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If we can agree to disagree about LA being at the top, that's fine. It probably isn't. But this tired stereotype of LA being too transient to be a good sports city is just ridiculous. LA loves the Dodgers and the Lakers. NFL will take some time to catch up. Teams wouldn't be moving to LA if they didn't see it as being a profitable option to relocate to. And in order to be profitable to move to, the fanbase would have to be good and strong enough to support the teams. The fact that LA has so many teams in so many sports (and is known for more than just the big 4 leagues) shows that it can handle being a good sports city and investors/owners know it to be true as well.
Same goes for NYC. The millions upon millions upon millions of people who grown up in LA and NYC in actual real local neighborhoods are totally forgotten about. And people act like every single transplant moving to a new city can't become a fan of their local team now. I know plenty of people who moved from places with either nor major teams or abysmal major teams, so they adopted the LA or NYC teams as their own. And even people that come from cities with many good major sports teams will often at least like their new home team(s). The few that will never switch would be LA-SF, LA-NYC, NYC-Philly, NYC-Boston, NYC-Chicago, and maybe Chicago-LA. Besides those, which are some pretty intense rivalries usually, it's not unheard of for transplants to adopt their new home team. Personally, I'll die with the Dodgers being my #1 team for life, but I live in NYC and I'd like to cheer for someone at home sometimes. I could never be a Yankees fan, so I decided to be a casual Mets fan. I'm not diehard, but they're my favorite local team and I'd definitely go to a team at Citi Field that was not against the Dodgers just to see the Mets.
Again, just because a city has a larger population doesnt mean the sports fans are better or more in tune. lol
We may have to agree to disagree... you can't look at only the good without the bad. I agreed that the fan support for the Lakers and Dodgers are great, but of the 4 biggest sports, LA isn't big into hockey or the NFL (yet). IMO it's not in the conversation for top sports cities due to this. IMO I also don't think it deserves mention among the worst either.
The NFL argument isn’t really fair? The Rams have been playing in the 100K Colosseum that is in a shady part of town, but more importantly its an awful venue to watch a game. The Chargers never should’ve been allowed to move there as everyone knows LA is a Raider town, but that’s a discussion for a different day why the Raiders weren’t allowed to move back.
I truly think you’re underestimating the hockey fan base for the Kings, as well as the Angels and Ducks from a previous post. All you need to do is drive around OC and see all the window decals, license plate frames, car flags, T-shirt’s, etc around that region for the Ducks and Angels. This is especially true as you move into the Inland Empire in regards to the Angels.
Don’t forget about USC and UCLA too in any LA sports discussion.
Los Angeles should absolutely be included in any discussion about top sports cities. Despite its transient reputation, it’s a multigenerational city with deep roots for its teams. I’ve been going to games there for years and have meet countless fans there and those that have traveled to, or live in San Diego, and they’re some of the most knowledgeable fans I’ve met. Not only about the current players/teams, but the actual games themselves. Much more than fans from a lot of cities back east mentioned in this thread that seem to get an automatic pass because how old their franchises are or how many championships may have been won in the past or recently. I’ve meet fans from all over this country and many that come off as super fans don’t know a lot about the sports history, or especially the nuances about strategy and game play.
Well gven 13 million people live in the LA CSA numbers dont mean anything. I wouldn't put the 'fans' in the top 10 just because LA has more people. Thats a horrible indicator.
If I had to complete my list it would flow
1. Boston
2. Chicago
3. Philadelphia
4. Pittsburgh
5. St. Louis
6. Detroit
7. New York
8. San Francisco
9. Dallas
10. Green Bay/Milwaukee
11. Buffalo
12. Los Angeles
13. Cleveland
14. Baltimore
15. Washington
16. Atlanta
17. Tennessee
18. Houston
19. Kansas City
20. Miami
1. You should figure out how many people actually live in the LA CSA.
2. You put LA at #12, but NYC at #7 even though NYC is a larger CSA than LA and LA's attendance is higher.
3. You're glossing over the fact that LA has 2 teams in the Top 10 for MLB attendance. It's not like Dodgers are #1 and Angels are #20 every year. LA easily puts both its MLB teams in the Top 10 almost every single year.
4. I feel like everyone saying LA is not a good sports city has never lived there and felt the vibes of the city. Everywhere you go people rep the Dodgers and Lakers. Plenty of people I know who are actually born and raised in LA have started becoming Chargers/Rams fans. I'm from there. I'd know. Like I said, it will take some time for them to build their base in a city that hasn't had an NFL team for decades and has a lot of transplants, but I'm sure the NFL will be happy with the results. It wasn't the same as when I moved to SF and people were the worst bandwagon fans I'd ever met. Overnight, everyone was a Giants fan in 2010, but in the fake way where all their gear and knowledge brand new. Then the 9ers did well and the gear and knowledge was brand new. Then the Warriors did well and people literally did not even know the Warriors were their own home team. That kinda stuff would never ever happen in LA. People have always been attending Dodgers/Lakers games and wearing Dodgers/Lakers gear. Yet for some reason you have SF higher than LA on your ranking? If you wanna talk about transplants, might wanna check out all the transplants moving to SF and they're not as often the type to care about sports.
Again, just because a city has a larger population doesnt mean the sports fans are better or more in tune. lol
You're still missing my point or don't want to accept my point. The stereotype of NYC and LA having too many transplants to be a good sports city is entirely false. You're basically ignoring my point.
And so explain how in the world you can find SF to be a better sports city than LA.
The NFL argument isn’t really fair? The Rams have been playing in the 100K Colosseum that is in a shady part of town, but more importantly its an awful venue to watch a game. The Chargers never should’ve been allowed to move there as everyone knows LA is a Raider town, but that’s a discussion for a different day why the Raiders weren’t allowed to move back.
I truly think you’re underestimating the hockey fan base for the Kings, as well as the Angels and Ducks from a previous post. All you need to do is drive around OC and see all the window decals, license plate frames, car flags, T-shirt’s, etc around that region for the Ducks and Angels. This is especially true as you move into the Inland Empire in regards to the Angels.
Don’t forget about USC and UCLA too in any LA sports discussion.
Los Angeles should absolutely be included in any discussion about top sports cities. Despite its transient reputation, it’s a multigenerational city with deep roots for its teams. I’ve been going to games there for years and have meet countless fans there and those that have traveled to, or live in San Diego, and they’re some of the most knowledgeable fans I’ve met. Not only about the current players/teams, but the actual games themselves. Much more than fans from a lot of cities back east mentioned in this thread that seem to get an automatic pass because how old their franchises are or how many championships may have been won in the past or recently. I’ve meet fans from all over this country and many that come off as super fans don’t know a lot about the sports history, or especially the nuances about strategy and game play.
I'm on record in saying that I don't think it's near the worst but the using a bad area of town to explain low attendance for football games seems a little weak.
I'm a pretty big hockey fan, having attended both the Kings and Ducks games in LA, so I've had experiences with each fan base in the past. The Kings somewhat impressed me but it's still not a large fanbase that would make other cities envious. The Ducks fanbase was pretty weak. I try to get a souvenir at each new venue I see a game in, but outside the arena, it was near impossible to find a Tshirt of each team unlike most other cities I've caught a game in.
Since this thread was about pro sports, I've deliberately left off USC and UCLA. With them, I agree it would change things some.
I still maintain that hockey and NFL support is pretty weak, possibly the Angels as well (good attendance, terrible TV ratings) therefore it doesn't belong in the conversation for good pro sports cities.
49ers fans taking over the LA Coliseum was pretty bad - especially since before LA had lost both NFL teams in the mid-1990s, the 49ers were both one of the bigger rivals of the Rams and Raiders. And if you're an LA booster of any kind, seeing an SF sports team just absolutely take over the stadium is a double black eye, but its understandable if context is added. Combination of cheap flights from SF + lack of hardcore Ram support in LA yet + lots of LA natives becoming 49er fans in the time that the NFL wasn't in LA.
Also, the red seats make it look a lot worse than need be.
Great Lakes/Midwest cities for football only - Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Milwaukee/Green Bay, Chicago. NFL was born around the Great Lakes and their fans are diehards. Maybe it's the comfort of the indoor stadium, but Detroit seems a rung below the other Great Lakes NFL diehards.
People are taking this way too seriously. Really, it doesn't mean anything, in the whole scheme of things. Doesn't make a team better, doesn't make a team worse.
Great Lakes/Midwest cities for football only - Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Milwaukee/Green Bay, Chicago. NFL was born around the Great Lakes and their fans are diehards. Maybe it's the comfort of the indoor stadium, but Detroit seems a rung below the other Great Lakes NFL diehards.
Only football? The most successful and popular american NHL teams (Detroit Red Wings for success, Buffalo Sabres for support) are on the Great Lakes. How about baseball with the Brewers, Tigers and Cubs traditionally having great fan support?
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