Best/Worst Sports cities

[TheAJx]

Note, not best "football cities" or best "basketball cities" . . . city should have atleast 2-3 major professional or big name college teams. Talking about fan support, general enthusiasm toward clubs as opposed to simply success and titles.

Best:

1. St. Louis
2. Chicago
3. Dallas
4. Denver
5. Boston

Worst:

1. Atlanta
2. Los Angeles
3. Miami
4. Oakland
5. Philly . . . because the fans are jackasses and refuse to have an upbeat attitude

[Zen653]

Best:

1. Dallas (Mavericks, Stars, Cowboys and Rangers all draw reasonably well to very well. Football is huge, even at the pee wee and high school levels. There are lots of great college rivalries in basketball, football and even baseball. You also have rodeo and other local sports.)

2. Detroit (Pistons, Red Wings, Lions and Tigers all draw reasonably well to very well; great rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State. Good college hockey programs.)

3. Chicago (Bulls, Bears and Cubs all have hardcore followings through thick and thin. Lots of regional college rivalries, including the Illinois schools, Notre Dame, Indiana, Indiana State, etc. Only so-so support for the Blackhawks in recent years.)

4. Denver (Nuggets, Avalanche, Broncos and Rockies all draw reasonably well to very well; college football and college hockey are both pretty big.)

5. Boston (best baseball town in the world. Super hardcore Red Sox fans, lots of minor league fans, Cape Cod League fans, and Independent League fans. Baseball is a 365/24/7 sport in this city. Patriots have a hardcore following. Decent support for BC football, basketball and baseball. Great college hockey market with Harvard, BU, BC, Northeastern, Merrimack and several other competitive programs in the region. The only downside is the lukewarm support for the Celtics and Bruins. Lots of bandwagoning when it comes to those two teams, although they do maintain their loyal cores.)

Worst:

1. Atlanta (competitive Braves teams have been underappreciated at the gate. The Falcons don't sell out. The Hawks are an embarrasment to the league. The Thrashers don't draw well either.)

2. Miami (terrible attendance for the Marlins and Panthers. Dolphins are somewhat popular. Heat only do well when they're championship-caliber.)

3. Oakland (competitive Athletics teams are underappreciated. The Raiders draw decently. The Warriors aren't popular.)

4. New Orleans (bad NBA attendance, bad NFL attendance until this year.)

5. Cleveland (bandwagon jumping city when it comes to the professional sports teams. The Browns had to move at one point, the Cavaliers and Indians only draw well when very competitive.)

I disagree about Los Angeles being a bad sports city. The Angels and Dodgers always draw reasonably well. The Lakers are always extremely popular. The Clippers draw reasonably well. College basketball and football are both pretty big with UCLA, USC and some of the other institutions in the area. The Kings draw respectably in hockey most years. Los Angeles isn't a good sports city by any means, but I don't think it's among the worst. It has its plusses.

[TheAJx]

Zen, if you speak to most LA team fans you'll find many of them are not knowledgable at all, and follow the celebrity culture of football. THis is most evident with Laker fans, who are a joke, and USC Trojan fans who are an even joke. USC didn't even sellout a *single* game during its 2003 championship season, not until they played Cal 6 or 7 games through in 2004 did they finally achieve this.

And again, interacting with most USC fans and even worse South Central Mexican thugs sporting USC gear . . . they are arrogants *******s. UCLA fans are definetely better but not quite as numerous. If the tiny city of Clemson, South Carolina (population: 11,000) can sellout 80,000 seats every saturday, the flagship public university of Los Angeles (total enrollment: 30,000+) should be able to sell more than 60,000 seats a year.

I give on baseball, pretty good attendance, Dodger fans are pretty faithful and knowledgable.

But remember the most important thing - LA couldn't even hold a single NFL franchise!

[MuffinMcFluffin]

The best sports city is wherever Chuck Norris resides on a given night.

Canada has the worst everything.

[DiamondDave]

I won't place numbers beside my choices... just give a lit of the ones I think are near the top, and those near the bottom

Great sports cities....

Boston - The support that town gives... the reverency of the fans... success too
St. Louis - One great town to watch a game in, any game. May not be the most recognizable fans (like the chowds or the New Yawkers), but they are great fans.
Chicago - Bears and Cubs fans are legendary. When you have an SNL skit about your fans (I can still hear Farley and his infamous 'Da Bearsz), you know you're a good sports city.
Baltimore - People will say I'm a homer, but listen.... Not just for the O's fans who have been there thru thick and thin, and the rabid Ravens fans. BUt the proxemity to other cities (Wash, PHI) and the widespread support of so many teams in the area. Not to mention Camden Yards, which I still say is the greatest stadium in Baseball
Dallas - Cowboys, Mavs... 2 organizations that try and really please the fans. Football in Texas, on all levels, is not just a sport but part of life.

Poor sports cities....

Florida - I gotta put the whole state, because every city is poor in their support. TB, Miami, Orlando... When I was in Miami and wanted to take the kids to a game, you know it is bad when you can get CHEAP seats behind the backstop 5 minutes before gametime on a Sunday afternoon)
New York - The most FICKLE fans in the entire world. I think that says about enough.
Atlanta - When you can't sell out playoff games, that's bad.
Oakland - Raider-fan alone makes them one of the worst cities...
Cleveland - While New York fans are fickle, Cleveland fans are BITTER.
Los Angeles - Never has supported well. When fans enter in the 2nd inning, and leave in the 7th, on a regular basis and en masse, that is a poor sports city.

[Dan]

We're so fickle that the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Rangers, Jets, and Knicks play to big crowds every game. And...every team has hardcore fans that watch when their teams stink. So I don't know where you're going with your Oriole argument. In non-Yankee/Red Sox games I didn't see too many people, and a lot of people who attend are people who want to see the beautiful ballpark.

[John F]

The Florida argument is a stereotype -- sorta like another post on here about the Devil Rays playing a series in Orlando.

Dolphin stadium is a horrid park in a suburban location. It's not a baseball stadium that was proposed by Wayne Hizuinga before he got the Marlins in 1991. Nor is the stadium and the fanbase that doesn't show up at the team the tale of all Florida sports.

Who holds the NHL attendance record for the playoffs? Oh yeah, that's a florida city. Fickle fans... How many losing seasons did the Buccaneers endure before they were respectable again? 14... 13 of those seasons were double digit loses. I bet you'll call the Buc faithful fairweather fans because we didn't sell out Tampa Stadium over and over again while the Bucs were the worst Football franchise in the NFL.

The Orlando Magic has been desperately mediocre since Shaq and Anfernee Hardaway left the team in the 1990's and still outdraws a Tri-state area based basketball team (the Nets) in an arena with bad sightlines. Why is that? Fickle fans, right?

I'm not even going to get into turnout for college sports and high school sports in state. ANYONE who calls Florida fans the worst fans in sports needs to broaden their horizons.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by John F

The Florida argument is a stereotype -- sorta like another post on here about the Devil Rays playing a series in Orlando.

Dolphin stadium is a horrid park in a suburban location. It's not a baseball stadium that was proposed by Wayne Hizuinga before he got the Marlins in 1991. Nor is the stadium and the fanbase that doesn't show up at the team the tale of all Florida sports.

Who holds the NHL attendance record for the playoffs? Oh yeah, that's a florida city. Fickle fans... How many losing seasons did the Buccaneers endure before they were respectable again? 14... 13 of those seasons were double digit loses. I bet you'll call the Buc faithful fairweather fans because we didn't sell out Tampa Stadium over and over again while the Bucs were the worst Football franchise in the NFL.

The Orlando Magic has been desperately mediocre since Shaq and Anfernee Hardaway left the team in the 1990's and still outdraws a Tri-state area based basketball team (the Nets) in an arena with bad sightlines. Why is that? Fickle fans, right?

I'm not even going to get into turnout for college sports and high school sports in state. ANYONE who calls Florida fans the worst fans in sports needs to broaden their horizons.

The Marlins thing is no good. No one showed up last year and they were halfway decent. But, I agree with you that his assesment is poor. The college support in Florida is extremely high and that counts for a lot, no? Miami, Florida, and FSU have large bases. And I have seen increasing support for South Florida since their induction into the Big East conference.

Meanwhile the Heat get very good attendence and the Lightning do pretty well. And Dolphin football is huge. I heard that's all they talk about on sports talk radio down there. Am I right?

[John F]

Football is king -- Bucs, Fins in the south and probably the Jags up in the north... Then the college teams also dominate talk radio. So in Tampa alone you hear constantly about the Bucs, Gators, Seminoles and Hurricanes with little slivers of the Lightning during the fall months. And unless there is a blockbuster, you won't get much of anything about the Devil Rays (and what have the Rays done to get fan interest in their 9 seasons of play?)...

The Marlins thing is worth discussing but labeling the entire state because of the Marlins situation is pointless. The Marlins are basically the east-coast equivilent of the Giants circa 1992: in a huge market, can't get a new stadium, threatening moves but not making good on them and having ownership change with promises of a new park -- somewhere.

There are a lot of bad things about the Marlins (marketing and stadium effort) but crapping on the fans poor turnout doesn't do much to uncover them.

And yes, the Marlins were decent last year to say the least -- unexpectedly so after a firesale that offseason.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by John F

Football is king -- Bucs, Fins in the south and probably the Jags up in the north... Then the college teams also dominate talk radio. So in Tampa alone you hear constantly about the Bucs, Gators, Seminoles and Hurricanes with little slivers of the Lightning during the fall months. And unless there is a blockbuster, you won't get much of anything about the Devil Rays (and what have the Rays done to get fan interest in their 9 seasons of play?)...

The Marlins thing is worth discussing but labeling the entire state because of the Marlins situation is pointless. The Marlins are basically the east-coast equivilent of the Giants circa 1992: in a huge market, can't get a new stadium, threatening moves but not making good on them and having ownership change with promises of a new park -- somewhere.

There are a lot of bad things about the Marlins (marketing and stadium effort) but crapping on the fans poor turnout doesn't do much to uncover them.

And yes, the Marlins were decent last year to say the least -- unexpectedly so after a firesale that offseason.

Correct me if I am wrong but didn't the Marlins just make some progress for a stadium in Miami? That should garner some fan interest.

[TheAJx]

My opinion is that professional sports in South Florida, particularly in Miami have an elitist following, similar to that in LA, where the fancy types who can afford high cost tickets come around. "Da U"s football attendance does not parallel its hype.

FLorida and FSU are a different story, northern Florida schools with true grassroots support. These are diehard fans who probably are not of the variety that can afford, again, to pay expensive ticket prices for fabulous teams. In my opinion, thats what separates a city like Miami from Detroit, because Detroit supports both its college and professional teams, whereas Miami doesn't support either.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by TheAJx

My opinion is that professional sports in South Florida, particularly in Miami have an elitist following, similar to that in LA, where the fancy types who can afford high cost tickets come around. "Da U"s football attendance does not parallel its hype.

FLorida and FSU are a different story, northern Florida schools with true grassroots support. These are diehard fans who probably are not of the variety that can afford, again, to pay expensive ticket prices for fabulous teams. In my opinion, thats what separates a city like Miami from Detroit, because Detroit supports both its college and professional teams, whereas Miami doesn't support either.

I was trying to make a general point about Florida college sports in general. I was pondering on whether I should include a precursor to Miami in saying that while they do well in attendence, they only sell out for big games. They will never sell out a game against a North Carolina while teams like FSU and Florida would.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Dan

Correct me if I am wrong but didn't the Marlins just make some progress for a stadium in Miami? That should garner some fan interest.

Not that I know of but I could have missed something. MLB gave them the green light to explore relocation last year and San Antonio was interested but nothing came from it.

Trying to blackmail Miami and Florida and it failed...

[Dan]

Originally Posted by John F

Not that I know of but I could have missed something. MLB gave them the green light to explore relocation last year and San Antonio was interested but nothing came from it.

Trying to blackmail Miami and Florida and it failed...

Major League Baseball : News : Major League Baseball News

They're making significant progress it seems...

[LaxD]

Best
Detroit: I don't even need to explain.
Denver: Great atmosphere
St. Louis: Good teams...
Miami: Dolphins, heat yeah you get the picture.
Dallas: Great teams, except the Cowboys (I hate them) but hey, they are good!