Question About NE Pats Fanbase (Boston, Foxborough: how much, hotel, house)

[bluecountry]

I'm generally curious about the Patriots and football/other non baseball sports place in Boston sports.
I found an interesting article which discussed the status in 1990 and 2006 but left me with questions Fandemonium - The Boston Globe.

Being 23 I recall the Patriots in the early 90s when they were a doormate with blackouts.
It was odd seeing them suceed, I was happy, because in Boston sports you never heard about football.
I recently completed college in Boston and no question the Patriots are heavily popular, 1A behind the Red Sox in overall fans.
I'd say that Boston is a strong top tier football town but I'm not quite sure and wanted to get your opinion.

While they are a big deal, they also are winning.
-Prior to 1996, the 1st Super Bowl under Kraft, the Patriots had frequent blackouts, almost moved, and were number four in Boston.
-The sudden turn around has occured while the Celtics, a spectacular historic and once popular team, has fallen along with the Bruins on ice.
-I can not help but wonder if Boston really is a football town all along that was simply caught with terrible team and owner until Kraft OR if Boston simply is fairweather and is Sox number one, and anybody else who wins.

-I question this because when I was in Boston the Celtics, a once dominant team, had little fanfare anywhere.
Not only that but Boston lost the Redskins in the 30s and the NFL passed them over many times before the AFL expanded.
-Even then they almost moved as they had a bad team and got many blackouts which in football is an outrage for a passionate Northeast town.

-Further, it just seems hard to asscioate football and Massachuesetts.
-Is it really that ingrained in the youth, is it really played in school and does your region produce a lot of players comparable to New York or is much more baseball, hockey with football play much less competitive?

Basically is Boston and New England a big a football area with the Pats and Sunday's being NFL gameday, in the youth, is this really engrained in your culture as it is nationally or say in PA?
-If so why
1) Did the Redskins move with no NFL for almost 30 years
2) Why the Pats were blacked out
3) Why the Celtics once champions have fallen
Or is Boston all baseball with football something to do after Sox season, and once they start losing football will slip heavily?
It just seems to me given the 30 years before winning and the Celtics fall as well as nationally rep, that Boston is on a magic ride with football during the high now much like with the Celtics in the 80s, and this is not something trully embedded as the sport is elsewhere.
Thanks.

[LeavingMA]

I always felt part of the obsession with the red sox is they hadn't won the world series in 86 years. When they won in 2004 i thought some of that obsession would go away, but it really hasn't. I find after people talk about the sox they usually ask, "did the yankees win"? They ask this in April and May.

I personally have always preferred football so i enjoy the patriots more. If the patriots starting doing poorly for awhile, you can bet less people will be interested. That pretty much happens everywhere though. College sports are pretty non-existent here, no one seems to really care.

Don't forget that much of the fanbase for the Celtics, Bruins, Patriots, and Red Sox are throughout New England. You are pulling from ME, VT, NH, MA, RI, and parts of CT. I think you find more football fans the further away you get from the Boston area. I'm glad they didn't build the new football stadium in Boston, that would have been horrible.

If and when the Celtics and Bruins start playing well some fans will be back. The red sox for some reason will always have their fans even in poor times.

It is interesting because most other places you go are more interested in football than any other sport. The New England area still prefers baseball for the most part.

[WestMass79]

Interesting point about the Patriots, they have a larger portion of season ticketholders from south of Foxboro (Providence) than north of (Boston).

They are really Rhode Island's team more than Boston's.

[LeavingMA]

I see lots of cars from NH come down for Patriots games. The patriots really are a New England team. Like you mentioned, the patriots are closer to Providence than Boston.

[bluecountry]

When I was in New England I noticed that too, for some reason in Boston there are many more Red Sox to Pats stuff, but outside the city, especially outside the metro area, even north into NH and ME you see more Pats.
Why and why would a stadium in Boston have been terrible to build?

[LeavingMA]

Why and why would a stadium in Boston have been terrible to build?

Well, just for the reason you mentioned you see more patriots things outside of the Boston metro area. Even though the other sports teams are called "Boston" Red Sox or Celtics, or Bruins, they really are New England teams. I think it is nice for people not to have to travel to Boston to see a sports team.

Football also has tailgating, you really can't do that in Boston. Personally, I really never associate anything about the Patriots and Boston...i've always seen them as the true New England team.

They also wanted to build a dome stadium in Boston for the patriots. Football should not be played in a dome stadium.

[CaseyB]

It's rather long and involved, but the Patriots wanted to move back to Boston a few years ago providing the state came through with financial incentives. The then speaker of the house blocked the proposed stadium, so they remained in Foxborough. Adjacent to Gillette stadium, there is currently a mall under construction (nicknamed the "man mall"). On the north side there will be a hotel, 12 or more restaurants, an upscale theatre of sorts, sports medicine clinic, etc. On the south side of the plaza, the ancor store is Bass Pro Shops.

[puffle]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

It's rather long and involved, but the Patriots wanted to move back to Boston a few years ago providing the state came through with financial incentives. The then speaker of the house blocked the proposed stadium, so they remained in Foxborough. Adjacent to Gillette stadium, there is currently a mall under construction (nicknamed the "man mall"). On the north side there will be a hotel, 12 or more restaurants, an upscale theatre of sorts, sports medicine clinic, etc. On the south side of the plaza, the ancor store is Bass Pro Shops.

One thing that really made an impression on me while living in Boston was how much women knew about the teams in Ma. Coming from California, this is not usually the case. Everywhere we went we met all types of women that knew the players of the Pats, who had made what play in the last game, knew all about the different plays,etc. The loyalty behind the teams in New England is amazing. No such thing in California...when a team is down so is the support.

[LeavingMA]

One thing that really made an impression on me while living in Boston was how much women knew about the teams in Ma. Coming from California, this is not usually the case. Everywhere we went we met all types of women that knew the players of the Pats, who had made what play in the last game, knew all about the different plays,etc. The loyalty behind the teams in New England is amazing. No such thing in California...when a team is down so is the support.

I was in Los Angeles this year at the same time UCLA was in the final four. I think i was the only one interested in seeing the game and i'm not even a UCLA fan. I thought places would have the game on, but its like UCLA never existed. Los Angeles is a big area though, so maybe i was in the wrong area.

[puffle]

Nope. If a team out here is not on top, people loose interest. Very little loyalty. In fact, at the baseball games, 3/4 of the people leave to beat the traffic at the seventh inning stretch! Of course, if by some miracle the Dodgers or Angels made it into the finals for the World Series, that would be a different story...only 1/2 would leave!