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11-28-2011, 07:04 AM
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80,623 posts, read 108,714,708 times
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If so, which cities and what are the teams that they are passionate about? Are there teams out West that have a big following? This can be for college or pro teams. In some cases, you could include whole states if you want to.
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11-28-2011, 07:17 AM
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24,875 posts, read 39,126,877 times
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In terms of professional sports I would say it's more an east cost/midwest obsession overall, but there are pockets elsewhere. Besides the obvious cities like NYC, Boston and Chicago you have cities like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Buffalo and St Louis that have tried and true local fans, versus the bandwagon variety who tend to jump on the NY/Boston teams fan base when winning. Denver has always done a good job of supporting it's teams as well as Dallas though one sense's more bandwagon-ism there. San Francisco seems to do well for a west coast city and sticks out in my mind as the exception there.
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11-28-2011, 09:20 AM
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Location: New York NY
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Does seem to me that the Left Coast has a particularly lackluster fan base.
I've never understood the professional sports teams in LA, for instance. They can't keep a football team in the third largest city, their premier baseball team filed for bankruptcy, and only the Lakers have a track record of success. The Kings and Ducks haven't done half bad, but who in southern California really cares about ice hockey?
San Fran is a little better thanks to baseball, with the Giants still a marquee name, and the A's who had good years back in the day. So did the football team, the 49ers, though its glory years were back in the '90s. Hoops and hocky though? Forget about it.
San Diego baseball has been moribund in the past few years and in the Pacific Northwest of course, they coudldn't hold on to their NBA team, which left Seattle for Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Seattles baseball team hasn't been a contender for years while the Seahawks have occassionaly risen, but more often fallen.
It is strange. Cities like Chicago, Buffalo, Minneapolis, Buffao, Atlanta, and Boston ( until recently) all turn out in droves to support thier losing teams. Maybe the West just needs a few more really sustainable long-term winners to get them on par with pro sports fans elsewhere. Or a few more lovable losers. Out West fans seem really fickle for the most part, and get stuck with their fair share of lousy owners.
Last edited by citylove101; 11-28-2011 at 09:34 AM..
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11-28-2011, 11:13 AM
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Location: Ohio, USA
1,085 posts, read 1,648,880 times
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The San Diego Chargers are known for being a really strong football team
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11-28-2011, 11:15 AM
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Location: Raleigh, NC
1,575 posts, read 2,722,545 times
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Speaking very broadly, I'd say the northeast and midwest are the strongest regions for pro sports. The South is the strongest region for college sports (mostly football) and the west coast isn't as big on sports in general.
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11-28-2011, 12:01 PM
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Location: Huntington Beach, CA
5,889 posts, read 12,399,341 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by citylove101
Does seem to me that the Left Coast has a particularly lackluster fan base.
I've never understood the professional sports teams in LA, for instance. They can't keep a football team in the third largest city, their premier baseball team filed for bankruptcy, and only the Lakers have a track record of success. The Kings and Ducks haven't done half bad, but who in southern California really cares about ice hockey?
San Fran is a little better thanks to baseball, with the Giants still a marquee name, and the A's who had good years back in the day. So did the football team, the 49ers, though its glory years were back in the '90s. Hoops and hocky though? Forget about it.
San Diego baseball has been moribund in the past few years and in the Pacific Northwest of course, they coudldn't hold on to their NBA team, which left Seattle for Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Seattles baseball team hasn't been a contender for years while the Seahawks have occassionaly risen, but more often fallen.
It is strange. Cities like Chicago, Buffalo, Minneapolis, Buffao, Atlanta, and Boston ( until recently) all turn out in droves to support thier losing teams. Maybe the West just needs a few more really sustainable long-term winners to get them on par with pro sports fans elsewhere. Or a few more lovable losers. Out West fans seem really fickle for the most part, and get stuck with their fair share of lousy owners.
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Ducks and Angles both have very good fan bases (even when they are losing). Dodgers were driven into the ground by bad management and ownership. Although I am personally a Mets fan, I am hoping to see the Dodgers pull it back together.
Although I do expect a Football team to be in the LA area for the 2014 season (Rams, Jacksonville or San Diego), but most people around here have better things to do than watching a football on weekends, Most people rather participate in a sport than observe. There is a reason that Southern California produces the bulk of the US Olympic Team. |
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11-28-2011, 02:01 PM
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Location: Bellingham, WA
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Since moving from the Southeast, I've noticed this as well, but I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination. I occasionally hear people here discuss sports, but it's not that common. And I rarely see sports teams' logos on shirts or bumper stickers. The local university doesn't even have a football team! In Tennessee, it's like nearly everyone was completely obsessed with sports. I actually dreaded football season, because when that began none of my coworkers could remember how to discuss anything else. Here people seem more interested in what I would call recreational or fitness sports: cycling, running, kayaking, rock climbing, hiking, etc. They also seem to be a lot more interested in art and literature. In Tennessee I knew about three people besides myself who read books regularly. Here it seems to be fairly common. It's just a very different culture in general.
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11-28-2011, 03:08 PM
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7,760 posts, read 15,175,205 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by citylove101
... and in the Pacific Northwest of course, they coudldn't hold on to their NBA team, which left Seattle for Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Seattles baseball team hasn't been a contender for years while the Seahawks have occassionaly risen, but more often fallen.
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As bad as Seahawks and Mariners are, they're still playing to huge crowds. There some devotion to the "lovable losers"... and with the Mariners, people do get excited about their "one game winning streak". Most Seattleites were upset about losing the Sonics, but politics worked against them. As it stands right now, Soccer is the huuuuuugeee thing. No one else is as passionate about their soccer team the way Seattle is (Portland comes close, but they're just not as good  ) |
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11-28-2011, 05:42 PM
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9,965 posts, read 16,709,272 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by citylove101
San Diego baseball has been moribund in the past few years and in the Pacific Northwest of course, they coudldn't hold on to their NBA team, which left Seattle for Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Seattles baseball team hasn't been a contender for years while the Seahawks have occassionaly risen, but more often fallen.
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People in Portland are pretty die-hard about the Trailblazers and they haven't even won a first-round playoff series in 10 years. Enough so that Portland had the second highest home attendance in the NBA last year despite being a smaller metro with a weak economy.
2010-2011 NBA Attendance - National Basketball Association - ESPN
The Sonics only left because they were bought by a Oklahoma City businessman who really had no intention of keeping them in Seattle.
In general fans will support teams that win(or are trending upward) or teams with a longtime historical fanbase. But even on the East Coast, you have NBA teams like the Nets or 76ers that generate little interest and are among the lowest attendance in the league.
College sports is another matter, but in the Northwest you have pretty fanatical football fanbases for the Oregon Ducks and the Washington Huskies--maybe not at the level of the SEC colleges, but still more so than almost anything you could find in the Northeast(just in terms of college sports). |
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11-28-2011, 06:55 PM
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Location: The City
22,402 posts, read 36,827,390 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Deezus
People in Portland are pretty die-hard about the Trailblazers and they haven't even won a first-round playoff series in 10 years. Enough so that Portland had the second highest home attendance in the NBA last year despite being a smaller metro with a weak economy.
2010-2011 NBA Attendance - National Basketball Association - ESPN
The Sonics only left because they were bought by a Oklahoma City businessman who really had no intention of keeping them in Seattle.
In general fans will support teams that win(or are trending upward) or teams with a longtime historical fanbase. But even on the East Coast, you have NBA teams like the Nets or 76ers that generate little interest and are among the lowest attendance in the league.
College sports is another matter, but in the Northwest you have pretty fanatical football fanbases for the Oregon Ducks and the Washington Huskies--maybe not at the level of the SEC colleges, but still more so than almost anything you could find in the Northeast(just in terms of college sports). |
Two points one the 76er do draw poorly, will see what happens with the new ownership. College Hoops actually draws very well in Philly
On College Football PSU fans are pretty rabid in the NE though they are in the middle of the state |
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