When the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots meet at Super Bowl LIII this weekend, a Calgary company will be keeping watch on their own connections to the big game.

Calgary-based Street Characters Inc., established in 1987, has had a hand in creating the colourful mascot costumes for lots of professional sports teams, including many in the NFL.

The company was instrumental in building the outfits for the Rams’ Rampage and Patriots’ Pat Patriot.

Glenn Street, a native-born Calgarian with a mascot history himself, founded the company with a business partner.

Street was the first Harvey the Hound for the Calgary Flames, the first-ever mascot in the NHL.

He says the idea started as something fun he did with his business partner, but it ended up really taking off.

“What happened was that when teams played the Flames, I would get a phone call. ‘Hey, that’s a great idea, can you do one for us?’ Street recalls. “For the first few years we said, ‘no, this is just a lark, just for fun; it’s not a real business.’ But the calls just kept coming and coming so in 1987, we opened our doors.”

Street Characters was the first company to get into producing mascot costumes and Street says that experience really resonates with their clients.

“There are artists who have never been in a costume or been in it very little and don’t understand what it’s like to be inside the costume, or don’t understand what’s involved in running a character for a major league team, a pro sports team. That has given us a competitive advantage over everybody.”

This isn’t the first time that the Calgary-based company has created the mascots for NFL teams vying for the Vince Lombardi Trophy either.

“Last year, we had both characters as well. A few years ago, at the Super Bowl in Houston, we had all four; we had the two teams playing, we had the host team and we made a character for the committee as well,” Street says.

Benedicte Le Bel, production manager, says it’s great to experience all the work that goes into a mascot.

“I get the first view of everything that’s been created from the beginning to the end. I get to see these wonderful people, these artists, make a pattern, cut it out, dye anything that needs to be dyed, print anything that needs to be printed, create it and build it from scratch.”

Last summer, the performer who plays Rampage for the L.A. Rams even came into the studio to help out.

“He had ideas on how to improve his costume. It was his first year as a performer and he was super excited to be the new ‘Rampage’ and we got to design his costume,” Le Bel says.

She says she looks forward to the Super Bowl every year because that’s when they get to see their own stars in the spotlight.

“It’s really exciting to see our mascots up on the big screen. We usually have a watching party as a team and we get to cheer for our favourite team or our favourite mascot and it’s just so exciting.”

Most of all, Street says the best thing that has come out of the company is the relationship he has with his team and their passion for the work.

“They love it. They’re incredible. A lot of times I feel like I’m their leader and I must catch up with them because they are just rocking all the time. When you go around here you see their passion and they love what they’re doing and I just get out of the way.”

In addition to manufacturing costumes, Street Characters also has training programs to help performers hone their craft to rev up the fans. The company even sponsors a conference, called Mascot U, that will be held at the newly-opened Mascot Hall of Fame in Chicago.

Street Characters Inc. has clients on every continent except for Antarctica, but when a team opens up down there, they will be prepared with plenty of penguin designs.

(With files from Stephanie Wiebe)