Icky Team Names

Icky Team Names

Oh, those teams that think they’re sooooo funny by making their team name “I Wish This Microphone Was a D***” or try to make a joke Too Soon about an untimely celebrity death/tragic news event. Our questions are written to be PG, so you've got to read the room/go with your gut if there's profanity or politics involved.

If you come across a team name that gives you the ick, there are a few ways to manage the situation. 

• Change the way you read it on the mic (i.e. “Sinead O’Goner” becomes “RIP Sinead O’Conner”) but leave it as-is in the app/on their sheet.
• Edit their team name in the app from the Leaderboard screen to insert asterisks and/or more crowd-appropriate language (especially if there are kids playing).
• Talk to the team directly about their name and see if they would be willing to choose a new one, or find out if you’re missing something that makes the choice more palatable. (Sometimes a team will be something like “No Gay Jose” and they’re just using an inside joke about their friend, who is right there. You still don’t have to read it on the mic, but you might feel less gross about it.)

Ultimately, it's the host's job to make these calls based on their own discretion. Comfort is key—if it makes you uncomfortable, you're empowered to do something about it. But bar trivia is an adult creative activity in a primarily adult setting, so teams should be able to be creative, even if it means being a little bawdy or indelicate.

If the team name is about you in a way that is personally offensive, only approach the team if you feel safe. Reach out to the site staff for support, and ask the Manager on Duty to intercede for you if necessary. You can always disqualify egregiously disrespectful people from winning prizes and/or appearing on the Leaderboard. 

Trivia Mafia will always advocate on your behalf, so please let us know about the situation and what would help you feel good about coming back to that environment in the future. We're not able to ban people from a space (again, players are not our customers) but we have successfully worked with our business partners to have them discourage bad actors from returning to their business.