What kind of "Sports Town" is your city?

[Arts11]

I was recently talking with a friend of mine who now lives in St Louis, and they mentioned just how popular the Cardinals were in the city. To be honest, thanks to the "Greatest Show on Turf" era Rams being big when I was younger, I always kinda assumed that football was the sport in St Louis. Anyway, that got me wondering, what sport/team (professional/college/high school/whatever) defines where you live?

I don't necessarily mean your own personal preferences, but more like, "if your city/region could only have 1 team/sport, which team/sport would the majority of your fellow citizens pick to stay?"

[AnythingChicago]

In the Baltimore area, 90% of people are Ravens fans. The other 10% is either Redskins or other (such as weird Bears fans like me ). Ravens fans are generally super annoying in AA County (that's not directed towards you, loogoman ). They always have a stupid excuse when they lose like "Oh, well our backup center broke his thumb, so the team chemistry was out of wack", or something stupid like that. As for baseball, there are a lot of Orioles fans (who tend to be rather optimistic, sometimes too much). But there is also a lot of "fair weather" fans (Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies). As for basketball and hockey, it's usually Wizards and Capitals (although some people are afraid to admit they're Wizards fans, or secretly root for the Lakers or Celtics).

[Kevin W.]

San Diego is definitely a football town.

[charger77]

Detroit is more a football town more than anything else.

In reality though, Detroit seems to be a "town of" which ever of the professional teams is doing the best at the time (which is similar to other towns).

[Arts11]

In the Baltimore area, 90% of people are Ravens fans. The other 10% is either Redskins or other (such as weird Bears fans like me ). Ravens fans are generally super annoying in AA County (that's not directed towards you, loogoman ). They always have a stupid excuse when they lose like "Oh, well our backup center broke his thumb, so the team chemistry was out of wack", or something stupid like that. As for baseball, there are a lot of Orioles fans (who tend to be rather optimistic, sometimes too much). But there is also a lot of "fair weather" fans (Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies). As for basketball and hockey, it's usually Wizards and Capitals (although some people are afraid to admit they're Wizards fans, or secretly root for the Lakers or Celtics).

Would you say any one of those teams or sports predominates as a favorite? For example, and I don't know if this is true or not, but I've always thought of Los Angeles as a "Basketball Town," mainly on account of the Lakers.

[AnythingChicago]

In the Baltimore area, 90% of people are Ravens fans. The other 10% is either Redskins or other (such as weird Bears fans like me ). Ravens fans are generally super annoying in AA County (that's not directed towards you, loogoman ). They always have a stupid excuse when they lose like "Oh, well our backup center broke his thumb, so the team chemistry was out of wack", or something stupid like that. As for baseball, there are a lot of Orioles fans (who tend to be rather optimistic, sometimes too much). But there is also a lot of "fair weather" fans (Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies). As for basketball and hockey, it's usually Wizards and Capitals (although some people are afraid to admit they're Wizards fans, or secretly root for the Lakers or Celtics).

Would you say any one of those teams or sports predominates as a favorite? For example, and I don't know if this is true or not, but I've always thought of Los Angeles as a "Basketball Town," mainly on account of the Lakers.

Ravens football. 2 out of every 3 people on a Sunday afternoon is wearing purple.

[tvko]

Would you say any one of those teams or sports predominates as a favorite?

The Ravens have won fans over ever since Peter Angelos rolled into town. Most people are apathetic about the NBA, but hockey has become more popular lately.

[knnhrvy16]

Utah loves alot of different sports, as teams on all levels are usually supported very well. If I had to pick only one sport, however, I think it'd be basketball. You don't truly realize how much Salt Lake City (and Utah in general) loves and supports the Jazz until you actually see it for yourself. It's really incredible, everywhere you go - not just in SLC, but statewide - are Jazz shirts, hats, flags, banners, you name it. I hate to sound cliche or cheesy, but the Jazz are a part of life here in Utah. Everyone watches on gameday, and they're a part or every discussion the next morning. Then, repeat. Like summer barbecues, rodeos, and country music, the Jazz are a Utah staple

The love for basketball carries over into college, too. The recent Jimmermania, as well as USU's consistency and Utah's NTG appearance in 1998 have all but contributed over recent years. Weber State has usually fielded decent teams as well, so the Ogden area supports them well, too.

EDIT: From my observation, I'd say a full-on list goes like this:

1. Jazz

2. Utah/BYU Football (depends on region)

3. Utah/USU/BYU Basketball (see above)

4. Real Salt Lake

5. Salt Lake Bees/Orem Owlz baseball (again, see 2 and 3)

6. Grizzlies hockey

7. Weber State sports

8. Ogden Raptors baseball

....192. Utah State football

I didn't count high school sports, because it varies SO much throughout not just the SLC and Provo areas, but statewide. They're all supported pretty well in general, but it all just depends in where you go as to which sports are supported, and how much.

[ltjets21]

New York is Baseball, New Jersey is Football high school football is huge in NJ

[BrySmalls]

D.C. is a fair-weather sports town.

[DeFrank]

Washington is a very interesting city when it comes to sports. The Redskins rule the city. Although there is a sizable Cowboy fan base in Southeast, the Redskins reign dominant from Southern Maryland to North Carolina. The Nats are popular, but many residents are still Oriole fans. Hockey has recently taken over in D.C. due to the rest of the teams futility, and the Caps sell out every damn game. The metro can be blocked out with red. The Wizards... nobody really cares

[Brave-Bird 08]

I live in Marietta, GA...which is a suburb of Atlanta. Obviously the Atlanta Braves and college football are of almost all of the importance. I would take a wild guess and say about 40% of people are UGA fans, 25% are Georgia Tech fans, and other percentage consists of Bama, Auburn, Tennessee, and Clemson fans. Florida and South Carolina fans are more rare.

It's very common in metro Atlanta that people grow up around here, go to school at one of the above mentioned, and move back b/c of the job market density in Atlanta. It's not like other states where everyone claims that state school. It's a mixed bag

Also, just about everyone who likes football are Falcons fans. The fan base for the Falcons seems to go up when they are winning, obviously. The Hawks fan base is probably most people between the ages of 15-30, and I'm not making that up. It's rare to find a middle aged person here that gives a rats ass about basketball. And hockey is an afterthought. The only Thrashers fan I've ever known was a Canadian kid in my screenwriting class at school.

And, of course, everyone here has a special place in their heart for Marietta High School athletics. MHS is the only school in the Marietta City Schools district, so the town and the high school football team is really close knit. We have a historic stadium build smack dab in the middle of the main neighborhood area of downtown Marietta (it's not even at our school campus), and the football team is one of the most historically winning teams in the state. Our recently retired coach, Friday Richards, was there since the 60's and is a Georgia legend. If you're not a Marietta Blue Devil, you aren't a Mariettan...and likely don't have many friends.

[YessSir32]

Detroit is more a football town more than anything else.

In reality though, Detroit seems to be a "town of" which ever of the professional teams is doing the best at the time (which is similar to other towns).

I agree with you, it was a basketball town a few years back. Now, that the Lions are getting better, we are calling ourselves are football city.

[DrAwesomeberry]

Dallas is a "whoever is winning" town. So right now we're with the Rangers and Mavericks.

[RyanMcD29]

Long Island definitely reflects the "New York is a baseball town" notion when it comes to professional sports. High school it's all about lacrosse (except my town, in which case it's baseball) and with college sports I guess it's between basketball and lacrosse as college football has little to no following on the island.

I guess going into team breakdowns, it's a mix of Yankees and Mets (I'd say probably around 60-40 NYY if both teams are doing well, times like these the ratio's more tilted in the Yankees favor) as well as Jets and Giants (closer to 50-50 here). Hockey's mainly the Islanders with a good amount of Ranger fans too (and some Devil fans sprinkled here and there) and basketball's basically owned by Knicks, though Laker bandwagoners do make up a good amount too. College sports I guess with football it's Notre Dame, basketball it's a huge mishmash of Hofstra, Duke, UNC, and the Big East (mainly St. Johns, Syracuse, UConn), and lacrosse it's mainly Hofstra, Stony Brook and whatever school has or had a player from your town on the team or has had success (so mainly the ACC, Cornell, Hopkins, Princeton, Syracuse). There's also a small contingent of college hockey fans, though usually that's either Michigan fans or students at whatever Boston school (BC/BU) or Cornell.

[Magnus]

Sudbury as a whole is undoubtedly a city that primarily follows the NHL. The two most popular NHL teams in Sudbury seem to be Toronto (not surprising, as it is the closest NHL city) and Montreal (due to our 30% French population). We also pack our local arena every playoff to support the hapless, but not without heart, Sudbury Wolves.

This puts sports fans in my family at odds with the general population. My dad's favourite sports team since 1995 has definitely been the Raptors. He's a basketball fan in a city of hockey fans. This makes it tough when I want to buy him some Raps merchandise for his birthday or Christmas, because virtually no NBA merchandise is sold in the city. I know I can buy online, but I prefer shopping in person. It was especially helpful this Christmas, as I first got him a cap that didn't quite fit. I ended up going back to the store to get a larger size.

I, as you can probably tell, am a fan of the Flyers and Argonauts, which I think fills out my sports calendar fairly well for most of the year.

[neo_prankster]

San Diego is, lets face it, a small market.

They were in love with the Chargers during their 1994 Super Bowl season, but now they want to run them out of town. I do feel pretty good about the Bolts' draft this year, as this time, they went for Division I guys instead of places like Northeastern University (Boston) where they found Larry English.

SDSU's football and basketball programs are much better this past year than in the last decade and most Aztec fans are excited for them again.

[Still MIGHTY]

LA/OC is most definitely Lakers country.

Dodgers/Angels split up the baseball base. Kings/Ducks split up the hockey base. USC/UCLA split up the college base, but I'd say USC is definitely the more popular of the two. The Clippers don't take up a enough of an amount of the basketball base to compare to the other sports' splits.

When the Lakers had their couple down years between the Shaq and Pau eras, USC was at its most successful football-wise and was probably on top for a little bit, but at the end of the day, it's still Lakers country.

If/When LA gets a football team back and it doesn't suck, it might have the potential to rule the town. But I think the Lakers' longer history there and longer reach keeps them on top.

[Breakwood]

People say Toronto is a hockey town. To an extent their right. Toronto is a Toronto Maple Leaf town. Junior and minor hockey don't do so well, which isn't surprising considering the size of the city. But there is no doubt that the Maple Leafs are number 1. Baseball is number 2, and if the Jays keep improving as the Leafs falter I can see baseball gaining on hockey (it will never pass hockey though). I'd say Soccer is number 3. Not so much Toronto FC, but various teams from Europe.

1. Hockey

2. Baseball

3. Soccer

You could argue football (both NFL and CFL) are ahead of Baseball and Soccer but I still believe Baseball and Soccer appeal to more people.

[Eye]

People say Toronto is a hockey town. To an extent their right. Toronto is a Toronto Maple Leaf town. Junior and minor hockey don't do so well, which isn't surprising considering the size of the city. But there is no doubt that the Maple Leafs are number 1. Baseball is number 2, and if the Jays keep improving as the Leafs falter I can see baseball gaining on hockey (it will never pass hockey though). I'd say Soccer is number 3. Not so much Toronto FC, but various teams from Europe.

1. Hockey

2. Baseball

3. Soccer

You could argue football (both NFL and CFL) are ahead of Baseball and Soccer but I still believe Baseball and Soccer appeal to more people.

What happened to basketball? When the Raptors were good last year, didn't hoops gain a lot of popularity? And did the Raptors ever pass the Blue Jays in terms of popularity (at least for a little while there)?