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And LSU also has a very intense fan base throughout Louisiana, and the Saints are also very popular throughout the state and are a big deal. I think Louisiana, Alabama and especially Texas are some of the most sports-obsessed places in the nation.
Sports seem to be not too big in Las Vegas given there are no pro teams there. WIth the exception of the Redskins the Washington DC area also doesn't seem to really be into sports. The University of Maryland is in the DC area but nobody who is not an alumni ever talks about those teams the way people in Baton Rouge who are not associated with LSU or West Virginians not associated with WVU follow the Tigers and Mountaineers very closely.
Also, LSU has a very passionate fan base among non-students and non-alumni DESPITE Louisiana having professional sports. People in West Virginia and Alabama are crazy about college sports because those states do not have pro sports team at all.
Right, and they are part of the SEC which the poster I was responding to touted.
The SEC isn't the only conference down here, despite what most SEC fans think.
Also that poster was discussing the SE; none of those teams are in the SE.
I am completely the opposite as a transplant who moved to a new State and City and started to root for the hometown team. Although, I will admit I wasn't really into the Cleveland teams that I grew up around. To me it seems silly to root for the team of the city you moved from. It seems to me that transplants who stay so attached to the place they came from don't last long and boomerang back to their hometowns or States. At least here in Kentucky, where we don't get a lot of transplants, walking around in your former town's team apparel, etc is not looked upon kindly and that person will have a hard time fitting in.
I don't understand why people assume they have to root for the hometown team. Maybe it's the team they are attached to and not the actual city that they came from. Growing up in S. Dakota we never had a hometown team. But I'm a loyal fan of a few teams, pro and college, not in my region for other reasons besides where I happen to live.
I was once asked by someone, who found out I was from the S. Dakota, how I could watch the NFL if I didn't have a home team to cheer for. I simply stated that to most people it's possible to be a fan of a team from somewhere else because they enjoy watching that team. It's no different than a person from the UK that enjoys watching the NFL and has picked a favorite team to back.
About transplants....idk. I would say that when the Olympics comes around and I see immigrants rooting for the teams of the nations they came here from, I see it as un-patriotic and disloyal to the United States.
Its less of a visceral reaction in terms of domestic sports, but I still don't particularly like it. I do like the University of Maryland teams because I actually graduated from that college not because I used to live in Maryland. I do continue to be a Baltimore Ravens fan though I like the Saints the best in the NFL since I am native to Louisiana originally and live here again. Besides the Terrapins I cheer for the West Virginia Mountains and the LSU Tigers.
The flip of the coin to states like West Virginia and Alabama are states that have NO professional teams and yet their college teams are still not really followed outside of the students and alumni. This can include New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and New Mexico. Another major city that seems to be less sports obsessed is Salt Lake City.
Chicago, that great pro sports town, is a rotten college sports town.
College basketball gets more support than college football (the state itself is not a good college football state)
We have three major (BCS level) football universities that would be considered our local fan base: Northwestern, Illinois, Notre Dame. None have huge support in the area.
For basketball, you can add Loyola, DePaul and UIC to Northwestern, Illinois, and Notre Dame.....none of the 6 programs are that well supported in Chicagoland.
That's one perspective, consider the expectations/reception on the reverse of those moving from FL to say NYC or Boston. It's definitely not a two way street.
The number of transplants is a key factor in the dynamics. There are a lot more people who move from the large northern cities to Florida than the reverse. Moreover, at any given time there are a lot of people visiting Florida who don't live in the state, and enjoy attending games for their hometown's teams. Arizona likely has a similar situation, with a low share of natives and a lot of transplants and visitors from across the country.
Why would you exclude that? That's like excluding football from the Northeast. Baseball is very popular around here as well, LSU lost their first championship out of 7.
LSU gets alot fans for baseball . Florida won its first national championship in baseball and is starting to get alot more fans at games. Florida and florida state football have huge followings in florida, florida /georgia football game attracts hundred of thousand of people to the "worlds largest cocktail party" Its hard to get behind teams like the marlins because they are always so bad. Orlando is one of the highest for attendance in mls, Atlanta is leading in attendance this year, southeast is huge for youth soccer participation
alabama football, lsu football etc attracts 100,000 in attendance, sec sports fans are crazy
Well the only major American city that I have spent much time in is Los Angeles so take what I have to say with that prejudice. As someone more linked to UCLA than to USC, UCLA football is definitely second banana to USC. UCLA at the top is much like watching the Lakers make the playoffs compared to the Clippers, or the Dodgers compared to the Angels.
Agreed, most LA college football fans cheer for USC, not UCLA. Strangely, many of those same people root for UCLA basketball over USC. There is a lot of other fun stuff to do, nobody wants to waste their time cheering for a team that isn't consistently good.
The Northeast is generally considered to have the best fandoms. Cities like Pittsburgh, Philly, Boston, and New York regularly top the lists of best fans for their perspective sports. The Midwest is also usually pretty strong in that regard with cities like Chicago, Cleveland, and St. Louis (baseball) known for loyal fans.
The Southeast (with the notable exception of SEC football) and the Southwest are less sport-centric, at least in my opinion. Could have something to do with the weather honestly.
This. I've only seen a strong sports culture in the Northeast. Outside of that, I don't think any city gets too crazy with it.
Chicago, that great pro sports town, is a rotten college sports town.
College basketball gets more support than college football (the state itself is not a good college football state)
We have three major (BCS level) football universities that would be considered our local fan base: Northwestern, Illinois, Notre Dame. None have huge support in the area.
For basketball, you can add Loyola, DePaul and UIC to Northwestern, Illinois, and Notre Dame.....none of the 6 programs are that well supported in Chicagoland.
Boston is the same way. The city is passionate about pro sports, college sports... most people have no interest. In my lifetime the only thing resembling college sports fandom was UMass with Calipari and Camby. Flutie at BC was big too, but it was before my time.
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