AFL Host Wears Superman Shirt To Celebrate Naming Of Marvel Stadium

Australian Football League commentator and AFL Game Day host Hamish McLachlan came under fire on social media after sporting a Superman shirt as a means of showing enthusiasm for Australia's upcoming Marvel-branded Etihad Stadium.

But the iconic building-leaping superhero is the property of DC Comics, chief rival to Disney-owned Marvel Entertainment.

"I'm Marveling up," McLachlan said at the start of AFL Game Day on Sunday (via News.com.au).

"We're asking everyone today about superheroes because of Marvel," McLachlan said later in the show. "I'm wearing Superman — he isn't a Marvel character apparently, but he was my favorite superhero."

Online commentators took to social media to point on McLachlan's gaff, with one asking "why the hell" he was wearing a Superman shirt. Said another, "get your superheroes right. Superman is not a Marvel superhero you dill."

Etihad Stadium owners Melbourne Stadium Limited announced last week they had entered into an eight-year agreement with the Walt Disney Company, a deal that will rebrand the stadium into Marvel Stadium starting September 1.

The stadium will boast the Marvel name and logo and feature an all-new Marvel retail store.

Melbourne Stadium Limited CEO Michael Green called Marvel "a powerhouse in the entertainment industry" and "one of the most recognized brand names in the world," but a well-meaning McLachlan suffered from brand confusion and a subsequent lashing on Twitter for his mistake.