I am from Auburn, AL, a college town and home of Auburn University, and one thing that has always amused me since becoming a trademark lawyer is how much the University’s “Tigers” branding has suffused the community. From the Tiger Rags clothing store to the Tiger Tire & Auto repair shop to the Tiger Town mall in next-door Opelika, “Tiger” branding feels like it is everywhere.

Just for fun, I used TM TKO’s new business listing data to do a bit of research on the commonality of team nicknames in local company names in the combined statistical areas (CSAs, geographic regions set up by the Office of Management and Budget) near the university. A completely random assortment of schools and names:

Badgers near Madison: 200+
Bruins in LA: 590+
Buckeyes near Columbus: 500+
Bulldogs (or Dawgs) near Athens/Atlanta: 150+
Crimson in Boston: 20+
Huskies in Seattle: 20
Tigers near Auburn: 40+
Volunteers (or Vols) near Knoxville: 200+
Wolverines near Ann Arbor/Detroit: 140+

To do this sort of research, just go to the manual search tool and the Business Listing section.