11 Ways 'Pokemon Go' Has Taken over Sports

Pokemon Go has taken over. To say it has reached a level of hysteria would be an understatement. You might even be sick of reading about it, but the craze is so encompassing, it's worth a sports roundup, right?

If you're one of the few not yet familiar with the augmented reality game, or simply don't understand quite how it works (join the club), check out this super helpful "non-gamer's guide to playing Pokemon Go" from Hayley Tsukayama of the Washington Post.

Nick Saban, Mike Trout and even the Phillie Phanatic—all are involved. No one can escape. So let's embrace it, at least for now. Here are 11 ways the sports world has, anyway.

Athletes

Of course, the No. 1 most obvious way sports and Pokemon Go have collided is through the athletes. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert took the action to NBA summer league. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has given in to the craze. Los Angeles Angels slugger Mike Trout played in the clubhouse. It's everywhere:

Coaches

The game has infiltrated coaching as well. Either coaches are playing—like Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy—or they're at least tangentially involved. Alabama's recruiting specialist, Randall Spain, apparently found Pikachu in Nick Saban's office:

Mascots 

Mascots are even getting into the craze. The Phillie Phanatic chased down Pikachu between innings of a July game:  

Stadiums

Want to visit your team's stadium in the offseason? Pokemon Go is making it happen for a lot of fans. For instance, the Sacramento Kings opened up Sleep Train Arena for a meetup:

Same story for the Nebraska Cornhuskers' Memorial Stadium, the Jacksonville Jaguars' EverBank Field and Durham Bulls Athletic Park in North Carolina:

Logos 

Redesigned logos are the best—you've seen the NFL logos as Game of Thrones characters, right? Perfection. So of course someone created sports logos in the image of Pokemon characters. Behold, Benjamagnus Design's "Puckemon" logos from 2013, getting a surge of attention amid Pokepalooza 2016: 

Team Social Media

Sports teams—being the savvy social media users they are—are taking advantage of the hype:

Trolling and Beefing

Speaking of social media, naturally the interwebs would find a way to use this phenomenon to troll folks. The University of Florida Police Department dusted off the old Jameis Winston crab legs incident and gave it a Pokemon twist:

Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings weighed in about Pokemon Go and the color purple:

Signings and Contracts

At least one team even used Pokemon Go as a way to announce new players. Check out the Vancouver Whitecaps on the acquisitions of Marcel de Jong and David Edgar:

Celebrations

Naturally, Pokemon Go has also inspired a soccer celebration. Here are members of Finnish club Rovaniemen Palloseura "hunting" for Pokemon after a goal:

Sports Media

The media are even getting involved. Stephen Hennessey of Golf Digest used some of his time at the Open Championship to play Pokemon Go at Royal Troon:

'Pokemon Go' in Rio?

Pokemon Go is currently unavailable in South America, but Rio de Janeiro's mayor hopes that changes before the Olympics kick off in August. Eduardo Paes implored Nintendo to consider expanding the game's reach:  

Bottom line: A lot of people love this game. But hey, if you're sick of it (no one could blame you), take comfort in knowing you have company in Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett:

And if you are a Pokemon fanatic, just remember, stay safe out there.