Is St. Louis a Football Town? (Kansas City, Columbia: school, stadium, title)

[Crimson tide]

Nobodys a bigger football town then
Right here in tuscalusa

[jskirwin]

Originally Posted by storey13

I still root for the Arizona Cardinals as long as they are not playing the Rams.

You are a far better person than me. I grew up in the 1970s when Bill Bidwell seemed to trade everyone who showed any hint of talent. He seemed more interested in the short term $$$ of ownership rather than the long term investment required to build decent teams.

[Chicago76]

Late to this one, but I think it bears pointing out that when you look at all levels of football, St. Louis is very much NOT a football town.

At the high school level, the vast majority of the elite programs are located outside of metro St. Louis.

College football is not big in the state. Missou has had decent runs here or there, but for a state of MO's size and with only one major college program, Missou football support is relatively weak.

Pro football isn't a great barometer, because like most medium to small sized markets, when the team is doing well, support is strong, but when the team's fortunes change, there is a very noticeable decline in support.

STL is not Pittsburgh, KC, Chicago, any of the major cities in OH, or Detroit when it comes to a culture of football at all levels. This may surprise many here, but it's not even a football town the way Louisville or Indianapolis are. HS football is much bigger in both towns, and college support tends to be stronger (although more divided among several programs...KY/Louisville and Notre Dame/Purdue/and to a much lower extend Indiana).

When it comes to sports, STL is much more similar to east coast cities. Pro sports get good support considering the size of the area. Prep soccer gets relatively more coverage at the expense of prep football compared to most of the country. College football (and college sports in general) aren't as big as they are in most of the Midwest and Southeast. Presence of a non-football Catholic school playing in the A10. St. Louis is definitely an anomaly in the middle american sports world.

[BoomBoxing]

I'm curious of those who are writing St. Louis off as "not a football town" lived here in the early 2000's when the Rams were the most dominant team in the NFL? I will agree that the Rams don't elicit the same passion out of fans as old franchises like the Packers and Bears do (particularly when they are a gutter team like recent history). But when they were the best, people in St. Louis definitely lived and breathed the Rams.

[Bulldawg82]

I think the damage was done to us being a football town when the Cards moved to Arizona and we didn't get a team back until the mid-90s. Even a superbowl win and successful seasons (early on) couldn't establish the team (although it certainly didn't hurt). The only thing that can make STL a football town again is longevity. We are not going to be like Green Bay or Pittsburgh without the history those teams have with their communities. We just have to be patient. There is no shortcut here for the process.

[Chicago76]

Originally Posted by BoomBoxing

I'm curious of those who are writing St. Louis off as "not a football town" lived here in the early 2000's when the Rams were the most dominant team in the NFL? I will agree that the Rams don't elicit the same passion out of fans as old franchises like the Packers and Bears do (particularly when they are a gutter team like recent history). But when they were the best, people in St. Louis definitely lived and breathed the Rams.

When your team is the best, people will live and die with the team regardless of the culture of the town w/ respect to that sport 99% of the time. The only major league exception I can think of is Atlanta Braves baseball. You might throw in some of the growing cities in the country where a lot of people aren't from that particular area too (Phoenix and the like). That's not the true measure of how good of a football town any particular area is.

[Spanky7]

I do not think so. We are if the team is winning which they are not right now. Same way with the cardinals.

[mike0421]

Was watching the game yesterday on TV for a little while, and there is absolutely no juice in the Jones Dome for the Rams. It must be the worst atmosphere I've ever seen for a game.

The Cardinals are a passion here. The Rams might qualify as an interest or a hobby.

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by BoomBoxing

I'm curious of those who are writing St. Louis off as "not a football town" lived here in the early 2000's when the Rams were the most dominant team in the NFL? I will agree that the Rams don't elicit the same passion out of fans as old franchises like the Packers and Bears do (particularly when they are a gutter team like recent history). But when they were the best, people in St. Louis definitely lived and breathed the Rams.

Just my personal belief, but I believe we are a bandwagon football town but a baseball town in every sense of the word. If you follow sports, listen to talk radio, read the sports page, anything to do with the cardinals is news all year round whether the team is winning or not or even during the offseason (and fortunately, we've had a big run of success under TLR, and prior to that, Herzog (not so much under Torre)). Sure, crowds are better when they win, but people still stay tuned even if they aren't playing so well. People pay attention to offseason stuff and debate it.

Not so much with the Rams or even the football Cardinals back in the day.

Again, just my opinion, but I'm a huge football fan who grew up here and has lived here my entire 44 years (except for my time in Columbia, MO at Mizzou).

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by Crimson tide

Nobodys a bigger football town then
Right here in tuscalusa

True, but there are also great pro-football towns. Green Bay, Pittsburg, probably put KC in that category.

I'm a life long St. Louisan and Mizzou fan who is looking forward to joining the SEC, but I would submit STL is not that great football town in the sense those other cities are.