What city is the best sports city? (City. Not state. U.S.only)

[Jaydumo20]

If the Pats only had the 70K fans that fit in the arena AND no one was willing to attend from more than 20 miles away, then the location of the stadium could 100% define the fanbase. This is not the case for the Pats or any sports teams in various cities where average fan travel to stadiums are just as long as travel from Boston to Gillette. Similar to any product, market penetration should define whether a city or team owns a town, and clearly Boston & the Pats are intensely tied.

I know you aren't replying to me. But I'll chime in. You are correct if you look at it that way. Hard to argue.
But the Pats wisely changed their name to New England because they are one of a few teams that have a diaspora fan base. The Denver Broncos, the Braves, Red Sox, for example all have a multi-state fan base because of a lack of centralized pro sports team in the surrounding states. Boston is the hub, as is Denver, or Atlanta because you aren't going to put the stadium near Burlington VT, or Billings, Montana. This is a unique phenomenon that applies to only a few teams. (Notre Dame being the most unique spread out Diaspora in the country- Irish Catholics)

 

[Deepster]

White sox baseball over the red sox is CRAZY

I never said that.

The Cubs are equal to the Sox, in my opinion. Old destination type stadium in a neighborhood. Similar loser "woe is me" mentality for decades and decades. Huge part of the local culture. Oh, and Chicago also has the White Sox that have been around since 1901.

 

[Deepster]

If the Pats only had the 70K fans that fit in the arena AND no one was willing to attend from more than 20 miles away, then the location of the stadium could 100% define the fanbase. This is not the case for the Pats or any sports teams in various cities where average fan travel to stadiums are just as long as travel from Boston to Gillette. Similar to any product, market penetration should define whether a city or team owns a town, and clearly Boston & the Pats are intensely tied.

But you can't count fans from New Hampshire and Maine when you argue if BOSTON is the best sports city.

 

[John]

NYC

 

[Tenspro2002]

I feel like this is defined less by championships and more by the passion of the fans. In what city is everyone a fan of their team(s) and the vibe of the city dovetails with the vibe of the team(s)?

I feel like this actually rules out the biggest cities like NYC and LA, where the people living there often have a lot more going on, often come from elsewhere, and whose mood often don't necessarily depend on their teams' fortunes.

By gut feeling, I'm getting more like that second tier of city -- Boston, Philly, Pittsburgh for a bit smaller feel.

Among the largest cities, the Bay Area (San Francisco if you must) or Chicago.

 

[Viet Vet]

No one has addressed college sports. Add them into the mix (the question did not say professional sports) and Philly's Big Five basketball elevates its status.

 

[TroyHall98]

I've lived in Boston, NY and SF, and average folks in the Bay Area were, by a good distance, much more invested in their local teams than folks here.

I was genuinely shocked by that, but those people lived and died with the Giants, A's, Niners and Dubs. It was part of the culture of everyone from immigrant tech bros to the Castro LGBTQ community.

Don’t forget the Sharks as well.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I'm going to give two different answers.

I think New York has the best breadth of knowledge across all sports. IMO, it's a market that not only cares about its pro teams, but a ton of people have rooting interests across numerous college conferences, and is pretty conversant on sports like tennis, golf, boxing, and others. Other sports markets tend to be more provincial, in my experience.

Pittsburgh is a pretty decent place now, but for decades it had nothing going for it except sports - even when its teams were horrible. That became supercharged with the 70s Steelers and 90s Penguins. Pittsburgh went from a baseball town (Pirates, Grays, Crawfords) to a three-sport town, emphasis on football. I've only lived in East Coast cities, but Pittsburgh was the first place where I encountered people wearing jerseys to funerals and christenings. I've been to Mets and Yankees playoff games (WS in Yankee case), but the Cueto wildcard game was by far the most engaged crowd I've ever experienced first hand at any sporting contest. If the Pirates were more routinely decent, I think Pittsburgh would be an easy call for best sports city - which includes Pitt and (annoyingly) Penn State sports, which puts them ahead of Boston, which doesn't give a crap about college sports other than the Frozen Four.

This is a great call. I almost said Pittsburgh. It is saturation. Like Buffalo. Sabres and Bills are it. For everyone there, Thats it.

 

[Dogdeacon]

But you can't count fans from New Hampshire and Maine when you argue if BOSTON is the best sports city.

I guess, but Boston is such a draw that it brings fans to the city from those stats.
And if the quantity + density of fans were the metric than NY absolutely wins. Yet there it is somehow more acceptable for Yankee fans not to be from the city or the Bronx and come from NY, NJ and CT.

For Boston and other cities, I think people that commute into Boston count. And so many people live in the city when they are in 20's-30's then move north, south & west (and continually further) as they get older. I have never heard of anyone's Boston sportfandom getting affected b/c they live in Needham instead of Charlestown or b/c they move to NH for more land/taxes whatever.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

That's an insane take. Of course the Patriots are Boston's team.

Agreed - turn on sports talk radio/tv in Boston and it's a lot of Pats. A lot of Pats.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Nah, their stadium is practically part of the metroplex. Foxborough is two counties away from Boston.

No it's not. It's a stop on the commuter rail line. It's in Norfolk county which includes Brookline , Milton and Quincy. At least it's in the same state.

 

[Deepster]

I guess, but Boston is such a draw that it brings fans to the city from those stats.
And if the quantity + density of fans were the metric than NY absolutely wins. Yet there it is somehow more acceptable for Yankee fans not to be from the city or the Bronx and come from NY, NJ and CT.

For Boston and other cities, I think people that commute into Boston count. And so many people live in the city when they are in 20's-30's then move north, south & west (and continually further) as they get older. I have never heard of anyone's Boston sportfandom getting affected b/c they live in Needham instead of Charlestown or b/c they move to NH for more land/taxes whatever.

By that logic, the Cowboys have a huge following outside Dallas and outside the state of TX. Do we include all of them in determining if Dallas is a great sports city?

Same with the Raiders. They have fans from their time in Oakland, and in Los Angeles....and they have a huge national fan base. Is Las Vegas a great sports city?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Don’t forget the Sharks as well.

Now this is a real geography question. Does San Francisco get the Sharks (San Jose) and Niners (Santa Clara) or even the A's? Giants are the only team in the City. San Jose is bigger than SF and I consider Santa Clara is just an extension of San Jose.

 

[HuskyHawk]

By that logic, the Cowboys have a huge following outside Dallas and outside the state of TX. Do we include all of them in determining if Dallas is a great sports city?

Same with the Raiders. They have fans from their time in Oakland, and in Los Angeles....and they have a huge national fan base. Is Las Vegas a great sports city?

The Cowboys don't even play in Dallas. Nor do the Rangers. I think we need to consider the metro area.

 

[ucp990411]

Storrs CT. The basketball capital of the world. But is it a city?

 

[Dogdeacon]

The Cowboys don't even play in Dallas. Nor do the Rangers. I think we need to consider the metro area.

Yep, stepped on the point with invoking the Cowboys who play in Arlington not Dallas. But they have Dallas in their name so that creates the identity?!

And I think the answer is yes a sports city's or team's strength/ranking power is partially its ability to draw people in, the more people and the further the more powerful, valuable, better the team brand and the cities' strength as a sports town. Namely its so good that people from miles away watch or follow the town as if its their own. They value identifying with these great sports towns.

 

[Apollo]

As much as I hate to admit it (I’m a NY guy), Boston fans are the most loyal and have a championship pedigree through all sports. What sets them apart from NY is that they all rally around one team per sport. NY gets dinged here for having two MLB, NHL, NBA & NFL teams so the fan bases get split. Go to Boston for any game, and the whole city is cheering them on.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

That's interesting because I always hear that sports fans out west and the south typically aren't as invested in their teams as the Northeast markets. I've only lived in Boston and Connecticut so I don't have the perspective you have.

In my experience out here the Dodgers and the Lakers are the two teams that have generational fanbases across all socioeconomic lines. They're the two that are really enmeshed in the cultural fabric of the city.

 

[HooperScooper]

Of course, but they're not in the city of Boston. Or very near the city. And the team uses the Providence airport is all I'm saying.

Not to belabor this point because it's a dumb argument, but many NFL stadiums are not in the city that is in their name. The stadiums are big with lots of parking around them so when they built new stadiums they put them out in the suburbs because that is where there was enough land. The San Francisco '49ers are in Santa Clara, which is 50 miles from San Francisco and right next to San Jose. AT&T Stadium for the Cowboys is 20 miles from Dallas. I think it's closer to Fort Worth. Met Life Stadium for the New York Giants and New York Jets isn't even in the state of New York. And teams I'm sure use the Newark Airport and not JFK or LaGuardia. See how dumb this argument is?

 

[HooperScooper]

In my experience out here the Dodgers and the Lakers are the two teams that have generational fanbases across all socioeconomic lines. They're the two that are really enmeshed in the cultural fabric of the city.

I can buy that. The only thing I've heard though is in Boston, NY, Philadelphia, etc. fans are very mad when their teams don't do well. In LA the Dodgers or Lakers lose and people are like, "Oh well." Something to do with the lifestyle/weather. But that's second hand information. I've never lived out there and experienced it.

 

[storrsroars]

I can buy that. The only thing I've heard though is in Boston, NY, Philadelphia, etc. fans are very mad when their teams don't do well. In LA the Dodgers or Lakers lose and people are like, "Oh well." Something to do with the lifestyle/weather. But that's second hand information. I've never lived out there and experienced it.

I think the most notable difference is that a fan wearing Yankee gear in Fenway or a fan wearing Sox gear in Yankee Stadium will be razzed and good-naturedly abused.

A fan wearing opposing gear in the Dodgers parking lot will be beaten within an inch of their life.

I suppose that says something about fan passion, no?

 

[Jaydumo20]

In my experience out here the Dodgers and the Lakers are the two teams that have generational fanbases across all socioeconomic lines. They're the two that are really enmeshed in the cultural fabric of the city.

@HooperScooper I hear what you're saying. There is a very casual Hollywood fan base. But....
I used to go to about 20 Dodgers games/ year maybe more. When I first started going I thought the fanbase was fickle and not very knowledgeable........ that was until I started to talk to the Latino dodger fanbase. Latino Dodgers fans are of the most intense fan bases in the country and they know their stuff.

 

[BuffaloHusky]

Denver hasn't been mentioned. The Broncos are a religion, the fans show up for the major sports and only the Rockies haven't won a championship.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I can buy that. The only thing I've heard though is in Boston, NY, Philadelphia, etc. fans are very mad when their teams don't do well. In LA the Dodgers or Lakers lose and people are like, "Oh well." Something to do with the lifestyle/weather. But that's second hand information. I've never lived out there and experienced it.

Westsiders like me - although I don't root for either team - that are typically transplants fit that mold. You get out of the west side and to the places where families have been here for generations and they're die-hards like any east coast city.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

@HooperScooper I hear what you're saying. There is a very casual Hollywood fan base. But....
I used to go to about 20 Dodgers games/ year maybe more. When I first started going I thought the fanbase was fickle and not very knowledgeable........ that was until I started to talk to the Latino dodger fanbase. Latino Dodgers fans are of the most intense fan bases in the country and they know their stuff.

Los Doyers!