Ohio State vs Michigan Supporters in Toledo area (Columbus, Cleveland: 2014, home)

[eifvfeuin]

I am curious about the estimated percentage of Toledo residents who support Ohio State vs the percentage who support Michigan. Is it roughly 50-50? Thanks.

[canudigit]

I don't know that there are any firm statistics on this. My guess would be more like 60% Ohio State, 40% Michigan, but that's just a guess based on living in this area my entire life. Toledo is obviously much closer to Ann Arbor than it is to Columbus, but it is also in Ohio and there is strong state loyalty.

[Tigerbait73]

It's higher for Ohio State. Michigan tends to stand out so might seem like more than it really is but state loyalty goes strong. Great environment to be in to experience the rivalry!

[Tobias C]

If I had to guess, I think 60 Ohio State, 40 Michigan is believable.

[ferraris]

Toledo sports fans are an interesting bunch in general. People don't really get hardcore into the minor league teams, and there's no predominate home team in any of the major sports or even college sports (UT, BG, OSU, and UofM all have big followings). Major league sports get a pretty even split between Cleveland and Detroit, but even that probably only accounts for like half the fans, there's lot of fans of other teams.

Maybe I just like it that way because I grew up with it, but I find it much more interesting than the bigger cities where everyone is a home team fan.

[Tobias C]

Originally Posted by ferraris

Toledo sports fans are an interesting bunch in general. People don't really get hardcore into the minor league teams, and there's no predominate home team in any of the major sports or even college sports (UT, BG, OSU, and UofM all have big followings). Major league sports get a pretty even split between Cleveland and Detroit, but even that probably only accounts for like half the fans, there's lot of fans of other teams.

Maybe I just like it that way because I grew up with it, but I find it much more interesting than the bigger cities where everyone is a home team fan.

Right. I feel like NFL is a complete mixed bag around here. I might even see more Pittsburgh Steelers fans than anything else (Browns, Lions).

[FleeTheRustBelt]

Facebook data supports Toledo being Steelers country, but Facebook doesn't reflect everybody. I do think those about 40 and younger do have Steelers as the majority, while older folks tend to go more Browns or Lions. Tons of Dallas Cowboys fans around here too, and all the popular national NFL teams (Packers, Bears, Patriots, Raiders) also have fan bases.

You don't find THAT many fans of non-Detroit/Cleveland teams in the three other major sports around here, but they do exist. There are some local Toronto Maple Leafs fans due to CBC from Windsor being available on cable as well as over-the-air before the digital TV switch.

I do think 60/40 Ohio State is also accurate for the area as a whole, but it changes depending where you are in Toledo. West Toledo/Sylvania is closer to Ann Arbor so it's more like 50/50 there, but where I am in Oregon it's more like 80/20 Buckeyes.

[313 TUxedo]

CBET is available over-the-air in digital. It may have seemed to "disappear" in the digital transition, because everyone switched to the digital tuner in June, 2009, but CBET continued in analog until September, 2011, when it went digital.
A channel rescan could put CBET (and TVO) back on your set.

Back to topic: Though I lived in Ohio less than a year and a half, I root for OSU, much to the chagrin of my father-in-law.

[FleeTheRustBelt]

Yeah, what I meant was since the digital switch CBET (as well Detroit stations) are very hard to receive here unless you have an outdoor antenna, which most don't bother with anymore.

[dodeca]

This NYTimes map suggests that it's about 55% OSU 20% Michigan in most of Toledo; the ratio just about flips when you cross the border into the Michigan suburbs of Toledo.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...41.653,-83.538

For basketball, there appear to be more fans of Michigan than Ohio State in the Toledo area.

http://img.gawkerassets.com/post/11/...arger-01_1.png