Rank your city's sports teams by popularity

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by JManc

I can attest to that. I wanted to play hockey in high school (1989) which would have been about at least $500 in equipment back then. Meanwhile when I played soccer, all I needed were a decent pair of cleats. Most of the kids who were in hockey in our school came from more well off families.

They have to be. Very tough to find NHLers from working-class backgrounds these days.

If I want to go play pick-up soccer I just grab my cleats and ball and find the nearest field. If I want to go play pick-up hockey I need a few hundreds of dollars in equipment and then probably need to rent out a facility which is another $100 or more. Not feasible for growing and retaining a sport in lower income, or even middle income, groups.

Originally Posted by Razor

Also, soccer is the world's most popular sport after all.

Our countries already rely on immigration but this should be even more important to note in the coming years as immigration, at least here, ramps up. General knowledge of soccer and other international sports will simply exceed that of hockey in the coming future.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by JManc

I can attest to that. I wanted to play hockey in high school (1989) which would have been about at least $500 in equipment back then. Meanwhile when I played soccer, all I needed were a decent pair of cleats. Most of the kids who were in hockey in our school came from more well off families.

it's the reason why soccer is "the world's sport".

if you've got a ball and a field and some kids, by golly you've got yourself a soccer game!

that's it, that's all you really need.

kids in truly impoverished areas don't even need cleats, they just play in their bare feet.



hockey is WAY more complicated and involved for the 99% of the planet's population who don't have a pond in their backyard that freezes over for a handful of months every winter.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

please what? who moves a championship team? the browns haven't done jack since jim brown was playing. they missed out a few times in terrible fashion and have watched every super bowl on tv. way waaaay more tortured than any other franchise -- and when you add all pro sports combined for cleveland, especially as compared to a place like los angeles, its not even close. absolutely and without question the most tortured sports city in america, at the very least within the last 50yrs. and need i remind you this area is the cradle of football and the nfl hof is in the metro? the sad sack browns are downright embarrassing.

So did you forget about this?

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by DCReid

Despite some intense city rivalries, I have only heard of SF and LA fans nearly beating each other to death before and after games, and it seems because LA fans can't sell out their stadiums alone. Red Sox and Yankee fans hate each other, but I have not seen thousands of opposite team fans at home stadium games and cannot recall reading about fans beating each other in parking lots. Maybe there have been instances other than SF and LA fans, but I was kind of shocked hearing about the violence.

Originally Posted by rusted root

Because despite what the east coast sports media wants you to believe, Giants-Dodgers is a much more intense rivalry than BOS-NYY. Not because LA fans can't sell out their stadiums lmao.

It has nothing to do with which teams have the more "intense rivalry". It has to do with trash pieces of shit who go to games looking to physically injure others... and absolutely nothing to do with baseball, nor the history on the field between the two teams.

Originally Posted by Quixote

Please. The Cleveland Browns were established and began playing the same year as the Rams. And for what it’s worth, they beat the LA Rams in 1950 and 1955.

And what about the Washington Red… Commanders? The originated in Boston and nearly won an NFL championship the year before they left.

Uh, the Rams started in Cleveland in 1936, won the 1945 NFL Championship and then left for LA. That's when the Browns became Cleveland's team.

[pj3000]

MLS soccer... I don't think I know anyone who follows it, now that I think about.

I can confidently say that I have never watched a single MLS game, and I like soccer.

I like playing soccer, that is. Overall, not a great sport to watch... particularly not on TV.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by pj3000

MLS soccer... I don't think I know anyone who follows it, now that I think about.

I can confidently say that I have never watched a single MLS game, and I like soccer.

I like playing soccer, that is. Overall, not a great sport to watch... particularly not on TV.

MLS is popular with Hispanic community here and I am sure they single-handedly keep the Houston Dynamo afloat. Tickets are cheap, stadium is an accessible part of town and it's....futbol

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by pj3000

MLS soccer... I don't think I know anyone who follows it, now that I think about.

that's not terribly surprising given that pittsburgh doesn't have an MLS team and Miami's new MLS team just formed in 2020 (Miami briefly had the Fusion back in the early days of MLS, from 1998 -2002, but they folded relatively quickly).

give it some time and you may start crossing paths with Inter Miami fans in the future.

although miami is a weird sports town. how can the marlins come in last in attendance year after year in a city chock full of carribbean immigrants? it doesn't make sense.

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by Razor

Yes..Part of it is how expensive it is to put kids (the future) into Hockey. With Soccer, all you need is a ball and a field. Hockey development can be exclusive.
Also, soccer is the world's most popular sport after all. Aaand both Team Canada and Team U.S.A are both now eliminated from Olympics hockey..Give it to the Europeans. The olympic gold is more important to them then Lord Stanley's ring anyways..Go Sweden! Go Slovakia!

Basketball is probably next as far as global popularity. All you need is a ball and a hoop.

[RowanGrad]

1. Eagles (Pretty much equally beloved among all ages and races)

2. Sixers (Fanbase leans relatively young and non-white)
3. Phillies (Fanbase leans relatively old and white)

4. Flyers (Fanbase extremely white but closer to equal generationally than Sixers and Phillies. Becoming more niche as white people become less of a majority)


5. Union (Know no one personally who follows them but could see them growing more popular as soccer does with younger generations. Could even surpass Phillies and Flyers one day)

Open to the argument Phillies are more popular than Sixers but Sixers are much more beloved by both myself and my generation, so there's probably bias there from me. Sixers have also been much better recently.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by BrandonJXN

So did you forget about this?

LeBron coming back to the Cavs to win the title was obviously a huge win for Cleveland. But let's not forget that he first left Cleveland to go win multiple championships for Miami... and the fashion in which he left Cleveland to go do so.

It's not just the championship drought which has plagued the Browns (1964) and Indians (1948), it's the dramatic losses and bumbling moves which color the misery. Browns missing out on the Super Bowl to the Broncos 3 times in the late 80s in heartbreaking defeats. And then having one of the sport's most successful and storied franchises up and leave town... leaving the team in a constant rebuilding mode for 20+ years.

The Indians being terrible from the 1960s until the 1990s, having a strike end their promising 1994 season, losing the WS in 1995, 1997 (losing in the lead bottom of the 9th of Game 7 in a pitiful pitching collapse), losing the ALCS in 2007 to the Red Sox after having a 3-1 lead, and how about the 2016 WS when they were up in games 3-1 over the heavily-favored Cubs... only to lose Game 7 after tying it late and finally going down by one run in the 10th.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by JManc

MLS is popular with Hispanic community here and I am sure they single-handedly keep the Houston Dynamo afloat. Tickets are cheap, stadium is an accessible part of town and it's....futbol

If it weren't for the owners the Dynamo would be a fantastic organization.

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

although miami is a weird sports town. how can the marlins come in last in attendance year after year in a city chock full of carribbean immigrants? it doesn't make sense.

Interested to see how the F1 Grand Prix plays out.

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

that's not terribly surprising given that pittsburgh doesn't have an MLS team

The Pittsburgh USL team's stadium is in an incredible spot.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by BrandonJXN

So did you forget about this?

you don't see how one championship in all pro sports in 50yrs actually makes it worse than anything?

i defer you to find a more tortured city.

you can't.

and not to mention, obviously you don't remember those cleveland force/crunch indoor soccer championships -- now do you see what i mean?

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by JManc

MLS is popular with Hispanic community here and I am sure they single-handedly keep the Houston Dynamo afloat. Tickets are cheap, stadium is an accessible part of town and it's....futbol

Yeah, I know that there's obviously a fan base for MLS, and obviously having a large Hispanic population would seem to support it... except in Miami

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

that's not terribly surprising given that pittsburgh doesn't have an MLS team and Miami's new MLS team just formed in 2020 (Miami briefly had the Fusion back in the early days of MLS, from 1998 -2002, but they folded relatively quickly).

give it some time and you may start crossing paths with Inter Miami fans in the future.

although miami is a weird sports town. how can the marlins come in last in attendance year after year in a city chock full of carribbean immigrants? it doesn't make sense.

Right, I'm certain that I would hear plenty about it if Pittsburgh had an MLS franchise. But I do have plenty of friends who love elsewhere, and no one ever seems to talk about MLS. I think the Miami team will gain in popularity in time.

If Miami built a decent ballpark in a good location, people would go to the games. The Dolphins stadium (where they used to play) is almost in Broward County in a rather bland, relatively shitty area. The new stadium just plain sucks for baseball, as far as I'm concerned.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by JHikka

The Pittsburgh USL team's stadium is in an incredible spot.

Yeah, the Riverhounds stadium is very nice for a Division II league. It would be cool if Pittsburgh could get an MLS franchise, since the area has lot of soccer history going back much, much further than it does in most cities. Pittsburgh's south hills area in particular has organized soccer clubs which go back to the 1890s, owning to the European immigrant miners who came in droves.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

you don't see how one championship in all pro sports in 50yrs actually makes it worse than anything?

i defer you to find a more tortured city.

I don't want to call Chicago a tortured city in terms of sports but I was living in Chicago when the Cubs won the World Series. As a native of SoCal, I didn't care about either the Cubs or the Indians but I knew of the lore of the Cubs not winning a championship since the Roosevelt Administration. Theodore not Franklin. But I knew that something historic was going to happen. The Cubs were losing...then it rained. For a while. Then it stopped. The game resumed. The Cubs came back, tied, went to the 10th and when they did, Chicago erupted. It was nuts. I think something like 5 million people went to the parade.

But looking back at the history of Cleveland sports, you are probably right. I mean...

• Video Link

[mrnyc]

^ umm, err, well you do know who the cubs beat to win that ws don't you?

and we were just talking about the marlins, so ...

as for noah, sometimes my spouse sees his ugly mug in person at her dentist. the visits haven't helped!

[mrnyc]

yeah along with cool settings, it seems a lively area around the stadium, ballpark, etc. is something fans also want that helps the teams.

best if its organic, but in the modern day you can also build your way into that.

the arena district in columbus is a nice example of the latter.

[eburress]

I don't think anybody did one of these for Dallas so here goes:

1. Cowboys
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2. Mavericks
3. Stars
4. Rangers
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5. All the local universities, MLS soccer, minor league teams, etc...


Rangers probably beat out the Stars on attendance but it seems like there's more love for the Stars. Just my POV.

[mrnyc]

^ stars above rangers, eh?

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

^ stars above rangers, eh?

Don't see how that could be the case, but I don't love there, and they do. The Stars were a relocation while the Rangers have been there for years. Is it that big a deal that the Stars won one championship, and Rangers have not? I would guess the Mavs are a comfortable second, and Rangers a comfortable third.