Absolutely blows my mind Wisconsin doesn't have an NHL team. It's a state that is deep into hockey culture - has a rich hockey history with the outdoor weather to boot - and has a fanatical sports culture in general. And an NHL team there would be instant rival fuel for Chicago, Detroit and Minnesota.
Yeah Milwaukee should be near the top of the list for the upcoming NHL expansion. Like even the Blackhawks know how unserved the market is because they now play a few home games every year in Milwaukee!
Milwaukee, its biggest city, is the 40th largest market in the US. It's a miracle they have teams at all, let alone two. Sure places like New Orleans or Salt Lake are similar size (or smaller) but Milwaukee has direct competition with the third-largest metro in the US. The others do not, increasing their draw artificially. As for the Packers they are the only team in sports with two primary markets, and a storied history. Not to mention the Admirals were middle of the pack in attendance in the ECHL. Carolina has NHL because it's 5 hours in any direction to the nearest team (as to why Raleigh was picked over Charlotte - closer to the Northeast). The reason baseball wants to go to Nashville specifically is because it A) is in a dead zone. B) has top-5 attendance every year. C) is growing rapidly; all things Milwaukee does not possess. Proximity to large cities only works if there aren't massive holes needed to be filled already. It just wouldn't work. Although, the NHL has discussed increasing to 36 teams due to the dual-national nature. If this were the case I've been a proponent of Milwaukee getting one.
AAA teams also tend to be (although aren't always) pretty close to their MLB team, so sometimes it's also just that they're the closest to that area. Just off a hunch (haven't finished watching) Louisville is probably a good example, as is Columbus.
Atlanta Braves have a very strong fan base because 25 years ago, Turner Broadcasting had Atlanta Braves games available on TBS, no other baseball was available to watch. They developed a big fan base because views got to know Chipper Jones and other players.. and that loyalty continues today.
Back when I was growing up in New Mexico the two teams we could watch regularly on cable TV were the Braves on TBS and the Cubs on WGN. Tried being a Cubs fan for a while before realizing the futility of that endeavor, then eventually followed the Braves until we moved to the Seattle area and had the Mariners (although I realized the futility of that endeavor years ago.)
Because of TBS, the Braves were known as “America’s Team”. Working night shift in the 80s, with the rebroadcast, people used to watch the Braves lose 200 games a season 😃
@@thesledgehammerblog @thesledgehammerblog - Man! Sounds like you have spent a good deal of loyalty in futility. Seems like a perfect Segway into talking politics… but I’m not going there. Feel free if you want though… not sure I’ll engage, but likely I would.
I worked in Youngstown Ohio for a year. It's equidistant from Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The first time I went to a local bar the greeting I got was "Steelers or Browns?" The people were almost evenly split between the two. Amazingly friendly rivalry though.
Maybe now…when I was growing up, Steelers and Browns was such a rivalry that a car parked outside the stadium with the wrong license plates might get tires slashed.
@acelm8437 oddly enough it doesn't. I grew up in Detroit and I've been a lions fan for 65+ years. Rooting for the underdog is a part of our nature. Ask any of the die-hard Cubs fans from the 108 years that they sucked.
Geography of sports is always so fascinating! Being in NorCal, on almost every one of these maps Trinity County is some oddball outlier sticking out like a sore thumb
Denver before the MLB Rockies arrived in 93 was a big Cubs town. A lot of people, including me, moved to Denver in the 70s. And Chicago's WGN Superstation also broadcast Cubs games nationwide. We were also an Expos town, because the Denver Bears AAA team was Montreal's farm team. I always note what team gear people wear when I travel. It's a fascinating topic. Nice work! PS It would be interesting to have Mexico and Canada in the mix. Heck, the whole world. Toronto, for example, is a Bills town. And in my experience Mexico City appears to be a Chiefs town.
@@modjohnsenglishdisco Wow… Denver Bears??? You brought me back to my childhood on that one. Do you remember the stink about that round motel going in above Bears Stadium on the north side? Then.. just a few years the stadium built up stands on that end. Eventually tore the whole stadium down and built what was then Investco Field. And then ….. and then …. And then again…. The new stadium changed names almost as fast as the team changed QB’s.
This methodology is supremely flawed, but I will tell you as a Yankees fan that the Mets are more popular in Long Island. Remember, the Mets are geographically on Long Island
I'm a Met fan from Long Island and while the Mets have a nice following there as well as nationally with all the NY transplants I still think the Yankees are more popular everywhere, including the Island. The Yankees are iconic and to be honest I'm pretty shocked that they don't claim other large swathes of the map outside of the New York metro area. Also, in terms of the point made about cities/regions with multiple teams, a Met or Yankee fan doesn't have to purchase a special package to watch their teams locally. I'm unclear as to the way these counties are coded and measured but there's no way from my vantage point at least that the Clippers would be more popular than the Lakers or the Mets more popular than the Yankees.
@@michaelmvm Interesting. I guess it's a matter of perspective. Always thought it was split and that's from growing up in the 80s when the Mets were generally better than the Yankees.
@@steves9964 Lots of people like to associate themselves with winners; they actually think it rubs off on themselves, like when the team wins, they all love to chant, 'WE won, WE won, as if they were actual players on the team. Posers, all.
FYI Kyle, Sad to say but Oakland has officially lost all their pro sports teams. The Raiders obviously gone and the Golden State Warriors play in a new arena in San Francisco. And now the Oakland A's have officially moved to Las Vegas. It's a done deal as they will be playing in a minor league ballpark while their new stadium is being constructed.
Eventually all of Oakland baseball fans will be Giants fans. Maybe not this generation but their kids won't have as big of a passion for being A's fans.
Would be nice to see Canada on these maps too. MLB fans in Vancouver are typically split Blue Jays / Mariners. In the NHL, Ontario has portions that are closer to the Jets, Red Wings, Sabres and Canadiens in addition to the Senators and Leafs. The Atlantic provinces also sometimes root for Boston teams
I used to go to Mariners games in Seattle and boy did the Canadian fans turn out for the Blue Jays whenever they were in town. Those were some of the most fun games to see in person, though.
I thought it was super interesting how when I went to Coeur d'Alene in the Idaho panhandle it seemed like everyone was split about 50/50 between Mariners hats and Blue Jays hats
I went to Newfoundland and it was weird seeing Habs t-shirts, Penguins caps, L**fs bumper stickers, Bruins flags... they all love hockey but have no team remotely nearby (or anything nearby, really)
I couldn't find the same level of data for Canada. I did read an article on Red Deer, AB about who is more popular between the Oilers and Flames (inconclusive results). I do know that the Red Wings are more popular than the Leafs in Windsor.
@@GeographyKingWindsor is pretty solidly Tigers territory as well, although thousands of Blue Jays fans will cross the border for their matchups there, they even run a special game day bus that takes fans across the tunnel! In general though, most of Canada roots for the Raptors and Blue Jays (with some exceptions like Windsor and Vancouver), but a huge portion of Canada also roots against the Leafs (even within Ontario as I mentioned)
The reach of WGN swayed this Oregonian to be a life-long Cubs fan starting in the 80s. The NBA, being a diehard Trail Blazers fan, the NBA needs to bring back the Sonics. The regional rivalry are essential to sports. Back in the 90s there was the I-5 rivalry that extended beyond SEA and POR to really include these 4 teams: VAN, SEA, POR and SAC. Great vid, Kyle!
Hello from Erie PA! Erie is a Steelers town. Bills and Browns are both very prevalent, perhaps a 2A and 2B, but Steelers a bit more popular than both. Pirates a bit more than Guardians for MLB. Love the video and channel Kyle!
Hello there! I was born and raised in Erie and moved to Pittsburgh years ago. I feel like there are mostly Steelers fans in Erie as well. I thought it was just me 😂. Now I don’t have to worry about seeing Bills games over Steelers games on WSEE.
@@MikeSparksMusicyup! 100% agree, I was always upset when the Bills and Steelers both played at 1pm on sundays, I knew we weren’t going to be able to watch the game
Yooper Packer fan here. It isn’t surprising. The western counties get all their TV from Green Bay, not from the lower peninsula. The border counties aren’t even in the same time zone as Detroit. From where I lived, I was closer to Green Bay, Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis and possibly St Louis than I was to Detroit in my own state.
I found your channel from the original sports markets video. Glad we got a sequel! Would be very interested in seeing this for college sports. I worked at OU for a few years and we had more donor dollars coming from Houston (7 hr drive) than Yukon (OKC suburb).
I'm wearing my Utah Hockey Club hoodie and Real Salt Lake beanie right this second. Thank you for including the MLS. It's up to 29 teams now (with more to come) and has many more dedicated fans than people seem to realize. This applies to just soccer in general, according to the poll I just took in my car. I don't know if Utah will ever get an NFL team on account of most of their games being played on Sunday, which is quite possibly the dumbest reas- never mind, you get it. Anyhow, people in the SLC metro area are VERY dedicated to U of U and BYU games. I practically live on the U of U campus and game days are electric. And as others have already mentioned, one reason for the Angels fanbase is that their Triple-A affiliate is the Salt Lake Bees.
Also glad he included the MLS as an LA Galaxy fan. I personally hope Utah gets an NFL team one day. It would be awesome to see the Jaguars relocate from Jacksonville to SLC. The Jags are currently a boring franchise imo and part of that is because they're in Jacksonville. Utah Jaguars has a nice ring to it. (Though there would have to be division realignments needed. Ex: Utah would have to be in the AFC West and the Chiefs would have to move to the AFC South) I'm genuinely curious since you're from the SLC area, do you really think that NFL games being on Sunday would deter most people from Utah from going to games? Or do you think it's something people there could get past
A lot of the baseball outliers you point out can be explained by minor league affiliations. Toledo has the AAA minor league affiliate for Detroit, Buffalo has the AAA affiliate for Toronto, and Salt Lake City has the AAA affiliate for the Angels. Also during 2020 Toronto actually relocated to Buffalo temporarily to play their games due to the pandemic, which probably made the city lean even more towards them
3rd thought here also need to consider minor league teams for MLB coverage. Also on the MLB coverage that helps the braves besides the lack of other major teams in that footprint is Ted Turner. Also Braves games being on tbs tnt etc helps with getting fans. Anyways great job would love to help consult for any sports related stuff. Keep it up king 🤴
Agreed. I'm from Detroit and the Tigers' minor league team is in Toledo, so there's more of a connection for people in Toledo. Also, people in Toledo get instate tuition at Eastern Michigan University, so there's a ton of people from there at some Michigan universities. Not sure that impacts sports team fandoms much, but an interesting consideration.
Great video! I live close to Huntington, West Virginia and can confirm in my area we definitely like the Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Cavaliers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and maybe Columbus Crew but i dont know any soccer fans in my area. I will say i watched the entire 2016 World Series and was very disappointed in the game 7 result ( i like the Cleveland Guardians/ Indians ). I also like the Browns sometimes when they are decent like in 2020 and 2023.
1. I appreciate that you added Major League Soccer as it gets overlooked in a vast majority of sports videos 2. Portland Sports Logic: NEVER ROOT FOR SEATTLE!!!!! That’s like the Packers rooting for the Bears in the Super Bowl
I'm surprised that Portland is apparently Mariners territory, I've seen more Marlins hats here than Mariners. I'd assumed the legacy of the Beavers would make it Padres territory, or maybe Dbacks because of the Hillsboro Hops.
Very good video! I noticed the Cubs totally dominated the Chicago and surrounding area, but I didn't see anything for the White Sox. I know they just had the worst season in modern baseball history, but they must have a few fans left!
Long time Sox fan here. Usually the maps show the Sox with the area below the loop in the city and then also northwest Indiana. It's a very dark time due to terrible ownership but the team is iconic.
@UserName-ts3sp not really more cubs fans for alotbof reasons but south side of Chicago is predominantly white Sox but generally more cubs alot has to do with wgn as well
For the NBA map, here in Saint Joseph County, Indiana (South Bend/Notre Dame) we are listed as a Pacers county, but this is without a doubt Chicago Bulls territory. But that is another example of what you highlighted as a flaw of the methodology. It is listed as a Pacers county almost certainly because we are in the Bulls media market and get all Bulls games broadcast on TV, and the Pacers are probably a distant second, but if you want to see their games you have to buy NBA League Pass.
That's my home county as well. I'd wager to say that it's Bears territory as well. It might be closer, but in 07 I was middle school, it was like the civil war in my middle school over who would win. Our vice principal had us sit on opposite sides of the cafeteria for lunch based upon who we were cheering for. Then the night of that game there was a bad ice storm and school was canceled for two days. It was almost like a gift from a higher power to make the kids in school not fight each other haha
As somebody from buffalo, i will say that in 2020 the blue jays took over our stadium for quite some time, and it definitely influenced our city. It gave our minor leage team a big stadium remodel and upgrade, and it made the whole city watch blue jays games.
I am originally from the Buffalo/NF area and always thought of the Jays & Raptors as the home MLB & NBA teams. Many people in Southern Ontario like Hamilton and Toronto view the Bills as the home team so it is an even exchange.
As someone who went to college in Erie, I was pleasantly surprised to see it be the first focus of the video! I can say your take on it is fairly accurate! Now that the Bills are doing good tho it has become more Bills mafia over Steelers fans
How the TV markets are divided makes a huge difference in this. I live in Iowa, and the baseball teams in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri all claim Iowa as a "local" market. That means games for all those teams are generally blacked out unless you buy a premium package. Most people in my area are either Twins or Cubs fans, but they're not going to pay extra for TV packages. It's also a weekend trip to see any pro game, so it's not like anyone buys season tickets.
As a lifelong Dolphins fan who was born and grew up in MA(because from '74 - '77, when I was tiny, we lived in Ft Myers) and am a Boston sports fan for everything else, I'd love to see Pats fans heads explode when they see this map, lol. And before any Boston trolls say anything, I was at the Celtics parade in '81 and in STL, sitting 2 rows behind the Cardinals dugout for game 4 of '04...
I think this has more to do with the TV market distribution system, then with actual fans. The maps are showing which teams are being broadcast in which markets. Generally TV viewers will be fans of the teams they are being shown. Sure there maybe some transplants from other areas who remain fans of a team from where they came from, or people who just have an attachment to a distant team. But most people will just be fans of the team they are shown most.
I’d agree. Last time I was in Orlando, a sportscaster mentioned to a radio host that most locals were Miami Dolphins fans, but the NFL designated Orlando a Jaguars TV market because it’s closer to Jacksonville than Tampa or Miami.
Thanks for a fun map video! It would've been cool to see the Cubs vs White Sox Split in Illinois but maybe it comes down to how they got their data? Either way, super cool vid!
“Go Bills” and Bills QB Josh Allen claims he is from “Go Pokes” when he introduces himself in some broadcasts. Wyoming! We are so proud of our Poker from Wyoming.
I like the video! Quick note about Oklahoma....a minority of nfl fans here like to root for teams former OU football players that they like currently play for. Wherever Baker Mayfield plays for example. Sam Bradford and Adrian Peterson in the past. Ravens, Eagles and Cardinals have notable former OU players. CeeDee Lamb plays for Dallas so that kind of just worked itself out. A lot of Chiefs fans here too (which your video noted). OKC and Tulsa used to have AAA & AA Rangers affiliates for decades, plus geographical closeness. Thunder Up!
very true. Oklahoma follows where the big OU players go (I personally am split between Baker-Tampa and Hurts-Philly), but generally OKC is Dallas Cowboys more than any other team due to proximity and marketing.
People in Toledo root for the Detroit Tigers because the Tigers’ AAA team. the Mud Hens, are in Toledo. Same situation with the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate, the Walleye, play in Toledo.
Atlanta's fan base is also because Ted Turner for over 30 years broadcast Braves games on TBS and that national coverage gave the Braves a huge advantage in creating a nation wide fan base, especially during their decade of post season dominance in the 1990s.
The St. Louis Cardinals have a large and widespread fanbase due to decades of having their games carried on KMOX AM whose signal carried a long way from St. Louis.
@@ZackHamlin1 My wife is a Cubs fan, having lived briefly in Chicago. This does not necessarily play well now that we live in suburban St. Louis, though...
In western Canada, there's still a huge fan base for both the Toronto Maple a Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens, due to them being the only Canadian teams for years with their games being featured on, both on radio and TV by CBC Hockey Night in Canada. Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Calgary almost have a home game feel for both teams when they play there.
Great video as always, just wish you’d talked more about the Carolinas. I’m from SC, and while we technically don’t have any major sports teams, Charlotte supposedly represents both states with its teams but I’ve seen a pretty large distribution of fanbases from everywhere while living in both NC and SC. College sports are also more dominant in both states as well so that probably matters too.
Good video, I enjoyed it. I do really question that NFL map. Not sure how they get all their information, as all the counties in Colorado are Bronco fans and 80-90% of Wyoming are also. Of course with the Broncos being down the last couple years there are always fair weather fans. I think there are plenty of other areas that would have the same complaint. I think if you just did a poll of fans, you would get a much different/accurate map.
Actually Kyle, as someone from Omaha I would have to disagree with you about Omaha. Most of the people in Omaha root for Denver teams, not Kansas City teams.
fellow Omaha resident, i see a lot of Chiefs fans but there are WAY more people who despise the Chiefs here. What is interesting is that there are a lot more Saints fans here than you would expect.
Yes there are Denver fans but more than for KC, I disagree. When I lived near the capital is where the NFL drew their TV line KC vs Denver on local channels for most games, not in Omaha.
You did a great job showing how establishing fan bases and winning traditions does a lot for building a fan base. The Cowboys have more football fans in Texas whereas the Astros have more baseball - historical winning has a lot to do with that. Back in 2019, I spoke with my friend from St Louis about the Rams leaving for LA, and I asked her if she’d support the Chiefs. As a lifelong Rams fan, she said “f**k the Chiefs, we don’t like them.” I don’t know how shared among Missourians that sentiment was, but I do imagine the three super bowls KC has won since then have helped turn the St Louis fan base as much as geography. Her story reminded me that after a team leaves its market, the fan base doesn’t always stick with them. Bad blood remains and can turn to apathy. You mentioned Salt Lake fans and them liking the Angels and Raiders. A lot of that’s due to a lot of SoCal people having relocated to Utah and many Utah people having family back west and they’ve likely kept their teams (Raiders played in LA briefly and still have a loyal following). And Buffalo really does love the Blue Jays. They host their triple A Buffalo Bison, and the Jays played in Buffalo over Covid. It also helps that Buffalo really never routes for NYC teams. I love taking with friends about sports markets and where, when, and for what people groups cheer. And I do believe winning and recency bias counts for a lot. Seeing Pittsburgh as Cavs fans is still funny to me because NO ONE cared about them in Pittsburgh until Lebron. I once asked my mom, who’s from Pittsburgh, what team people cheered for when she was young. She quickly said, “the Celtics, they were always on tv.”
@Steveofthejungle8 I was in my early teens when the Bears won it 85' and I was around for the Bulls dynasty! I don't even remember seeing Colts or Pacers jerseys and hats in stores around my area!
@@beenadickarnold5666 I wasn’t born until 92 so I’m a fair amount younger, but one of the biggest culture shocks I had from going to college in the same state from south bend to west Lafayette to go to Purdue was learning that most of Indiana actually likes the colts hahaha
@Steveofthejungle8 That's why I pointed out what era I grew up in lol! Yep you're correct, once you're out of the northern part of the state it's all about Indy no doubt!
I came here just to comment on Northwest Indiana being Bears territory, not Colts country. There are probably more Packers fans (including myself) than Colts fans in Northwest Indiana.
The Buffalo support of the Blue Jays makes sense as the AAA team in Buffalo is an affiliate of the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays even played some games there in 2020 during the COVID season. Thanks for the fun video Kyle!
I'm at 7:25 and have an observation that I think is really cool that you didn't mention. There is only one team that has every county in its state locked up, and it is a team that uses the state's name, not the city's name.
Love your videos. A tidbit re: Buffalo, NY preference for TO Blue Jays - Buffalo Bisons (AAA team) are affiliated with TO, which may explain preference. Lots of NYY fans in WNY, too.
I'm at 1:56 and wondering what company created these maps. Did you say? I remember a map making the rounds perhaps 8-10 years ago on NFL teams that looked like this, but I believe it was a Facebook creation?
Kyle you really shouldnt crop out the key on the maps because i dont know all the pro sports teams and some of those colors are really really close. I genuinely cannot tell the difference between the carolina panthers and Vegas raiders on the nfl map. The bears, bengals and broncos all have marginally different shades of orange, it looks pretty, but i dont actuallt learn anything from the map because i cant tell what's what. As a geographer, it's a little disappointing.
To be honest, it was also because the legend was so tiny. They had 30-32 listings with some similar (sometimes exact same) colors and it was virtually impossible to read.
Charleston & Huntington lean towards the Bengals and Reds more than I expected. Far southeast Ohio does as well. But you’re right there are still a lot of Steelers fans in that area but for sure more Cincinnati fans.
I live in Visalia, and I can tell you that the most popular NFL teams are pretty much the same as you remember. Mostly 49ers, but there's a big Raiders fanbase, they mostly drive massive Chevy trucks with big Raiders stickers on the back window.
Wisconsin has a big influence on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, therefore they cheer for the Green Bay and Milwaukee teams. As far as Buffalo cheering for the Blue Jays, my guess is it's because their AAA ream plays in Buffalo.
I’m 52 and I grew up in Fresno California and most people were either 49er or raiders fans but there was a lot more Steelers and Rams fans than you would expect. The Giants seemed to be the most popular and the Dodgers had a faithful fan base but I never met anyone that was an Angels fan. For NBA, the Lakers had the most fans and the Warriors had the second most, nobody supported the Clippers but a lot of people also liked the Bulls just because of Jordan. There weren’t many NHL fans that I knew but the few I did know of liked the penguins. Thanks for this video!
Transplants, relocations, or minor league affiliations seem to play huge parts in this. The Angels AAA team is in Salt Lake City, for example. There are a lot of Reds fans down in the South because they were the closest team for years before the Braves moved down, and a lot of folks move south as they get older as well. Those are two that come to mind
It's gone down a lot in the past few decades, but for a long time WGN broadcast the Cubs all across the country to places that didn't have a local team, so they became Cubs fans. Even before the Blue Jays existed, the Cubs were Canada's team because of WGN. They're also the most popular team in Belize of all places because of WGN.
Really enjoy these videos as always. I currently live in Columbus, OH and I can tell you that for NFL, it's very close but I would say the Browns have a small edge over Bengals. There is a Steelers contingent here, but not to the level of CLE or CIN. That being said, whichever team is playing better, there does seem to be a slight rise so since the Browns were in the postseason last year instead of the Bengals, it doesn't surprise me they are at the top in this, but it might be a 45 Browns to 40 Bengals to 15 others split. Reds have a little more of a historical advantage over the Guardians but I have seen more Guardians hats here more recently vs Reds. Also as an OSU grad/fan I laughed at the "An Ohio State University" I like the school and rooting for them, I'm not one of the annoying fans, but using the word "The" really annoys me, so you wont hear me say that. I agree with the other Ohio teams as well, though I'm a tad surprised that CBJ hockey still has some support up in NE Ohio considering their lack of success and that it gets closer to PIT and DET up there. I also wanted to add that I lived in Charlotte and no question, Panthers, Hornets, Hurricanes and Braves are the favorites (though the Braves not as large as the others for obvious reasons). But I would be curious to see who are the second most popular are there in these maps. I know that one of the local Charlotte area TV stations show Commanders preseason games, since they were the favorite before the Panthers in that area. However living there, I probably met just a handful of Commanders (at that time Redskins) fans so it would not shock me if interest for them hasn't been as high now, considering the Panthers have been more established there now despite their recent lack of success.
As for the Dolphins, they were the ONLY pro sports team anywhere in the south until the Buccaneers and then over a decade later, Miami Heat came along. Miami used to OWN the entire south until you got into the Atlanta area. There is still a ton of support for the Dolphins, but mostly older folks as they have had little relevance since Marino retired...
When the NFL-AFL merger happened you had the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Oilers, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, and Miami Dolphins as southern NFL teams
Another great video! Pre-Carolina Panthers I feel like Charlotte region and SC went more Atlanta and Raleigh and NE went Washington from what I recall. For baseball growing up central North Carolina was definitely Braves. We have TBS so we got all the Braves games on TV.
@ yes! I remember watching a lot of Cubs games too. And Bozo the clown in mornings on WGN. Atlanta was closer to us so we’d go down once or twice a year for games at Fulton County stadium.
I don't really understand why location affects which teams people root for. None of the pro teams are made up of people from the city or region they play in. I could understand for high school teams which are made up of local students. Even most college teams recruit their players nationwide. So I think it would make more sense to root for teams that have players you like, even it that team is across the country.
@@inizilla_fk7 So, they're not around any more? That's because we don't need no stinkin' pro teams! LOL! The Huskers are such a big part of Nebraska identity, I wonder if there's really enough support in the state to sustain a pro team.
Boy, it’s really hard being a Chicago White Sox fan. We had the worst season , and geography king can’t even show any proof that there are actual fans.
Grew up in Erie and really wanted to hear my hometown discussed on this video. Was happy to see it so early on! However, from personal experience growing up in the 2000s and 2010s, the Steelers fans were definitely more prominent or at least more loud. I have seen a lot more Bills fans around lately given their recent success. Being a Browns fan has just been pain. Cool topic!
Hi Kyle. Being originally from Connecticut, we can tell you that those maps overestimate the Boston teams' influence in the state. The Red Sox-Yankees line is the focus of regular local studies, which have shown the state cut in half diagonally from NW to SE. Yankees fandom extends far along the shoreline in the south, and up into the NW corner. We are from the middle of the shoreline, where Yankees fans outnumber Red Sox fans roughly 60-40%. I think you are right about the faults of these metrics: we always got the NY teams for free on the local stations, so we never had to pay for them. But the NY-Boston sports wars are a big deal in CT, and that is not shown in those maps.
One more thing: the Mets are kind of like the third party in CT. They take a small chunk of the market away from both teams. The Mets' fan base is primarily Queens and Long Island. However, lots of CT people go for the Mets to avoid the bitter Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. Actually, they did really well in the playoffs and were fun to watch, so their fan base may just grow.
This is a really nice video. I enjoy this kind of geographical analysis! I would be interested if you included Mexico and Canada. You’d see way more Steelers, Chargers and Cowboys fans on here!
WKBW out of Buffalo was a 'clear channel' station on the AM dial that could be heard as far away as eastern Vermont. The other big one was WBZ out of Boston. In hilly rural country where even local radio didn't work, you could always listen to the Bills or Celtics.
Nice to finally see something like this covered. Though I do have to wonder what the one county in Maine shaded in black represents on the NBA map seen here.
Hockey guy here for your Milwaukee nhl team question: Blackhawk’s owner lobby hard to not allow it as Milwaukee is a large enough city that they don’t want to lose that market.
In the Columbus area, I would say it's more of a three way split, there's a lot of Steelers fans as well. I think the Browns are the most popular team but it's a plurality. MLB used to be the Reds, but with the AAA Clippers having been affiliated with the Indians for a while now and the growth in residents from NE Ohio, apparently it's still lean Reds but that's a surprise to me. It's gotten closer in the last 15 years or so.
At least for the NFL one I'd say there could be a little discrepancy due to people getting tickets for the stadium that is close to them but cheering on the away team. As a Packer fan who now lives in Minnesota, if I wanted to see a packer game I would get a ticket to one against the Vikings instead of going all the way to Green Bay. I think this is true for a lot of fans too because people always talk about teams that have good traveling fan bases but it most likely is just that the fan lives closer to another team. The maps still have a lot of interesting data tho, keep it up I love your videos!
That is very true for the Tampa & Miami teams. When they fill their stadiums, it is usually the clusters of fans that relocated from the big Northern Rust Belt cities that buy the most tickets to cheer against the home teams.
As a native San Diegan I find it interesting that the Chargers are the most popular in OC, SBC, Riverside, and Imperial county now. There’s a ton of factors that go into it but it still amazes me. I’m glad they’re getting support but it still doesn’t feel like the same team to me
There are a lot of SD natives who ended up moving north in the last couple decades both to Orange County and Riverside County. It would be interesting to know how much of that fan base is from that as opposed to those who were born in those counties. There's an entire generation of people who didn't have an NFL team in LA and didn't have any strong attachment, except for maybe their parents trying to influence them, to the Rams (or Raiders).
Thank you for not ignoring MLS. It's still considered by traditional outlets as not one of top tier professional leagues in the US/Canada, but it for certain belongs especially when compared to the NHL.
I’d like to see how Southern California would look on an updated map. I wonder how much fandom LAFC has taken from the Galaxy in Los Angeles, and San Diego’s eminent entry will make a fun three-way local rivalry.
@@Liggie55821 LAFC may certainly be the more popular team these days. A lot of people jumped the Carson Galaxy ship when LAFC built in LA City proper instead of being so far out like the Galaxy are (and Chivas were). San Diego will look much like the MLB map but it will also take awhile for people to drop their support of the LA teams since they've been attached to them for so long. In general, San Diego has always avoided supporting LA, but there just wasn't an option prior. The rivalry hopefully will be good. SJ will continue to hate LA, but as with many of the sports LA will continue to think of the Bay Area as a 2nd tier rivalry unless there are several competitive years for both teams happening.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Absolutely blows my mind Wisconsin doesn't have an NHL team. It's a state that is deep into hockey culture - has a rich hockey history with the outdoor weather to boot - and has a fanatical sports culture in general. And an NHL team there would be instant rival fuel for Chicago, Detroit and Minnesota.
Yeah Milwaukee should be near the top of the list for the upcoming NHL expansion. Like even the Blackhawks know how unserved the market is because they now play a few home games every year in Milwaukee!
Probably does not make economic sense. But then a hockey team in Florida?
@@mpetersen6 It would absolutely make economic sense, rival games with other Midwest teams always bring money. And Florida has TWO NHL teams!
Lots of rich Canadian snowbirds in Florida.
Milwaukee, its biggest city, is the 40th largest market in the US. It's a miracle they have teams at all, let alone two. Sure places like New Orleans or Salt Lake are similar size (or smaller) but Milwaukee has direct competition with the third-largest metro in the US. The others do not, increasing their draw artificially. As for the Packers they are the only team in sports with two primary markets, and a storied history.
Not to mention the Admirals were middle of the pack in attendance in the ECHL. Carolina has NHL because it's 5 hours in any direction to the nearest team (as to why Raleigh was picked over Charlotte - closer to the Northeast). The reason baseball wants to go to Nashville specifically is because it A) is in a dead zone. B) has top-5 attendance every year. C) is growing rapidly; all things Milwaukee does not possess. Proximity to large cities only works if there aren't massive holes needed to be filled already.
It just wouldn't work. Although, the NHL has discussed increasing to 36 teams due to the dual-national nature. If this were the case I've been a proponent of Milwaukee getting one.
For baseball, the AAA team for the Blue Jays is in Buffalo. That probably is a driving factor
Same thing with Omaha/KC Royals.
Also the Blue Jays played in Buffalo during the COVID season
AAA teams also tend to be (although aren't always) pretty close to their MLB team, so sometimes it's also just that they're the closest to that area. Just off a hunch (haven't finished watching) Louisville is probably a good example, as is Columbus.
Same with the Angels and SLC
Also for Toledo and Detroit.
The sports team from my area is superior to the sports team from your area.
NO your area sports team sucks! My area sports team is way better
No, MY laundry can beat YOUR laundry!😆
Oh damn, that's a burn
Nah, the sports team from my area is better than yours
Fight fight fight
This video topic is so up my alley. Thanks King!
Atlanta Braves have a very strong fan base because 25 years ago, Turner Broadcasting had Atlanta Braves games available on TBS, no other baseball was available to watch. They developed a big fan base because views got to know Chipper Jones and other players.. and that loyalty continues today.
Actually goes back much earlier than that - Turner put Braves games on cable tv starting in the late 1970s.
Back when I was growing up in New Mexico the two teams we could watch regularly on cable TV were the Braves on TBS and the Cubs on WGN. Tried being a Cubs fan for a while before realizing the futility of that endeavor, then eventually followed the Braves until we moved to the Seattle area and had the Mariners (although I realized the futility of that endeavor years ago.)
Because of TBS, the Braves were known as “America’s Team”. Working night shift in the 80s, with the rebroadcast, people used to watch the Braves lose 200 games a season 😃
@ Yup! And people still loved ‘their’ team because they loved baseball, and the Braves were the only team they knew up and close.
@@thesledgehammerblog @thesledgehammerblog - Man! Sounds like you have spent a good deal of loyalty in futility. Seems like a perfect Segway into talking politics… but I’m not going there. Feel free if you want though… not sure I’ll engage, but likely I would.
11:05 the Angels Triple-A team plays in Salt Lake City
That and Mormons love going to Anaheim for Disney Land, and they'll end up seeing the Angels as well
@@Steveofthejungle8OC is a meca for Mormons
I worked in Youngstown Ohio for a year. It's equidistant from Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The first time I went to a local bar the greeting I got was "Steelers or Browns?" The people were almost evenly split between the two. Amazingly friendly rivalry though.
Maybe now…when I was growing up, Steelers and Browns was such a rivalry that a car parked outside the stadium with the wrong license plates might get tires slashed.
Weird considering that the Steelers are perennial contenders and the Browns almost always suck. You'd think it would have some effect on fans.
@acelm8437 oddly enough it doesn't. I grew up in Detroit and I've been a lions fan for 65+ years. Rooting for the underdog is a part of our nature. Ask any of the die-hard Cubs fans from the 108 years that they sucked.
You just KNOW there's gotta be SOMEONE who answers "Bengals" just to be a smart alec...
I had an uncle in Youngstown, he said the exact same thing
An Ohio State University 🤣
I caught that, too. Excellent trolling by our host.
I welcome any disrespect toward Ohio State lol
LOL!!
They do operate multiple campuses under the OSU brand.
OSU fans are easliy as rabid as any NFL team's fan base. Insufferable.
Geography of sports is always so fascinating! Being in NorCal, on almost every one of these maps Trinity County is some oddball outlier sticking out like a sore thumb
I noticed that too, really weird
@ small population, but so are many of the other counties up here, so it’s kind of odd
Denver before the MLB Rockies arrived in 93 was a big Cubs town. A lot of people, including me, moved to Denver in the 70s. And Chicago's WGN Superstation also broadcast Cubs games nationwide. We were also an Expos town, because the Denver Bears AAA team was Montreal's farm team. I always note what team gear people wear when I travel. It's a fascinating topic. Nice work!
PS It would be interesting to have Mexico and Canada in the mix. Heck, the whole world. Toronto, for example, is a Bills town. And in my experience Mexico City appears to be a Chiefs town.
@@modjohnsenglishdisco Wow… Denver Bears??? You brought me back to my childhood on that one. Do you remember the stink about that round motel going in above Bears Stadium on the north side? Then.. just a few years the stadium built up stands on that end. Eventually tore the whole stadium down and built what was then Investco Field. And then ….. and then …. And then again…. The new stadium changed names almost as fast as the team changed QB’s.
Never been to Mexico City, but Mexico in general seems to like the Cowboys.
This methodology is supremely flawed, but I will tell you as a Yankees fan that the Mets are more popular in Long Island. Remember, the Mets are geographically on Long Island
I'm a Met fan from Long Island and while the Mets have a nice following there as well as nationally with all the NY transplants I still think the Yankees are more popular everywhere, including the Island. The Yankees are iconic and to be honest I'm pretty shocked that they don't claim other large swathes of the map outside of the New York metro area. Also, in terms of the point made about cities/regions with multiple teams, a Met or Yankee fan doesn't have to purchase a special package to watch their teams locally. I'm unclear as to the way these counties are coded and measured but there's no way from my vantage point at least that the Clippers would be more popular than the Lakers or the Mets more popular than the Yankees.
yeah I don't know about the rest of the country but I can say for certain long Islanders and ppl in queens definitely prefer the Mets over the yankees
@@michaelmvm Interesting. I guess it's a matter of perspective. Always thought it was split and that's from growing up in the 80s when the Mets were generally better than the Yankees.
Long Island is definitely dominated by Mets fans as well as the two most populated boroughs in the city Queens where the Mets play and also Brooklyn
@@steves9964 Lots of people like to associate themselves with winners; they actually think it rubs off on themselves, like when the team wins, they all love to chant, 'WE won, WE won, as if they were actual players on the team. Posers, all.
FYI Kyle,
Sad to say but Oakland has officially lost all their pro sports teams. The Raiders obviously gone and the Golden State Warriors play in a new arena in San Francisco. And now the Oakland A's have officially moved to Las Vegas. It's a done deal as they will be playing in a minor league ballpark while their new stadium is being constructed.
@@JusNoBS420 thanks. At the time I recorded this there was a question about funding but I saw on 10/31 that it cleared the final hurdle.
Eventually all of Oakland baseball fans will be Giants fans. Maybe not this generation but their kids won't have as big of a passion for being A's fans.
@@joemckim1183 I don't know why anyone in Oakland would remain an As fan.
For the GS Warriors fans, moving to SF is not a big deal as they stayed in the bay area. SF was already Warriors country.
Would be nice to see Canada on these maps too. MLB fans in Vancouver are typically split Blue Jays / Mariners. In the NHL, Ontario has portions that are closer to the Jets, Red Wings, Sabres and Canadiens in addition to the Senators and Leafs. The Atlantic provinces also sometimes root for Boston teams
I used to go to Mariners games in Seattle and boy did the Canadian fans turn out for the Blue Jays whenever they were in town. Those were some of the most fun games to see in person, though.
I thought it was super interesting how when I went to Coeur d'Alene in the Idaho panhandle it seemed like everyone was split about 50/50 between Mariners hats and Blue Jays hats
I went to Newfoundland and it was weird seeing Habs t-shirts, Penguins caps, L**fs bumper stickers, Bruins flags... they all love hockey but have no team remotely nearby (or anything nearby, really)
I couldn't find the same level of data for Canada. I did read an article on Red Deer, AB about who is more popular between the Oilers and Flames (inconclusive results). I do know that the Red Wings are more popular than the Leafs in Windsor.
@@GeographyKingWindsor is pretty solidly Tigers territory as well, although thousands of Blue Jays fans will cross the border for their matchups there, they even run a special game day bus that takes fans across the tunnel! In general though, most of Canada roots for the Raptors and Blue Jays (with some exceptions like Windsor and Vancouver), but a huge portion of Canada also roots against the Leafs (even within Ontario as I mentioned)
The reach of WGN swayed this Oregonian to be a life-long Cubs fan starting in the 80s.
The NBA, being a diehard Trail Blazers fan, the NBA needs to bring back the Sonics. The regional rivalry are essential to sports. Back in the 90s there was the I-5 rivalry that extended beyond SEA and POR to really include these 4 teams: VAN, SEA, POR and SAC.
Great vid, Kyle!
Hello from Erie PA! Erie is a Steelers town. Bills and Browns are both very prevalent, perhaps a 2A and 2B, but Steelers a bit more popular than both. Pirates a bit more than Guardians for MLB. Love the video and channel Kyle!
Hello there! I was born and raised in Erie and moved to Pittsburgh years ago. I feel like there are mostly Steelers fans in Erie as well. I thought it was just me 😂. Now I don’t have to worry about seeing Bills games over Steelers games on WSEE.
@@MikeSparksMusicyup! 100% agree, I was always upset when the Bills and Steelers both played at 1pm on sundays, I knew we weren’t going to be able to watch the game
Yooper Packer fan here. It isn’t surprising. The western counties get all their TV from Green Bay, not from the lower peninsula. The border counties aren’t even in the same time zone as Detroit. From where I lived, I was closer to Green Bay, Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis and possibly St Louis than I was to Detroit in my own state.
Ironwood?
The UP should be apart of Wisconsin
Salt Lake Bees are the Triple A affiliate of the Angels. That’s why
I bet there's a real buzz around that team.
Especially from 1994-2000. (That's a deep cut. I hope you get it, haha.) @@TrainsFerriesFeet
One of the best videos ever Kyle!! Great idea.
Thank you!
I found your channel from the original sports markets video. Glad we got a sequel! Would be very interested in seeing this for college sports. I worked at OU for a few years and we had more donor dollars coming from Houston (7 hr drive) than Yukon (OKC suburb).
I'm wearing my Utah Hockey Club hoodie and Real Salt Lake beanie right this second. Thank you for including the MLS. It's up to 29 teams now (with more to come) and has many more dedicated fans than people seem to realize. This applies to just soccer in general, according to the poll I just took in my car.
I don't know if Utah will ever get an NFL team on account of most of their games being played on Sunday, which is quite possibly the dumbest reas- never mind, you get it. Anyhow, people in the SLC metro area are VERY dedicated to U of U and BYU games. I practically live on the U of U campus and game days are electric.
And as others have already mentioned, one reason for the Angels fanbase is that their Triple-A affiliate is the Salt Lake Bees.
Also glad he included the MLS as an LA Galaxy fan. I personally hope Utah gets an NFL team one day. It would be awesome to see the Jaguars relocate from Jacksonville to SLC. The Jags are currently a boring franchise imo and part of that is because they're in Jacksonville. Utah Jaguars has a nice ring to it. (Though there would have to be division realignments needed. Ex: Utah would have to be in the AFC West and the Chiefs would have to move to the AFC South)
I'm genuinely curious since you're from the SLC area, do you really think that NFL games being on Sunday would deter most people from Utah from going to games? Or do you think it's something people there could get past
A lot of the baseball outliers you point out can be explained by minor league affiliations. Toledo has the AAA minor league affiliate for Detroit, Buffalo has the AAA affiliate for Toronto, and Salt Lake City has the AAA affiliate for the Angels. Also during 2020 Toronto actually relocated to Buffalo temporarily to play their games due to the pandemic, which probably made the city lean even more towards them
Columbus going for the Reds however does surprise me, as their minor league team is affiliated with Cleveland.
Re: bluejays and buffalo - our AAA team, Buffalo Bisons, are the farm team for Toronto. During the pandemic, the Bluejays played in Buffalo 9:37
I still feel that most baseball fans in Buffalo still follow the Yankees or the Mets, though.
As a Sports fan and geography lover this is the perfect video for me 🗺️🏈❤️
This is a specific topic I’ve always been curious about, super interesting stuff Kyle!
3rd thought here also need to consider minor league teams for MLB coverage. Also on the MLB coverage that helps the braves besides the lack of other major teams in that footprint is Ted Turner. Also Braves games being on tbs tnt etc helps with getting fans. Anyways great job would love to help consult for any sports related stuff. Keep it up king 🤴
Agreed. I'm from Detroit and the Tigers' minor league team is in Toledo, so there's more of a connection for people in Toledo. Also, people in Toledo get instate tuition at Eastern Michigan University, so there's a ton of people from there at some Michigan universities. Not sure that impacts sports team fandoms much, but an interesting consideration.
Erie is most definitely steelers country. With cleveland close second. We are just forced here to have cleveland spectrum cable.
Great video! I live close to Huntington, West Virginia and can confirm in my area we definitely like the Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Cavaliers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and maybe Columbus Crew but i dont know any soccer fans in my area. I will say i watched the entire 2016 World Series and was very disappointed in the game 7 result ( i like the Cleveland Guardians/ Indians ). I also like the Browns sometimes when they are decent like in 2020 and 2023.
Thanks for the info. I know some WVU fans don't like to root for the Steelers because it's still "Pittsburgh football", pro or college
1. I appreciate that you added Major League Soccer as it gets overlooked in a vast majority of sports videos
2. Portland Sports Logic: NEVER ROOT FOR SEATTLE!!!!! That’s like the Packers rooting for the Bears in the Super Bowl
I'm surprised that Portland is apparently Mariners territory, I've seen more Marlins hats here than Mariners. I'd assumed the legacy of the Beavers would make it Padres territory, or maybe Dbacks because of the Hillsboro Hops.
Very good video! I noticed the Cubs totally dominated the Chicago and surrounding area, but I didn't see anything for the White Sox. I know they just had the worst season in modern baseball history, but they must have a few fans left!
Sadly Sox fans do not have the best reputation. Also WGN has had the Cubs on TV for so long.
I think its like a Mets/Yankees situation, but the area the White Sox dominates is even smaller (southern Cook County)
We here
Long time Sox fan here. Usually the maps show the Sox with the area below the loop in the city and then also northwest Indiana. It's a very dark time due to terrible ownership but the team is iconic.
@UserName-ts3sp not really more cubs fans for alotbof reasons but south side of Chicago is predominantly white Sox but generally more cubs alot has to do with wgn as well
Man, I really liked this video! Great job, Kyle! I could've watched more!
For the NBA map, here in Saint Joseph County, Indiana (South Bend/Notre Dame) we are listed as a Pacers county, but this is without a doubt Chicago Bulls territory. But that is another example of what you highlighted as a flaw of the methodology. It is listed as a Pacers county almost certainly because we are in the Bulls media market and get all Bulls games broadcast on TV, and the Pacers are probably a distant second, but if you want to see their games you have to buy NBA League Pass.
That's my home county as well. I'd wager to say that it's Bears territory as well. It might be closer, but in 07 I was middle school, it was like the civil war in my middle school over who would win. Our vice principal had us sit on opposite sides of the cafeteria for lunch based upon who we were cheering for. Then the night of that game there was a bad ice storm and school was canceled for two days. It was almost like a gift from a higher power to make the kids in school not fight each other haha
Great video. I would love to see a similar video about college sports teams; probably a separate one for football and basketball.
🌎 👑 with another banger!
As somebody from buffalo, i will say that in 2020 the blue jays took over our stadium for quite some time, and it definitely influenced our city. It gave our minor leage team a big stadium remodel and upgrade, and it made the whole city watch blue jays games.
I am originally from the Buffalo/NF area and always thought of the Jays & Raptors as the home MLB & NBA teams. Many people in Southern Ontario like Hamilton and Toronto view the Bills as the home team so it is an even exchange.
As someone who went to college in Erie, I was pleasantly surprised to see it be the first focus of the video! I can say your take on it is fairly accurate! Now that the Bills are doing good tho it has become more Bills mafia over Steelers fans
born and raised in erie, pittsburgh dominates and it aint close
How the TV markets are divided makes a huge difference in this. I live in Iowa, and the baseball teams in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri all claim Iowa as a "local" market. That means games for all those teams are generally blacked out unless you buy a premium package. Most people in my area are either Twins or Cubs fans, but they're not going to pay extra for TV packages. It's also a weekend trip to see any pro game, so it's not like anyone buys season tickets.
As a lifelong Dolphins fan who was born and grew up in MA(because from '74 - '77, when I was tiny, we lived in Ft Myers) and am a Boston sports fan for everything else, I'd love to see Pats fans heads explode when they see this map, lol. And before any Boston trolls say anything, I was at the Celtics parade in '81 and in STL, sitting 2 rows behind the Cardinals dugout for game 4 of '04...
lmaoooo 2:29 Kyle got beef with the buckeyes?! 🤣
GO BLUE
I think this has more to do with the TV market distribution system, then with actual fans. The maps are showing which teams are being broadcast in which markets. Generally TV viewers will be fans of the teams they are being shown. Sure there maybe some transplants from other areas who remain fans of a team from where they came from, or people who just have an attachment to a distant team. But most people will just be fans of the team they are shown most.
I’d agree. Last time I was in Orlando, a sportscaster mentioned to a radio host that most locals were Miami Dolphins fans, but the NFL designated Orlando a Jaguars TV market because it’s closer to Jacksonville than Tampa or Miami.
@@Liggie55821 Orlando is not closer to Jacksonville than Tampa
Thanks for a fun map video! It would've been cool to see the Cubs vs White Sox Split in Illinois but maybe it comes down to how they got their data?
Either way, super cool vid!
“Go Bills” and Bills QB Josh Allen claims he is from “Go Pokes” when he introduces himself in some broadcasts. Wyoming! We are so proud of our Poker from Wyoming.
I like the video! Quick note about Oklahoma....a minority of nfl fans here like to root for teams former OU football players that they like currently play for. Wherever Baker Mayfield plays for example. Sam Bradford and Adrian Peterson in the past. Ravens, Eagles and Cardinals have notable former OU players. CeeDee Lamb plays for Dallas so that kind of just worked itself out. A lot of Chiefs fans here too (which your video noted). OKC and Tulsa used to have AAA & AA Rangers affiliates for decades, plus geographical closeness. Thunder Up!
very true. Oklahoma follows where the big OU players go (I personally am split between Baker-Tampa and Hurts-Philly), but generally OKC is Dallas Cowboys more than any other team due to proximity and marketing.
People in Toledo root for the Detroit Tigers because the Tigers’ AAA team. the Mud Hens, are in Toledo. Same situation with the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate, the Walleye, play in Toledo.
Nice video bro, very interesting. Also go 49ers, warriors, giants, and sharks!🔥
Atlanta's fan base is also because Ted Turner for over 30 years broadcast Braves games on TBS and that national coverage gave the Braves a huge advantage in creating a nation wide fan base, especially during their decade of post season dominance in the 1990s.
The St. Louis Cardinals have a large and widespread fanbase due to decades of having their games carried on KMOX AM whose signal carried a long way from St. Louis.
Braves and Cubs have massive fan bases and this is the exact reason
@@ZackHamlin1 My wife is a Cubs fan, having lived briefly in Chicago. This does not necessarily play well now that we live in suburban St. Louis, though...
They're reach most definitely got west Tennessee
Thank you for the info, King of Geography
In western Canada, there's still a huge fan base for both the Toronto Maple a
Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens, due to them being the only Canadian teams for years with their games being featured on, both on radio and TV by CBC Hockey Night in Canada. Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Calgary almost have a home game feel for both teams when they play there.
Great video Kyle… you sure riled up your viewer base with this one!
Really enjoyed this one!!
Great video as always, just wish you’d talked more about the Carolinas. I’m from SC, and while we technically don’t have any major sports teams, Charlotte supposedly represents both states with its teams but I’ve seen a pretty large distribution of fanbases from everywhere while living in both NC and SC. College sports are also more dominant in both states as well so that probably matters too.
Good video, I enjoyed it. I do really question that NFL map. Not sure how they get all their information, as all the counties in Colorado are Bronco fans and 80-90% of Wyoming are also. Of course with the Broncos being down the last couple years there are always fair weather fans. I think there are plenty of other areas that would have the same complaint. I think if you just did a poll of fans, you would get a much different/accurate map.
It’s insane how dominant the nuggets / broncos / avalanche are in Territory !! They appear to have the most of any team in the respective sports
Love this video! I work in southern Illinois and football fandom is all over place! More St. Louis Cardinals/Blues than any football team.
Southern Illinois is just barely outside of the St Louis metro area so that makes total sense.
Actually Kyle, as someone from Omaha I would have to disagree with you about Omaha. Most of the people in Omaha root for Denver teams, not Kansas City teams.
fellow Omaha resident, i see a lot of Chiefs fans but there are WAY more people who despise the Chiefs here. What is interesting is that there are a lot more Saints fans here than you would expect.
@ yes there’s literally fans of every team in Omaha, and all of them except chiefs fans hate the chiefs
Thank you for the clarification
I would imagine most of Omaha roots for the Royals over the Rockies
Yes there are Denver fans but more than for KC, I disagree. When I lived near the capital is where the NFL drew their TV line KC vs Denver on local channels for most games, not in Omaha.
You did a great job showing how establishing fan bases and winning traditions does a lot for building a fan base. The Cowboys have more football fans in Texas whereas the Astros have more baseball - historical winning has a lot to do with that.
Back in 2019, I spoke with my friend from St Louis about the Rams leaving for LA, and I asked her if she’d support the Chiefs. As a lifelong Rams fan, she said “f**k the Chiefs, we don’t like them.” I don’t know how shared among Missourians that sentiment was, but I do imagine the three super bowls KC has won since then have helped turn the St Louis fan base as much as geography. Her story reminded me that after a team leaves its market, the fan base doesn’t always stick with them. Bad blood remains and can turn to apathy.
You mentioned Salt Lake fans and them liking the Angels and Raiders. A lot of that’s due to a lot of SoCal people having relocated to Utah and many Utah people having family back west and they’ve likely kept their teams (Raiders played in LA briefly and still have a loyal following).
And Buffalo really does love the Blue Jays. They host their triple A Buffalo Bison, and the Jays played in Buffalo over Covid. It also helps that Buffalo really never routes for NYC teams.
I love taking with friends about sports markets and where, when, and for what people groups cheer. And I do believe winning and recency bias counts for a lot. Seeing Pittsburgh as Cavs fans is still funny to me because NO ONE cared about them in Pittsburgh until Lebron. I once asked my mom, who’s from Pittsburgh, what team people cheered for when she was young. She quickly said, “the Celtics, they were always on tv.”
I grew up in northwest Indiana, our TV viewing area is Chicago, we hardly ever knew what was going on in Indianapolis lol, Da Bears!
Even in St Joseph County (South Bend) the Indy teams were a bit more popular, but the Chicago teams definitely seemed to be more dominant
@Steveofthejungle8 I was in my early teens when the Bears won it 85' and I was around for the Bulls dynasty! I don't even remember seeing Colts or Pacers jerseys and hats in stores around my area!
@@beenadickarnold5666 I wasn’t born until 92 so I’m a fair amount younger, but one of the biggest culture shocks I had from going to college in the same state from south bend to west Lafayette to go to Purdue was learning that most of Indiana actually likes the colts hahaha
@Steveofthejungle8 That's why I pointed out what era I grew up in lol! Yep you're correct, once you're out of the northern part of the state it's all about Indy no doubt!
I came here just to comment on Northwest Indiana being Bears territory, not Colts country. There are probably more Packers fans (including myself) than Colts fans in Northwest Indiana.
The Buffalo support of the Blue Jays makes sense as the AAA team in Buffalo is an affiliate of the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays even played some games there in 2020 during the COVID season. Thanks for the fun video Kyle!
I'm at 7:25 and have an observation that I think is really cool that you didn't mention. There is only one team that has every county in its state locked up, and it is a team that uses the state's name, not the city's name.
I did notice that afterward. Interesting coincidence for sure, and maybe more to it than that.
Love your videos. A tidbit re: Buffalo, NY preference for TO Blue Jays - Buffalo Bisons (AAA team) are affiliated with TO, which may explain preference. Lots of NYY fans in WNY, too.
Erie guy here that's lived here for 35 years. To the eye test, it's Steelers, then Browns, then Bills here.
There’s a lot of lions support in Toledo, I remember seeing a “Decker Reported” billboard there after the cowboys loss last season
I'm at 1:56 and wondering what company created these maps. Did you say? I remember a map making the rounds perhaps 8-10 years ago on NFL teams that looked like this, but I believe it was a Facebook creation?
This was done by vividseats. It's kinda like SeatGeek and the maps are all within the past 3 years, except the baseball one that is from 2019.
Kyle you really shouldnt crop out the key on the maps because i dont know all the pro sports teams and some of those colors are really really close. I genuinely cannot tell the difference between the carolina panthers and Vegas raiders on the nfl map. The bears, bengals and broncos all have marginally different shades of orange, it looks pretty, but i dont actuallt learn anything from the map because i cant tell what's what. As a geographer, it's a little disappointing.
To be honest, it was also because the legend was so tiny. They had 30-32 listings with some similar (sometimes exact same) colors and it was virtually impossible to read.
@GeographyKing That's a shame, it's a striking map, I just wish it was a bit easier to learn from. Loved the video anyway!
A weekly break down of the TV coverage for NFL games would be great 👍 😊 easy your fans get to hear you talk about maps and ypu can get some nfl fans!
Charleston & Huntington lean towards the Bengals and Reds more than I expected. Far southeast Ohio does as well. But you’re right there are still a lot of Steelers fans in that area but for sure more Cincinnati fans.
Cincinnati is much closer to Huntington, WV than Pittsburgh.
Thank you for the info
@ correct, however TV had a lot to historically do with this as Charleston used to get all the Steelers games in that market.
I live in Visalia, and I can tell you that the most popular NFL teams are pretty much the same as you remember. Mostly 49ers, but there's a big Raiders fanbase, they mostly drive massive Chevy trucks with big Raiders stickers on the back window.
Wisconsin has a big influence on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, therefore they cheer for the Green Bay and Milwaukee teams. As far as Buffalo cheering for the Blue Jays, my guess is it's because their AAA ream plays in Buffalo.
You gotta remember that geographically speaking, the Toronto Blue Jays are the closest MLB team to Buffalo.
I’m 52 and I grew up in Fresno California and most people were either 49er or raiders fans but there was a lot more Steelers and Rams fans than you would expect. The Giants seemed to be the most popular and the Dodgers had a faithful fan base but I never met anyone that was an Angels fan. For NBA, the Lakers had the most fans and the Warriors had the second most, nobody supported the Clippers but a lot of people also liked the Bulls just because of Jordan. There weren’t many NHL fans that I knew but the few I did know of liked the penguins.
Thanks for this video!
An interesting topic would be teams that have large followings outside their area. Like the Red Sox and Cubs seem to have fans everywhere.
Grew up rooting for them and then moved to a different region.
So do the cowboys I’ve noticed
Transplants, relocations, or minor league affiliations seem to play huge parts in this. The Angels AAA team is in Salt Lake City, for example. There are a lot of Reds fans down in the South because they were the closest team for years before the Braves moved down, and a lot of folks move south as they get older as well. Those are two that come to mind
It's gone down a lot in the past few decades, but for a long time WGN broadcast the Cubs all across the country to places that didn't have a local team, so they became Cubs fans. Even before the Blue Jays existed, the Cubs were Canada's team because of WGN. They're also the most popular team in Belize of all places because of WGN.
Boston has a large number of universities, a lot of students come here and they bring the Red Sox home with them when they leave.
great video Kyle, thanks
The MLB map is so clean in comparison to the NFL one
Really enjoy these videos as always. I currently live in Columbus, OH and I can tell you that for NFL, it's very close but I would say the Browns have a small edge over Bengals. There is a Steelers contingent here, but not to the level of CLE or CIN. That being said, whichever team is playing better, there does seem to be a slight rise so since the Browns were in the postseason last year instead of the Bengals, it doesn't surprise me they are at the top in this, but it might be a 45 Browns to 40 Bengals to 15 others split. Reds have a little more of a historical advantage over the Guardians but I have seen more Guardians hats here more recently vs Reds. Also as an OSU grad/fan I laughed at the "An Ohio State University" I like the school and rooting for them, I'm not one of the annoying fans, but using the word "The" really annoys me, so you wont hear me say that. I agree with the other Ohio teams as well, though I'm a tad surprised that CBJ hockey still has some support up in NE Ohio considering their lack of success and that it gets closer to PIT and DET up there.
I also wanted to add that I lived in Charlotte and no question, Panthers, Hornets, Hurricanes and Braves are the favorites (though the Braves not as large as the others for obvious reasons). But I would be curious to see who are the second most popular are there in these maps. I know that one of the local Charlotte area TV stations show Commanders preseason games, since they were the favorite before the Panthers in that area. However living there, I probably met just a handful of Commanders (at that time Redskins) fans so it would not shock me if interest for them hasn't been as high now, considering the Panthers have been more established there now despite their recent lack of success.
11:08 "Sears Tower. Twitter. Anaheim Angels." I don't know who this guy is, but he gets it. 😅
Great Video, Kyle! Thanks
As for the Dolphins, they were the ONLY pro sports team anywhere in the south until the Buccaneers and then over a decade later, Miami Heat came along. Miami used to OWN the entire south until you got into the Atlanta area. There is still a ton of support for the Dolphins, but mostly older folks as they have had little relevance since Marino retired...
You don't consider Atlanta the South? "anywhere in the south"....
When the NFL-AFL merger happened you had the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Oilers, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, and Miami Dolphins as southern NFL teams
@@MrCho14 Nowhere close to Miami. And the Falcons sucked and lost market share to the Dolphins.
@@derbagger22 Nowhere close to Miami is a lot different than nowhere in the South.
@@MrCho14 falcons are like the Bucs. Existed, but not followed for decades
Another great video! Pre-Carolina Panthers I feel like Charlotte region and SC went more Atlanta and Raleigh and NE went Washington from what I recall. For baseball growing up central North Carolina was definitely Braves. We have TBS so we got all the Braves games on TV.
WGN showed Cubs games. Go Cubs!
@ yes! I remember watching a lot of Cubs games too. And Bozo the clown in mornings on WGN. Atlanta was closer to us so we’d go down once or twice a year for games at Fulton County stadium.
I don't really understand why location affects which teams people root for. None of the pro teams are made up of people from the city or region they play in. I could understand for high school teams which are made up of local students. Even most college teams recruit their players nationwide. So I think it would make more sense to root for teams that have players you like, even it that team is across the country.
For leagues other than the NFL, it's because the regional sports networks only carry local teams.
@@Ea-Nasir_Copper_CoPlayers come and go, and it actually takes more effort to follow a team in another city (especially back before the internet).
WAY easier to gain a connection to them, support them, and be around a fanbase of like-minded ppl when you support a local pro sports team
Dude loved this video. Great concept. 🫡
I come from 5 generations of Nebraskans. Pro sports! We don't need no STINKIN' PRO SPORTS!
Can't wait for the college edition!
Go Big Red!
You guys had a minor league hockey team years ago in Omaha.. still counts as pro 😂
@@inizilla_fk7 So, they're not around any more? That's because we don't need no stinkin' pro teams! LOL! The Huskers are such a big part of Nebraska identity, I wonder if there's really enough support in the state to sustain a pro team.
@@cavecookie1 they’ve move a lot since then, BC, California, now they’re in Calgary with their NHL affiliate
Fascinating video, and extremely well done!!
Boy, it’s really hard being a Chicago White Sox fan. We had the worst season , and geography king can’t even show any proof that there are actual fans.
Don’t let it get you down. We here
I second that. We still exist!
Grew up in Erie and really wanted to hear my hometown discussed on this video. Was happy to see it so early on! However, from personal experience growing up in the 2000s and 2010s, the Steelers fans were definitely more prominent or at least more loud. I have seen a lot more Bills fans around lately given their recent success. Being a Browns fan has just been pain. Cool topic!
In Nebraska it's simple...The Cornhuskers. Go Big Red!!!
Hi Kyle. Being originally from Connecticut, we can tell you that those maps overestimate the Boston teams' influence in the state. The Red Sox-Yankees line is the focus of regular local studies, which have shown the state cut in half diagonally from NW to SE. Yankees fandom extends far along the shoreline in the south, and up into the NW corner. We are from the middle of the shoreline, where Yankees fans outnumber Red Sox fans roughly 60-40%. I think you are right about the faults of these metrics: we always got the NY teams for free on the local stations, so we never had to pay for them. But the NY-Boston sports wars are a big deal in CT, and that is not shown in those maps.
One more thing: the Mets are kind of like the third party in CT. They take a small chunk of the market away from both teams. The Mets' fan base is primarily Queens and Long Island. However, lots of CT people go for the Mets to avoid the bitter Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. Actually, they did really well in the playoffs and were fun to watch, so their fan base may just grow.
As a white Sox and bears fan, I still have to consider this
Great video brother! Love this stuff!
Oooh, I saw this one early!!
This is a really nice video. I enjoy this kind of geographical analysis! I would be interested if you included Mexico and Canada. You’d see way more Steelers, Chargers and Cowboys fans on here!
Did the map acknowledge the Chicago White Sox at all?
They aren't majority in any county. The Cubs are more lovable.
I think because they play in the same huge county as the Cubs (Cook County), they won't be the majority fan base in any county.
Maybe they got relegated to AAA? ;)
WKBW out of Buffalo was a 'clear channel' station on the AM dial that could be heard as far away as eastern Vermont. The other big one was WBZ out of Boston. In hilly rural country where even local radio didn't work, you could always listen to the Bills or Celtics.
Detroit tigers has Minor league team (Mud hens) in Toledo
Corporal Klinger approves.
Nice to finally see something like this covered. Though I do have to wonder what the one county in Maine shaded in black represents on the NBA map seen here.
Hockey guy here for your Milwaukee nhl team question: Blackhawk’s owner lobby hard to not allow it as Milwaukee is a large enough city that they don’t want to lose that market.
That would just make me watch college hockey instead.
@ Big10 ruined that already lol
In the Columbus area, I would say it's more of a three way split, there's a lot of Steelers fans as well. I think the Browns are the most popular team but it's a plurality.
MLB used to be the Reds, but with the AAA Clippers having been affiliated with the Indians for a while now and the growth in residents from NE Ohio, apparently it's still lean Reds but that's a surprise to me. It's gotten closer in the last 15 years or so.
Fun fact: Kansas City did have an NHL team at one point, the Scouts.
Who played in Denver as the Rockies and are now the New Jersey Devils
At least for the NFL one I'd say there could be a little discrepancy due to people getting tickets for the stadium that is close to them but cheering on the away team. As a Packer fan who now lives in Minnesota, if I wanted to see a packer game I would get a ticket to one against the Vikings instead of going all the way to Green Bay. I think this is true for a lot of fans too because people always talk about teams that have good traveling fan bases but it most likely is just that the fan lives closer to another team. The maps still have a lot of interesting data tho, keep it up I love your videos!
That is very true for the Tampa & Miami teams. When they fill their stadiums, it is usually the clusters of fans that relocated from the big Northern Rust Belt cities that buy the most tickets to cheer against the home teams.
“AN” Ohio State University 🤣🤣🤣
As a native San Diegan I find it interesting that the Chargers are the most popular in OC, SBC, Riverside, and Imperial county now. There’s a ton of factors that go into it but it still amazes me. I’m glad they’re getting support but it still doesn’t feel like the same team to me
There are a lot of SD natives who ended up moving north in the last couple decades both to Orange County and Riverside County. It would be interesting to know how much of that fan base is from that as opposed to those who were born in those counties. There's an entire generation of people who didn't have an NFL team in LA and didn't have any strong attachment, except for maybe their parents trying to influence them, to the Rams (or Raiders).
I'd argue the OC is pretty split especially given the Rams history in Angel stadium. North OC is Rams, South OC is Chargers.
Thank you for not ignoring MLS. It's still considered by traditional outlets as not one of top tier professional leagues in the US/Canada, but it for certain belongs especially when compared to the NHL.
I’d like to see how Southern California would look on an updated map. I wonder how much fandom LAFC has taken from the Galaxy in Los Angeles, and San Diego’s eminent entry will make a fun three-way local rivalry.
@@Liggie55821 LAFC may certainly be the more popular team these days. A lot of people jumped the Carson Galaxy ship when LAFC built in LA City proper instead of being so far out like the Galaxy are (and Chivas were).
San Diego will look much like the MLB map but it will also take awhile for people to drop their support of the LA teams since they've been attached to them for so long. In general, San Diego has always avoided supporting LA, but there just wasn't an option prior.
The rivalry hopefully will be good. SJ will continue to hate LA, but as with many of the sports LA will continue to think of the Bay Area as a 2nd tier rivalry unless there are several competitive years for both teams happening.
Not even close to NHL which is the smallest of the big 4 but keep trying, or not.
@@somerandomguy5977 The numbers are easily available. You can choose to believe what you like though.
I know you're not a sports guy but love this type of stuff
The A’s are moving to Vegas btw.
Yup, the city’s begun building the new field already - they’ll make it happen
@@holdenackerman8783 They aren't scheduled to break ground until April 2025.
Not until 2028 at the earliest - they're in Sacramento until then. And that's if the stadium Fisher wants actually gets built.