Rank your city's sports teams by popularity

[edale]

Originally Posted by badrunner

One factor in MLB popularity is the lack of a salary cap, meaning that only big market teams can truly compete. The NFL is on the opposite side of the spectrum, it has the most parity of any league.

That's a good point. You do have small market success stories in the MLB-- the Kansas City Royals won a few years back, and of course St. Louis is always good. But in general, the deck is basically stacked against the small market teams, and I think that has led to some apathy amongst younger fans in these markets.

How can a team like the Cincinnati Reds, with a payroll of ~$122 million realistically compete with a team like the LA Dodgers, with their payroll of ~$285 million? Yet over in the NFL, its LA vs Cincinnati for the Super Bowl...can't blame fans in these small markets for making the switch to the NFL. MLB needs a salary cap.