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Old 05-08-2013, 09:32 AM
 
704 posts, read 1,792,686 times
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The only Braves-related experience to which I can relate was a ride through Atlanta on MARTA when the Red Sox were in town. The train packed full of fans--or, rather, full of Red Sox fans. The impression it left me with is city full of tremendous apathy for the Braves and a city full of Yankee transplants. Family I have in the northeast suburbs of Atlanta say that people love the 'Dawgs, but don't care much about the Falcons. I wonder what support is really like for the Braves in Atlanta. Can you compare support for the Braves with support for sports teams in other cities (Cardinals in St. Louis,Broncos in Denver, Browns in Cleveland, etc.)? Are the Braves more a regional "southern" thing?

Thanks for your thoughts.
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Old 05-08-2013, 09:37 AM
 
Location: Morningside, Atlanta, GA
280 posts, read 389,767 times
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The Braves are big. They have a huge fan base in the city, the suburbs, and they are the only MLB team for a huge area of the Southeast. Maybe more out of town fans take MARTA to games, while locals tend to drive.
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Old 05-08-2013, 09:39 AM
 
Location: Kirkwood
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There are lots of Braves fans here and fans of other teams because Atlanta has a lot of transplants.
Quote:
Maybe more out of town fans take MARTA to games, while locals tend to drive.
There are still a lot of locals that use MARTA to get to games.
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Old 05-08-2013, 09:51 AM
 
Location: Jonesboro
3,874 posts, read 4,697,874 times
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As said here before, Atlanta is full of transplants who love to come out & support their former hometown teams, in every sport frankly, not just at Braves games.
Some other metros that have stagnant populations & very little in-migration, i.e. St Louis & Cleveland for example, do not have a comparable transplant base so the concept of a sizable block of fans rooting for the visiting team would be a rarity in their parks & stadiums.
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Old 05-08-2013, 09:56 AM
 
Location: Grant Park
139 posts, read 231,663 times
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All polls have their problems, but Harris consistently has the Braves in the top 3 in popularity.

Harris Interactive: Harris Polls > NY Yankees America
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Old 05-08-2013, 09:58 AM
 
2,167 posts, read 2,830,810 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GoneNative View Post
The only Braves-related experience to which I can relate was a ride through Atlanta on MARTA when the Red Sox were in town. The impression it left me with is city full of tremendous apathy for the Braves and a city full of Yankee transplants.
Glad to see you are forming these broad generalizations based on a wide data set.
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Old 05-08-2013, 10:10 AM
 
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Originally Posted by Seatlien View Post
All polls have their problems, but Harris consistently has the Braves in the top 3 in popularity.

Harris Interactive: Harris Polls > NY Yankees America
That's likely because the Braves are the only baseball team in the south (outside of Florida). The Oakland A's have to battle for attention in the same metro area, let alone the same state. I believe that the Braves are indeed the Team of the South. But that doesn't mean that Atlanta is passionate about them in a way that, say, Detroit is about the Tigers.
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Old 05-08-2013, 10:30 AM
 
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Originally Posted by GoneNative View Post
But that doesn't mean that Atlanta is passionate about them in a way that, say, Detroit is about the Tigers.
Detroit outdrew Atlanta by ~8,000 people per game in 2012. Their payroll is also more than 60% higher than the Braves for 2013. The Tigers have 3 players making over $20M this year (the Braves highest paid player will make $13M). Would all those Tigers fans be just as "passionate" if Fielder, Cabrera, and Verlander were playing elsewhere? It's easy to put fannies in seats when you've got multiple silver sluggers, league MVP's, All Star MVP's, and Cy Young winners on the roster.
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Old 05-08-2013, 10:33 AM
 
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,486 posts, read 14,999,411 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by red92s View Post
Glad to see you are forming these broad generalizations based on a wide data set.
Agreed.

The Braves have a HUGE following in Atlanta and very loyal one at that in it's core. Despite what standing football has (which admittedly, football is the #1 sport here) it doesn't affect baseball from what I can see. People LOVE the Braves here. Opening day is a big deal on the city's calendar every year.

There are a few quirks about Atlanta of course that may make this seem untrue. A very large chunk of our population are transplants. Obviously, people from Boston or Chicago or NY are going to be more loyal to the Sox, Cubs or Yankees respectively. This loyalty runs deep not because they are better teams necessarily (The Braves as club are way more successful than the Cubs) but because baseball was this country's first true professional sport as we have come to know it. This fandom has been around and solidified for a longer period of time than the Braves have been in Atlanta.

Personally, I don't have a problem with it. Above all else, one should be a diehard fan of their native city's sports clubs. It's the honorable thing to do.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GoneNative
That's likely because the Braves are the only baseball team in the south (outside of Florida). The Oakland A's have to battle for attention in the same metro area, let alone the same state. I believe that the Braves are indeed the Team of the South. But that doesn't mean that Atlanta is passionate about them in a way that, say, Detroit is about the Tigers.
No. People just don't like the A's because they suck. The same thing goes for the Florida baseball teams.

Atlanta's popularity is illegitimate in this city, and I don't see how any one could question that.

Who are you a fan of?
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Old 05-08-2013, 10:34 AM
 
10,974 posts, read 10,875,645 times
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Ted Turner and TBS also helped build a fan base by broadcasting braves games across the country.
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