lead into it. We have Gritty, we have the Phanatic, we have all these iconic names, why don’t we just go with something completely bonkers? And I think Birdy McBirdface encapsulates bonkers as much as possible …

“How much I hysterically laughed every time I thought about it being our mascot’s name really said we have to at least get this as an option.”

The name is a reference to a 2016 British polar research ship that the Natural Environmental Research Council turned over to the public to name. The winner, of course, was Boaty McBoatface, which itself was an homage to Hooty McOwlface, an owl that went viral in 2013. The NERC ultimately chose to name the boat the R.R.S. Sir David Attenborough, and named one of the ship’s submersibles Boaty McBoatface.

For the Phoenix, the final four names on the poll came down to Birdy McBirdface, Scorch, Elvis, and Blaze, with Scorch and Birdy McBirdface tying in the initial poll. In the runoff, Birdy McBirdface beat Scorch, 66.4% to 33.6%.

“What everybody learned from [the Boaty McBoatface vote] was, you get your suggestions, then you pick the four you could live with, and you have people vote on that,” said Johnny “Goodtimes” Nottingham, a well-known local trivia host and an investor in the team who helps with marketing. “Once we did those final four, we were fine with any of them winning. Once one of them won, that was going to be final. We weren’t going to overturn it. That’s not very democratic.”

Most recently, the Utah NHL franchise, formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes, unveiled a survey of their own to choose the new team name, presenting a list of 20 options fans could choose from — unfortunately, no funny names there.

For the most part, everyone has responded positively to the newest member of the club, whose backstory still is mostly unknown. According to Nottingham, he just showed up from Mount Vesuvius. But the club is ready for the jokes.

“A couple of people find it cringe, which, I mean, yeah, it goes without saying it is a little cringe,” Booth said. “But I think a lot of people just understand it. Like our players, they get what me and Johnny do as a duo, and that we’re trying to bring this to another level of fandom and interaction with the public, so this is more on brand for us than it might be for another marketing duo in our league. Some people were disappointed their names weren’t chosen, but I think everyone as a collective is like, ‘If you’re going to do it, this is the way to do it.’

“We’re gonna get made fun of, I think, by a couple of our opponents for having that type of name, but Gritty was made fun of at first, and then he became a king, so everyone has an origin story.”

The one thing they’re not going to change? The pupils on the costume — or the lack thereof. The eyes on the bird costume are bright white, and a few fans asked if the Phoenix intended on changing them. Booth gave that an emphatic no.

“I actually think that would take away from the sheer awesomeness of him, if you could see pupils, so we’re never doing that.”

Birdy will make his second official appearance at the Phoenix’s next home game, at 6 p.m. Saturday against the Boston Glory at Neumann University in Aston.