Quote:
Originally Posted by bob rulz
I don't think that's for a lack of trying, and I also don't really see how having another professional sports team would change that. I don't really think if the MLB comes to Salt Lake City that they're going to be competing for fans. You're either going to be fans of both of them, or just 1 of them because you either don't like one of the sports or you're already a fan of another MLB team. Maybe your level of investment in each could change depending on success, but if an MLB team comes in and is amazing very quickly and the Jazz are underwhelming, I don't see the Jazz suddenly losing a bunch of support just because there's a baseball team doing better. I don't think that's really how sports fandom works.
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It's not necessarily competing for fans directly (tho, just based on Utah's size, it's certain they will have a significant overlap). Rather, it's about competing for interest. The Jazz have been the number one team in Utah for nearly 40 years (back when they came in 1979, you could reason the Golden Eagles were more popular). But that's largely due to the fact they've been the only major league show in town for a bulk of those years.
Utahns are a unique group of people. They love to rail against California and the more popular states but crave the attention of being a big league kind of town. The Jazz gave 'em that. It's the only real sport right now where they're on equal footing with Los Angeles or New York or other major US cities that wouldn't give Salt Lake a second thought. If you grew up in the late 90s, and experienced the Jazz vs Lakers WCF in 1998 (or the semifinals in 1997), you know exactly what I am talking about
: for a moment, Salt Lake bested the giant that was LA.
I'm assuming it was similar in 1988 when the Jazz and Lakers duked it out in their epic seven-game semifinal series ... but that was before my time.
My point is that a MLB team creates a new outlet for that feeling. Now you've got the Dodgers and maybe the Yankees and Red Sox and Cubs and the Phillies and the Braves rolling into town (gotta love interleague play). Suddenly, the interest shifts. If that MLB team is more successful, especially in the postseason, it might garner more buzz than the frequently disappointing Jazz.
Next thing you know, this new MLB team is the king of the town and maybe Salt Lake starts shifting away from being a NBA-first city.
To be honest, I think there's a reason the Millers sold the Jazz and why they suddenly, not even a few years later, are interested in owning a MLB team. Initially, people thought they were selling to get out of the major league ownership - but I think the NBA's activism and general make-up demographically proved a challenge (not only to get talent to Salt Lake but placate a largely conservative fan base). There's no better example of this than Donovan Mitchell and his comments (whether you agree with them or not, it's still his perspective as a Black man) since leaving the Jazz.
A MLB team is not going to have that complexity. There isn't going to be as many protests or athletes speaking out about Black Lives Matter or events focused on a demographic that is almost foreign to Utah.
As of 2021, 73% of NBA players were Black. 16.8% were white.
In the MLB? 57.5% are white. Only 7.7% are Black.
Not only could it be easier to attract talent to Utah as a whole, again, you're not likely to see the politicalizing of the league like you've seen with the NBA (and to be clear: I have no problem with what the NBA has done, especially since it's one of the most recognizable institutions when it comes to racial breakdowns). But I'm not naive about Utah. Utah is one of the most conservative states in the country, only outpaced probably by Idaho, Wyoming and possibly Oklahoma. I know to a lot of white fans, when Black players talk about inequality or racial issues, it's a turnoff because they don't want to hear it.
If those fans start gravitating to the less contentious MLB, even if the NBA remains the giant it is nationally, certainly that might start to impact the Jazz if they're not keeping up - if they're not putting out teams who actually do something in the playoffs.
Because, ultimately, those fans are transferring that relationship to another team that provides the same outlet vs those big bad larger city teams. And even though there isn't much overlap schedule-wise, interest can wane overall just by the sheer fact they're maybe not the top major league team in the state anymore.
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