The Sports PR World is Thirsty for the Pokemons

Spent the entire day endlessly searching Balboa Park for Pokemon !!! I love Pokemon Go !!! pic.twitter.com/RlkRs3nLHR
— Bill Walton (@BillWalton) July 15, 2016

Hey, all the kids are talking about the Pokemans! Everyone and their mom is talking about the Pokemen! It's on the internet. It's in your phone. There are monsters in your pocket! And thanks to thirsty PR accounts, now there are Pokemons all over your sports.

When you're at Summer League but you just want to play Pokemon GO pic.twitter.com/TPFUclcR6w
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) July 14, 2016

These gentlemen are obviously texting.

Pokemon GO—it needs no description; you already know what it is through countless explainers—was released on July 6, and has infected your news feeds. So, being the politically-bland, all-appeasing monoliths of pasteurized consumer culture that they are, sports media teams leached on to the opportunity to do something—anything, really—to find adjacencies to their sports business, however far fetched.

Here are some examples of the thirstiest:

de Jong and Edgar: captured ✔️ #VWFC #PokemonGo pic.twitter.com/QbZKxwPOJC
— Vancouver Whitecaps (@WhitecapsFC) July 13, 2016

6 Pokestops
3 Gyms nearby
Lures dropped 5:05pm til the 2nd inning
$6 tix til 4pm: https://t.co/K6m0cdlkvV#PokemonGo pic.twitter.com/gUy4GSE9wJ
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 15, 2016

Why hello there. pic.twitter.com/1LNktsHMHM
— Columbus Clippers (@CLBClippers) July 14, 2016

Even during the All-Star Break, the benches are never empty with #Pokemon around. pic.twitter.com/Wc078KPnKb
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 12, 2016

Pokemon Night with Pokeball Hunt. Free team photo and autographs. Dollar Beer. Tonight! Gates open at 530, FP at 7. pic.twitter.com/A6zaDGWWLP
— St. Joseph Mustangs (@StJoeMustangs) July 15, 2016

"We wanted to make sure no #Pokemon at the DBAP goes uncaptured." More: https://t.co/MiMacH8eHv pic.twitter.com/Yy7WjK8aGl
— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) July 11, 2016

Imagine playing #PokemonGo between events in the Olympic Park. There's a chance it arrives in Brazil by #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/2ymU7WrwUD
— Rio 2016 (@Rio2016_en) July 15, 2016

Pokemon fever in Yankee Stadium! A wild Rhyhorn has been spotted! #PokemonGo pic.twitter.com/8yoRxLiigN
— YankeeStadiumEvents (@YankeesEvents) July 12, 2016

I think you get the point.

And then, of course, the sporps players would be playing. Athletes are like giant children who have never been told no, so they'll likely get in on the act.

Just caught a Pokemon pre workout at @OLineWorld65 #GottaCatchEmAll pic.twitter.com/AzM2L0Ld5Y
— Kyle Long (@Ky1eLong) July 12, 2016

When #PokemonGO begins to take over your life pic.twitter.com/cam2nRU5Ec
— Matt Ryan (@M_Ryan02) July 13, 2016

Aaron Smith Suspended For Playing 'Pokemon Go' Instead Of Going To Training https://t.co/6X8Cj2eML1
— Rafael ☏ Takano (@telefone) July 12, 2016

Built to dominate Pokemon pic.twitter.com/DBoccUySBw
— Kyle Long (@Ky1eLong) July 12, 2016

Hey guys, you don't need a Pokéball to catch Pokémon! ;-) #PokémonGO pic.twitter.com/FgWqMILUgf
— Oliver Kahn (@OliverKahn) July 14, 2016

Serious-ass Oliver Kahn might take the cake on this one.

While professional sports and Pokemon GO don't really have any legitimate overlap, there are debates about whether or not Pokemon GO is sports. Strap on a Fitbit and get your couch-potato ass a-walkin.

@GMA The sense of discovery that #PokemonGo provides is second to none, and the exercise the game has provided is fantastic. #TeamValor
— ramel (@itsRamel) July 13, 2016

@TerryBlas Except sports has been getting people fit for more than three decades. Pokemon Go only just got you off your ass.
— Shane F. (@IBrakeForGhosts) July 15, 2016

Pokemon Go may fix this country's obesity epidemic. Accidental exercise is what we all could use.
— Tommy Chong (@tommychong) July 14, 2016

Hell, if Bill Walton is doing it (above), it's got to be a sport, right? The man practically is his own type of Pokemon: