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It's pretty much the Giants in SF and the Raiders in Oakland as far as rabid fandom goes. The other teams are popular, especially when they win, but only those two teams bring out passion on the level of an East Coast or Midwest city.
Well, how does it compare to Washington and Baltimore?
And before 2007, I wouldn't call Giants fans "passionate", at least any moreso than the average CA baseball team.
After 2010, Giants fans everywhere. They're like the cancer that is slowly killing us all (kidding Giants fans, sort of. GO BLUE! Oh, and Go Cards! Smash the magic and silence 43,000 people like you guys did in Washington!)
Last edited by Lifeshadower; 10-22-2012 at 03:50 PM..
Well I'm sure it's higher than a lot of cities, but having been to many Cubs and Yankees games (old stadium) in particular, I found the crowd in SF not as into it, nor was the vibe around the stadiums intense, nor is the general attitude or chit chat in the city very commonly about sports, where Chicago folks talk about the damn Bears and Cubs so much in daily conversations it is often annoying. Though of course SF has fielded better teams for the past 20 years.
Exception of course might be this year b/c they are in the playoffs.
I know the Raiders fans are insane, don't want to go near that place around game time, it's a nightmare.
Lots of Giants fans like to pretend they are into the game and many are there because it's a nice stadium and atmosphere. A's fans, the ones that actually show up to games, probably have more passion but attendance has been a problem for years now. 35K at the Coliseum is easily louder than 41K at AT&T.
Lots of Giants fans like to pretend they are into the game and many are there because it's a nice stadium and atmosphere. A's fans, the ones that actually show up to games, probably have more passion but attendance has been a problem for years now. 35K at the Coliseum is easily louder than 41K at AT&T.
Yeah I have definitely noticed that about the noise level--Oakland is always louder.
I didn't feel people in the Bay Area were "big" sports fans, at least nothing like my experience in Chicago or what I have seen on the East Coast, did not have that vibe at all. Now maybe in Oakland there is that presence, but I didn't feel that way in SF... not tons of sports bars, or even a sports vibe really. I just don't see SF as a rowdy die hard sports type of place, maybe Oakland can pull it through in terms of a fan base. Maybe it used to be.
I'd say it is more of a battle between Oakland and Baltimore.
As far as good teams and champions go, easily Bay Area though (might have been best in the country in the 80s/90s. 49ers were always my favorite team from growing up.
The rest of the Bay Area, particularly the East Bay and South Bay, have much higher concentrations of sports fans than San Francisco proper.
When it comes to the 49ers and Giants, there are many great fans and a good number of true fanatics throughout the Bay Area. The rest of the teams (including the Raiders, although they do have a strong national following), not as much.
Well, how does it compare to Washington and Baltimore?
And before 2007, I wouldn't call Giants fans "passionate", at least any moreso than the average CA baseball team.
After 2010, Giants fans everywhere. They're like the cancer that is slowly killing us all (kidding Giants fans, sort of. GO BLUE! Oh, and Go Cards! Smash the magic and silence 43,000 people like you guys did in Washington!)
I grew up an A's fan and never went to many Giants games---at this point my entire Facebook thread over the last week is filled with "Go Giants!" posts from people I grew up with or family back in the Bay or Northern California. A few like my cousin in SF, are actually die-hards, but the other 80 percent somehow found their love for the Giants in the last two years. Even a guy from Bend, Oregon--who I knew from college up here who moved to Oakland four years ago--just won't shut up about how much he loves the Giants.
Though I'll always root for the Giants against the Dodgers though...
Why are the Oakland teams almost always last or next to last in attendance, if Oakland fans are so passionate?
I'm not judging, but just look at A's/Raiders attendance stats. They are pretty terrible. The Warriors are the only Oakland team with decent attendance figures.
Why are the Oakland teams almost always last or next to last in attendance, if Oakland fans are so passionate?
I'm not judging, but just look at A's/Raiders attendance stats. They are pretty terrible. The Warriors are the only Oakland team with decent attendance figures.
Look beyond that past decade, A's haven't "always" had attendance issues. They actually used to outdraw the Giants before AT&T Park was built. The problem with younger generations and people who didn't follow the Giants pre-AT&T is that they don't realize this.
As for the A's, it has the worst stadium in baseball and it's extremely outdated. It's not the type of venue that will attract casual fans like AT&T. Also the vast majority of A's fans hate the owner for how he has run this team since he bought it and how he is trying to move it out of Oakland. I think a lot of A's fans refuse to support the current ownership.
The rest of the Bay Area, particularly the East Bay and South Bay, have much higher concentrations of sports fans than San Francisco proper.
When it comes to the 49ers and Giants, there are many great fans and a good number of true fanatics throughout the Bay Area. The rest of the teams (including the Raiders, although they do have a strong national following), not as much.
Oh I don't doubt it. 99% my experience is San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma which is definitely a different crowd, mostly just not very "sporty" altogether.
NHL: Tie, maybe edge to DC?
I don't really follow hockey so I can't say. I feel a lot of Sharks fans are fair weather. I have a feeling DC may be better for this.
Sharks fans are pretty dedicated and loyal though I can't compare them directly to DC fans. My family's been going to games since the Cow Palace days in the early 90s, and we've seen some of the same people going to games for almost twenty years now. A lot of people from real hockey regions who moved to the Bay Area(Upper Midwest/New England/parts of the Northeast) really adopted the Sharks early on as well as people who didn't grow up with hockey.
Despite the fact that they've blown it in the playoffs in their most promising seasons, they always seem to have among the highest attendence figures and it's a pretty loud crowd. Maybe not at the level of the Canadian franchises or the old school Northeastern teams--but for newer team that was an expansion team only twenty years ago, they've done incredibly well and have a pretty good fanbase--except for a couple down seasons they've come close to selling out on average for the last decade. Before the Capitals got good recently, they had seasons five years ago where they only sold 75 percent of seats on average. But really except for teams in Canada, hockey crowds can be pretty warm weather--even Chicago and Boston were at the bottom of attendence figures when they had bad teams in the last decade.
Sharks fans are pretty dedicated and loyal though I can't compare them directly to DC fans. My family's been going to games since the Cow Palace days in the early 90s, and we've seen some of the same people going to games for almost twenty years now. A lot of people from real hockey regions(Upper Midwest/New England/parts of the Northeast) really adopted the Sharks early on.
Despite the fact that they've blown it in the playoffs in their most promising seasons, they always seem to have among the highest attendence figures and it's a pretty loud crowd. Maybe not at the level of the Canadian franchises or the old school Northeastern teams--but for newer team that was an expansion team only twenty years ago, they've done incredibly well and have a pretty good fanbase--except for a couple down seasons they've come close to selling out on average for the last decade. Before the Capitals got good recently, they had seasons five years ago where they only sold 75 percent of seats on average. But really except for teams in Canada, hockey crowds can be pretty warm weather--even Chicago and Boston were at the bottom of attendence figures when they had bad teams in the last decade.
Yeah I've heard Sharks games are pretty loud and intense. I have a feeling support may be more hardcore in the South Bay and surrounding area than some other parts of the region, at least in my experience but I don't follow hockey or know that many people that do.
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(kidding Giants fans, sort of. GO BLUE! Oh, and Go Cards! Smash the magic and silence 43,000 people like you guys did in Washington!)
