Las Vegas Aviators launch new logos with a new focus

The Las Vegas Aviators, Triple-A affiliate of the Athletics in the Pacific Coast League, unveiled a suite of new logos that highlight aspects of their hometown’s connection to aviation. While the team name remains unchanged, the inspiration behind it has shifted.

After nearly two decades playing as the Las Vegas 51s from 2001 to 2018, the team moved into a new ballpark and adopted a new name in 2019. The Aviators nickname was an homage to eccentric investor, Hollywood mogul, philanthropist, engineer, and record-setting pilot Howard Hughes, as played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2004 film The Aviator. Not coincidentally, the Howard Hughes Corporation had been the sole owner of the franchise since 2017.

In 2024, ownership of the franchise transferred to Seaport Entertainment Group, a spinoff of Howard Hughes Holdings. With the direct connection to their original namesake no longer intact, the team’s new logos were unveiled with a video highlighting other connections that Las Vegas has to aviation.

“Harry Reid International Airport welcomes record-setting crowds, connecting our fabulous city to the world and fueling our growth,” the team said. “Just north of us, Nellis Air Force base stands as a cornerstone of our community. As the premier training facility for the armed forces, Nellis shapes the present and future of defense.”

The unveiling includes three new logos, which maintain the Aviators’ existing orange and navy color palette. The first mark features a fighter pilot helmet with baseball seams across the top and the Vegas Strip reflected in the visor. The second shows an H-1 Racer plane (which was built in 1935 by the Howard Hughes Corporation) flying through the letter A. And third highlights the team’s mascot, Spruce the Goose, who is also named for a Hughes aircraft, the Spruce Goose, swinging a bat.