What is the most popular professional sports team in Chicago? (Elgin: vs., suburbs)

[personone]

Originally Posted by frimpter928

That doesn't mean they aren't popular. Just not the most popular. I would definitely put them in 3rd place. Cubs and Bears are definitely 1 and 2. White Sox and Blackhawks come after the Bulls.

If this were the 90s the Bulls would be undoubtly number 1 lol.

Right, I read the question as meaning what the most popular team is in the present. I also considered national perception and fanfare, which influences TV appearances, merchandise, national popularity, etc.

If the question was reworded to very specific criteria- i.e. popularity historically, or popularity among only native Chicagoans, etc., then the answer could obviously be different. I didn't dig that deep into the question like some seem to be doing.

[NorthSideSoxGuy]

Originally Posted by MassVt

Have to pity the White Sox a bit---they never seem to have a whole lot of backing, from any part of the city. You get the sense ( or at least, I do) that some White Sox fans are fans of the team purely out of spite, so as to defy the more numerous Cub fans...

Have you ever been to the South Side? I'd say everything south of Madison Street in the city, and then the South/Southwest suburbs are total White Sox Country.

Originally Posted by personone

Right, I read the question as meaning what the most popular team is in the present. I also considered national perception and fanfare, which influences TV appearances, merchandise, national popularity, etc.

If the question was reworded to very specific criteria- i.e. popularity historically, or popularity among only native Chicagoans, etc., then the answer could obviously be different. I didn't dig that deep into the question like some seem to be doing.

I think you'll always have fluctuations. The way I viewed the question was, if you could establish a baseline where each team has an equal level of success at the same time, which would be the most popular?

And I think, no doubt, it would be the Bears. Cubs would be second, though I think some folks overestimate their popularity in this town. The sheer fact that there's another MLB team sharing the market cuts into their numbers.

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by NorthSideSoxGuy

Have you ever been to the South Side? I'd say everything south of Madison Street in the city, and then the South/Southwest suburbs are total White Sox Country.



I think you'll always have fluctuations. The way I viewed the question was, if you could establish a baseline where each team has an equal level of success at the same time, which would be the most popular?

And I think, no doubt, it would be the Bears. Cubs would be second, though I think some folks overestimate their popularity in this town. The sheer fact that there's another MLB team sharing the market cuts into their numbers.

I appreciate the thought behind this and agree with basically the entire post.

[Hiruko]

I am a huge Cubs fan and a diehard Northsider, but if we are talking about local fandom, no team has anything on the Chicago Bears and the NFL. The Bears unite the city like no other team.

[reppin_the_847]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

I am a huge Cubs fan and a diehard Northsider, but if we are talking about local fandom, no team has anything on the Chicago Bears and the NFL. The Bears unite the city like no other team.

Yep. Whole metro area pulls for the Bears. Folks of all ethnicities seem to be into football more than in the past although there are cracks forming in the NFL's base with CTE health concerns & anthem protests. There seems to be some renewed optimism with the Bears now that Trubisky is at the helm (Cutler era is deep in the rearview).

[urbanchillage]

Locally it is not the Cubs, that's silly. The answer is the Bears. Like it or not (Cubs fans) the city itself is still fairly split between the 2 MLB teams.

[personone]

Originally Posted by reppin_the_847

Yep. Whole metro area pulls for the Bears. Folks of all ethnicities seem to be into football more than in the past although there are cracks forming in the NFL's base with CTE health concerns & anthem protests. There seems to be some renewed optimism with the Bears now that Trubisky is at the helm (Cutler era is deep in the rearview).

I am hoping Trubisky pans out, although I am not very high on him. I watched a good number of his games at UNC and while he is really athletic and has a big arm, he struggles in making those rhythmic mid-range passes in tight windows. The ability to make those passes, imo, is the key to being successful in the NFL, and it's hard to teach that kind of touch. He didn’t have many big wins at UNC, and there were a good amount of dissapointing losses. He puts it all on the line with full effort, which is great. I hope I’m wrong because he seems like a good guy and hard worker, but based on body of work from college (and his rookie season), I’m not optomistic long-term.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by urbanchillage

Locally it is not the Cubs, that's silly. The answer is the Bears. Like it or not (Cubs fans) the city itself is still fairly split between the 2 MLB teams.

I lived on the West Side, South Side and North Side, lastly on the North Side, and it’s my impression that in the city itself the Sox have at least as many fans as the Cubs, if not more. In any event I ran into far more Sox fans in Lincoln Square and Albany Park than Cubs fans in Bridgeport and McKinley Park.

In any event in my dotage I realize that the social purpose of big time sports is to give the average nimrod something trivial on which to be an expert.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

I lived on the West Side, South Side and North Side, lastly on the North Side, and it’s my impression that in the city itself the Sox have at least as many fans as the Cubs, if not more. In any event I ran into far more Sox fans in Lincoln Square and Albany Park than Cubs fans in Bridgeport and McKinley Park.

In any event in my dotage I realize that the social purpose of big time sports is to give the average nimrod something trivial on which to be an expert.

I would definitely agree that the average Sox fan is more committed and has a higher baseball IQ than the average Cubs fan.

[prhill]

It is not the cubs as the city is split between the baseball two teams. Has to be the Bears even though it seems the last 20 years places I have worked at are usually filled with more Packer fans than Bear fans