Geography of Sports Team Markets
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- Опубліковано 22 лип 2024
- Analysis of the geographic spheres of influence for various cities and sports teams. Each city that is home to a pro sports franchise has a fan base that extends beyond the immediate area and they might not be located in the same metro area, or even the same state. In this video I discuss the nerdy side of sports geography.
Note for maps: The map depicting favorite NFL teams was from before the Rams moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles. However, the NBA map that depicts the Seattle Sonics is actually fairly recent. When asked "what is your favorite NBA team", the majority of respondents in Seattle said "Sonics" even though they had moved to Oklahoma City several years earlier.
Part 2 in the series: (Geography of Sports Markets 2)
• Geography of Sports Ma...
The Jacksonville jaguars actually have a big following in London believe it or not because of how many games they have played there
They might as well be relocated to London.
@@NikeTubeStudios in the long game I think it is their goal
@@Tarv1 yep. I think you're right
They have a better turnout there too lol
@@Tarv1 almost impossible, think about the travel every week. Huuuuge disadvantage
Surprised that Indianapolis doesn’t fall into “small market” especially with Chicago, Cincy, and Detroit poaching corners of the state
I think they are giving them the Louisville area
@@guppy719 I can see that geographically, but fan wise they’d fall more into Cincy/Nashville
Their baseball team soccer and hockey team go to Chicago but they do have a football and basketball team
@@Andy-po3ip - Nah seems like more Indy fans than Nashville fans in Louisville. Nashville doesn't have NBA either, Indy does, which is Louisville's calling card.
1. Cincinnati
2. Indianapolis
3. Nashville. Honestly could just be as many Chicago fans here too. I am one.
David Montgomery I’m from Louisville and the NFL team that we always get on tv is neither Cincy or Indy. We are Baltimore Ravens because of Lamar Jackson. Used to be the colts until he became the starter in Baltimore. For MLB it’s the Reds, NHL is Nashville Preds, NBA is pacers
Fun fact: Beginning in 1977 the Atlanta Braves sphere of influence included much of southwestern Wyoming. Why? Well, geography of course.🙂See, that part of Wyoming is too far from either the Salt Lake City or Denver TV over-the-air signals to reach. Beginning in 1955 the broadcast TV from Salt Lake was routed into a cable network that stretched over much of this high desert. Virtually all of the homes in the towns in the area were wired with coaxial cable decades before cable TV became a thing. When the TBS "superstation" was born, it was included with the basic cable package that everyone already had. When Ted Turner started broadcasting all of the Braves games in 1977, suddenly baseball fans in the area had a "home" team to root for.
Having access to all televised Mets games made me - then in Pennsylvania - a Mets fan in the 80s. In the late 90s, one of my "free" cable stations was the Cubs' channel, WGN. The predictable result was I became a Cubs fan. I live in the Philadelphia sports market, and I root hard for all the Philly teams. But I consider the Mets & Cubs "my teams" too, to a large extent.
Its 2023, so I'm not sure if Atlanta is a big market now including UGA. Well you idiots gave us Marjorie Taylor Greene
I'm a sports and geography junkie, and I found this absolutely fascinating!!! Great job!!!
I agree this was right up my alley. I think about stuff like this when I’m creating teams on video games or watching minor league baseball or sometimes wondering how in the hell some city has a team with so few people lol
@@keshawnstanford5336 exactly man i can’t describe how perfect this video was as a sports and geography nerd 😅
You should be professing a university course, I’m a history/geography major and I could listen to your lectures all day
Thank you! I'm glad you like the videos and find them useful. That's really all I can ask for with this channel.
I took US geography in college. The sports vid could be a solid 35 minutes of a lecture with the first 10 to 15 minutes dealing w tv markets which sets up the sports markets.
I’m a Middle School Social Studies teacher and adjunct History professor and I AGREE very cool video.
Im sitting here waiting for the Chargers
@@thescotslair that shitty San Diego market can be one video. Lost Gary sheffield, Fred McGriff, dave Winfield, Roberto alomar, the clippers, the chargers,
Braves played on TBS for years for Braves fans everywhere , being from Oregon I’m a hardcore Braves fan and know quite a few Braves fans in the northwest
The Braves and Cubs used TBS and WGN to get to more far flung areas.
The Braves had their AAA in my hometown for over 30 years, but when they moved the team in 2008, a lot of locals migrated to the Nationals, who are only about 100 miles away anyway.
I'm so sorry
exactly this. The geography of baseball is becoming more relevant, because the influence of WGN and TBS has not truly been felt for 15 years or so, but the Cubs and Braves are EASILY the second and third (debate that order if you wish) most well known and most broadly cheered for behind only the Yankees
But... our Mariners... traitor...
@@daveporter0217 As a Braves Fan going to Road Games, its amazing to see how many Braves fans across the country show up at Road games you would think the Braves would have no influence.
Don't forget, from 1933 to 1994 the Packers played many games in Milwaukee, at the old Milwaukee County Stadium (old home of the Brewers). So they have always considered Milwaukee part of their sphere of influence.
All of Wisconsin belongs to the Packers.
South Milwaukee fans in places like Kenosha could switch to the Chicago Bears though
@@TheFunStuff000 hell nah, that state line is very definitive
@@TheFunStuff000 I lived in Kenosha for 7-8 yrs when I was a teen and mostly Packer fans but yet a lot of Bears fans as well because Chicago is so expensive, sometimes they move to WI.
Old home of the Braves as well (1953 - 1965).
San Diego might be "small" by this metric, but the Padres attract a ton of fans from the other side of our southern border. They're named in Spanish, after all.
Great video! Thanks for sharing.
Even with an MLS team by 2025, San Diego will still be considered a "small market in sports"
Baseball is really the only sport where "small market" is a meaningful term.
Only sport where small market teams really have a chance
Actually, small market teams are extremely disadvantaged in baseball because they have much less money, and without a salary cap, they are significantly disadvantaged
@@johnplumleigh6612 I believe that's the case in all 4 of the major sports though I really only pay attention to basketball, where teams like the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers need to find success and develop their players through the draft because it's simply not a large market, or even a place where players would like to go.
@@andreaskennedy6337 No. There's a salary cap in the NBA. All teams have the same amount of money. Teams like Utah and Indiana have it harder because its not a very desirable place to play, which certainly involves the market to an extent but it's mostly about success. Golden State is actually a relatively small market since Portland will take any potential Oregon fans to the north and all of California south of them is accounted for by the Kings and Clippers/Lakers. But once they got a couple players in place and started to win, it's where everyone wants to be. The difference is in the NBA, NHL and NFL, you can give a player a ton of money but it's cutting into the amount you have for everyone else and every other team has that amount. Whereas in baseball, a large market team that makes a ton of money has WAY more money to spend than small market teams. There's individual players on the Yankees that make more than teams like the Athletics, Padres etc. COMBINED. Teams can outspend others by literally over a hundred million dollars to sign players. That's not possible in the other sports. If the NBA didn't have a salary cap the Knicks could just buy themselves to being good again and the Lakers could afford Lebron, Davis, Durant literally any and everyone they wanted. NHL didn't have a salary cap prior the mid 2000's and the Red Wings were similar to the Yankees in that regard. They had more money/were willing to spend more on players and dominate everyone else that didn't. The 2001-2002 Red Wings had 10+ hall of famers on their team. Pretty much the only way small market teams can get good in the MLB is having enough young players on small deals that get good at the same time before they're contracts are up and you have to pay up. You should watch Moneyball. It's about the Athletics early 2000's success despite compared to every other playoff team, they could afford no one.
@@andreaskennedy6337 it leads to a system where the small market teams create their own players, raise them through the minors, and when they play in the majors with success, the small market team can't afford them and a large market team buys them.
Interestingly enough, Connecticut used to be its own hockey market.
Never forget the Hartford Whalers.
The whale? Only beats Vancouver once or twice in a lifetime!
Still think the Whalers had the best color combo and logo of any team in sports.
And you can still buy new Whalers gear all over the region!
Long live Brass Bonanza
It would be interesting to also track how migration due to economic factors have affected sports markets. For example, Pittsburgh teams are known to “travel well” because so many Pittsburghers left the city to look for work when all the mills closed in the 70s and they retained their hometown preferences in their new locations.
I lived in Apopka FL and there was 3 steelers bars it was like being home I loved Apopka
I feel like there's probably a similar effect to this when teams visit Las Vegas, because of all the tourists who visit Vegas from all over the country and root for their hometown teams while there.
NHL has to include map of Canada. Toronto Maple Leafs are huge in terms of diehard fans and of course $$$$.
Same with the MLB, Toronto Blue Jays
Not huge on winning, though.
He did say he wasn’t going to cover Canada in this video.
The NHL was interesting in that it had significant areas of the US covered by Canadian teams.
Blue jays and the raptors have most of Canada behind them. Safe to say 5-15 million Canadian fans for those teams.
@@thanewage403 Safe to say that no NHL team would exceed the amount of Raptors and/or Blue Jays fans as well. I wouldn't even be surprised if there were more Habs fans than Leafs fans in Canada.
Ottawa would probably be a small market team being flanked by the Canadiens and Maple Leafs.
Gotta love the picture of Godrow’s goal at the end. I’m a Bruins fan but I respect the jab at Vegas.
I’m a DUCKS fan who can’t STAND the Sharks and yet even I respected it lmao 😆
Canada has no NFL teams so the Buffalo Bills has well over a 10 million pool with sw Ontario..
Go bills
Only once the CFL is finished in the fall with the Grey Cup. SW Ontario has the Argos in Toronto and the Ti-cats in Hamilton...with the Redblack in Ottawa rounding out the province's three teams.
Also, the Detroit Lions would garner most of the Windsor area fans.
@@davegreenlaw5654 Yes to a point but I follow both CFL and the Bills concurrently it's like NFL and NCAA in USA.
While there is substantial support for the Bills in Southern Ontario, there are three big factors:
As you get into Southwestern Ontario going towards Windsor you start getting into Lions territory.
You would be looking primarily at the Golden Horseshoe, which has a lot of people but the second iss is that there isn’t that solid of a fan base and you will find a lot of fans from various teams. I would say that I saw more Pats gear than Bills gear around when I loved Ontario in 2013 (although I am sure that fluctuates with success and if the Bills were a top team they would probably be the most popular in the area by a wide margin).
And third, don’t count on people being NFL fans in Southern Ontario. There are plenty, but there are also a hell of a lot who are CFL first and foremost or just don’t care about the NFL as it plays in hockey season.
I am a Bills fan from Southwestern Ontario. But their most solid support is probably in rural areas (like where I grew up).
The Sabres, though, maybe they have some supporters in the Hamilton/Niagara area, but that would be it. The rest of the area the Sabres might influence is Leafs country with a smattering of Sens or Habs fans who cheer for them to be contrary to the masses. Bruins fans are probably more common than Sabres for the same reason. And as you go towards Windsor the Red Wings become more influential.
My first airline flight into LAX was so memorable, as our glide pattern came down to around 15000 ft. you could see all the athletic fields in the suburbs, my first thought was no wander so many athletes came from southern Cal. They had year round opportunity to develop their skills.
Also explains why there are lots of basketball athletes from NYC, but not as much in warmer areas. Also, why most football players are not from the East Coast (not much roaming real estate).
Kudos on the Sharks hat at the end there. Did anyone else instinctively react "F*** the Knights" when they were mentioned? Because if so we're friends now.
Geography and sports, two of the things I love the most!
Jacksonville has influence in the entire country of the UK carefully prepared over many years.
The London-Jacksonville Jaguars.
Smh
Maybe if they actually won a few games
The fans of the UK are giving up on the Jaguars in droves. The owner and Jaguars management is the worst in pro sports year after year. They are destroying the franchise.
Where'd you hear that, from the Jaguars marketing department? Because if you rounded up all the NFL fans here in the UK and asked them all who they support, I'd put good money on the Jags being close to the bottom of the list.
This is absolutely top tier content! I adore stuff like this and spend so much time idly looking into market size geography and the sort. I'm already a huge fan off just this one video and I can't wait to watch more.
I love the Sports Industry and I love Geography (I majored in Sports Mgmt) so this video was perfect for me.
I really enjoy watching your videos, they're so interesting and well explained, keep that awesome job!
Here in Indiana we have a passionate fan base for the Colts, but outside of Indianapolis metro, you’ll find a generous split for Bears, Lions, Bengals, Browns and Packers. A lot grew up rooting for those teams prior to the Colts showing up, so it’s kinda interesting just how diverse it is for football. I would love to get survey data on NFL fans by county in Indiana, it would probably make an incredible interesting breakdown.
I love how Oakland As don’t even show up on the baseball map 😂 😢
The Mets aren't even on there either! 😆
@ethan ashley The Rampage are a former AHL team are they not?
@@NikeTubeStudios Or the Jets.
Neither do the Mets, and the Yankees are all over the fucking thing
The notion of "sphere of influence" is a bit nebulous in comparison to the actual market. Look at the east coast of the baseball map. The Yankees have parts of VA and NC. This tells me that the map is based on some poll question, and the Yankees won a plurality of the responses in areas that have no direct connection to a team (see Boston in pockets of the west). It's not like the sports report on the local news in Petersburg VA is leading off with the Yankees score.
You said you would ignore Canada (it's ok we're used to it) but it's worth noting that the MLB Toronto Blue Jays geographically have by far the largest fan base of any pro sports team in North America...All of Canada! it's 35 million people and goes from coast to coast to coast (Canada borders on 3 Oceans)
And I’m pretty sure maybe 6 million of those 38 million give a damn about baseball lol
“It’s okay we’re used to it”
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Same with the raptors
yoooooo, this might be my favorite channel of all time thank you geography king! I love the idea that you can take anything and make it about geography you should keep exploring that!
Mad respect to you for including the Supersonics in your basketball markets map! Theres still tons of Sonics fans in the PNW waiting on their return...
He mentioned in the comments, that the Sonics are included in the area as depicted in the map, because people when surveyed about their favorite team apparently still answered "Sonics" in this area, despite the team not present anymore.
As a Raptors fan (living in Ontario), the Sonics were my 2nd favourite team and I am also still waiting for their return!
I wish you had made this video waay earlier. I wrote my thesis about the geography of the 4 US major sports back in 2013 :) Great content, keep up the good work! Greetings from Hungary.
Thanks! Since you're from Hungary wouldn't it be the 5 major sports? No water polo? 😉
@@GeographyKing Actually it was about how big cities (big markets) and locations of sport teams correlate in the USA. It's interesting though, I love American sports, but I can hardly watch a water polo game :)
@@danielmolnar5886 I am fascinated on how you picked the MN Vikings for your picture.
@Brandon Van Tessel same here, but I am not upset because I am a Vikes fan
@@justyourlocalbernana1823 Same, just figured all teams in MN are the MN somethings. And besides the lynx, none have had title dynasties and barely title runs in the last 30 years so its interesting someone on another continent is a Vikes fan. Also a MN fan here.
I just found your channel Kyle and its quickly becoming one of my favorites! As a huge Sharks fan I was stoked to see you wearing a Sharks hat at the end of this video, then you showed the still pic of one of my favorite Sharks players Barclay Goodrow and his game 7 overtime goal against Las Vegas😁 Now I have a new favorite channel😂 Keep up the good work!
The Atlanta Braves sphere is even larger than you displayed on the map. A lot of Montana and surrounding area is Braves country. This is due to TBS and Ted Turner owning the Braves. Almost all Braves games in the 80s and 90s were broadcasted on the Superstation nationally. This ended up being the only baseball games some people could see on a regular basis, like in Montana. My barracks mate when I served in the Army from 2001 to 2003 was from Missoula, Montana, and was/is a diehard Braves fan because of TBS.
Same here. I grew up in rural North Dakota and while in Twins territory we didn't have the station that played Twins games. We had WGN and TBS though. Grew up a Braves fan because of TBS.
Once I form my own TV Network, I'll indoctrinate the entire North American population (Canadians too) into being Bills mafia, and soon, we'll be Idaho's favorite team!
I'm not American but I lived in NY for three years, and most of my exposure to baseball was through Braves games on TBS, so I'm a fan as well :D
I think it's actually pretty interesting that Michigan is almost always solid Detroit fans (with the only exceptions being the Packers in parts of the Upper Peninsula and maybe some overlap with fans of Chicago teams in Saginaw, MI, and the southwest.) Every other state kinda moves with the sport, franchise, and whathaveyou but the Detroit teams represent almost entirely within the confines of our state.
With that being said... With the NHL map at 1:37, there's no possible way anyone would consider Grand Rapids and up towards Traverse City on the Western side to be Blackhawk territory. It's resoundingly Red Wings territory. Great video though!
The Red Wings actually have training camp in Traverse City.
That map is actually which team is closest and not by fan base. I doubt there are many Hawks fans in western MI, though maybe after last season fans jumped ship! 😁 OK sorry, I couldn't resist the zinger.
Also, many Canadians who reside between Windsor & London are Red Wings fans.
It's the same with Wisconsin and the Packers, once you cross that Illinois/Wisconsin border you are in Packers territory even though you are still hours closer to Chicago.
Im a born Michigander and Im still a Tom Brady fan ever since he played in Michigan. So I was a Patriots fan for 20 years, now its the Bucs. Maybe when he reitires Ill give the Lions a chance, but the Lions are ass and I cant subject myself to be a fan of an ass team.
When it comes to the Cincinnati Reds, I'd say their sphere of influence extends to Indianapolis, as well. There are Cubs fans and other large market team fans here, but it's predominantly Reds country.
The area between Evansville and Vincennes, IN are a bit of an oddity, as the edges of three different MLB teams converge: the Cubs, the Cardinals, and the Reds. Given the odd geography of the Evansville media market, there are Reds fans extending into southern Illinois!
This is great; my two favorite topics merged.
Seattle is an interesting market for baseball, as it has had Japan in its sphere of influence due to the former owner of the team (Nintendo) and some prominent players being from Japan.
I love this channel like all the info is so interesting but out there enough to be like "wow you know that?" Only watched like five or six vids already got that bell on and subscribed. Love the work you do sir keep it up!
Jacksonville Jaguars have the London market.
Really? How’s that work out?
As a Bills fan from just outside London, no they don't. Sure the links are there (Shahid Khan owning Fulham FC which is a small London team; Jags playing multiple games there). However the majority of NFL fans here would go for teams that are popular/doing well (Steelers, Pats, Chiefs etc)
@@slwootwootuk4271 go bills!
@@slwootwootuk4271 go bills, glad to hear we stretch out that far
This video at least explains why Jacksonville is keen to be the UK's team, though it's going to find it tough here, even if it did move in. UK fans tend to stay loyal once they pick a team regardless of their own or their teams moves. Go Dolphins
Sports Geography should be a course in school.
I was a middle school social studies teacher and tried it one semester. Did not go over well with the girls for some reason.
I'm a H.S. social studies teacher, and a couple of us teach an elective called "Sports & Society."
In unit 1, our overarching question is "What is sport?"
Our unit 2 question is "Historically speaking, why are sports significant?"
We make connections between sports and sociology, history, politics, economy and geography.
It’s so nice to hear someone at least discuss MLS in a video that’s not solely focused on the MLS
What's the MLS?
@@burbenska Major League Soccer
@@burbenska The MLS a bunch of hipsters that never cared about sports Live action role-playing as British soccer hooligans to seem more cultured
Loved this episode. Probably every sport fan would like to see specific videos for every sport, so I'm just here to add my beg for the MLS one.
Nobody outside the yuppie neighborhoods in Portland care about the Timbers
Buffalo is very influenced by Southern Ontario. It's the only NHL city where O Canada and the Star Spangled Banner are sung at all home games.
Also, the Bills draw about 40% of their in-stadium fans from Canada. Don't forget that Toronto (5.8 million people), Hamilton (550K), and Niagara Region (450K) are less than 80 minutes from Buffalo proper, and I'm sure they also draw people from Kitchener/Cambridge/Waterloo (620K)
@@richardkralick3062 absolutely
No they sing both here at Winnipeg Jets home games too.
@@jackfishcampbell6745 even with 2 Canadian teams? I've never seen that happen.
You've never been to Detroit, have you?
In Ohio - like Columbus- Reds baseball and Browns football dominate despite being from different cities. Historic team success makes a huge difference.
Columbus definitely falls right in the middle and you can see the support for teams based on generational success for sure
I know I'm late to the party but just wanna say great video and channel. You got yourself a new subscriber. Keep it up pal.
Great analysis on the US Sports markets. Thank you for you contribution
Great video! I love that the Raptors graphic covered all of Canada lol
They got rid of their other NBA team.
I'm not sure if it's because so many people have left Buffalo or just because we have so many dedicated fans, but at least for football, the Buffalo fanbase spreads far beyond our immediate geographic area
It sure does thanks to Toronto. Such a shame the host skipped learning anything more about Canada.
GO BILLS!
Great information and insights! My home town recently received its 3d "major league" sporting franchise. The first, the Louisville Greys, it lost 145 years ago, and the second, the Kentucky Colonels, it lost in 1976, despite being the winningest team in league history. Anyway, it will be a real challenge for Racing Louisville to expand their market as the league expands with the San Diego Wave.
I am a huge sports fan and a map nut. Great video. TV deals are huge! That's why I'm an Oregonian that's a diehard Chicago Cubs fan, thanks to WGN. Great video.
I've read in the comments that a lot of people got into the Cubs and Braves due to basic cable showing the games. As a Giants fan it was a chance to watch them play those teams with their home announcers.
Kansas City is the perfect example of this distinction
The 1963 - 1971 Chiefs logo had a picture of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, & Arkansas behind a Chief.
The St. Louis Cardinals were the team supported by virtually the entire American west up until the mid 20th century, KMOX was the only am station that reached many of those states so they could hear the cardinals on the radio more than any other team as they were the furthest west for some time
The St. Louis Browns also had a nice following despite their poor records and were less pompous
This is awesome. So fascinating and captivating. Great Job! 👍👌
Idk if I would consider Vegas a small market just for the fact that the raiders influence sphere is still huge throughout Oakland, LA (where they originated from) and most of southern cal. Also with the booming success of the golden knights in their first few years, I would say their sphere of interest has stretched out to Utah, some parts of AZ (considering how bad the coyotes have been these last few decades) and maybe even some parts of California. Love your channel by the way, it’s really funny because my name is Kyle as well and I love geography, sports, National parks, and most other content you put out. Keep up the good work.
One thing I would like to add is I live in Columbus and more people root for the Cleveland teams than the Cincinnati teams
Because Mike Brown Let the Bengals get taken from him. Nobody goes to Bengal games because they don’t wanna put money in Mike Browns pocket. Any Steeler fans in Columbus? There’s a bunch in Cincinnati not that I’m one
@@kevinsealschott1090 Lived in Columbus for 19 years, now Cincinnati the last 5. The Steelers probably have the majority of the Columbus market, but the Browns have caught up in recent years. Before I left for college Columbus was probably 60% Steelers fans.
@@CUB3Jsg22 my man trust me it goes 1. Browns 2. Steelers 3. Bengals there might be more steelers fan than bengals here
It’s very close though steelers fans are well represented across Ohio sadly
The Steelers have fans all over America Bengals probably aren’t even all of Cincinnati hopefully that changes w Burrow though
Loved this video! As someone from Albany, yes it’s true most people root for the NYC teams, but we’re not very far from the Massachusetts/Vermont borders at all so I’d say as opposed to anywhere else in the state this is where you’d find the most Red Sox/Bruins/Pats/Celtics fans per capita
Came here to say this. There's a not insignificant amount of New England fans in the Hudson Valley and capital district, between the Red Sox and Patriots.
Nobody roots for the Mets though.
His video also doesn't take into account the "spite fans". Growing up in NJ (1990's) we had plenty of Red Sox and Cowboys fans because people hated the Yankees, Giants, and Jets..
@@BokBarber I was going to say that too. I go to Albany for work sometimes and see quite a bit of Red Sox stuff
Awesome and informative, thanks for putting this together.
Here in Iowa where we have not one professional sports team it was pretty unsurprising to see my state divided up between 4-5 teams for each sport. It’s so unfair we have no one to root for but I typically am a fan of all the Chicago teams.
You got arena football 🏈 I think.
A lot of Iowans are Chicago area team fans. I lived in the Davenport area from the mid 70’s to early 80’s and at that time the Quad Cities fan base for football was all over the place. The Bears were the most popular team but surprisingly the Cincinnati Bengals were the second most popular, due to Kenny Anderson being their starting QB. Which was a great joy to me as I was born and raised in Western Ohio and was a big Bengals fan (I still am). So at that time the Bears and the Bengals got most of the TV airtime on Sundays in the Quad Cities.
That’s also the time I learned to hate Harry Carrey. Though we got to watch plenty of Bengals games I usually only got to see my Reds play when they were playing the Cubs and this was at a time when the Big Red Machine was the best team in Baseball. LOL Oh how I hated having to watch the Reds play the Cubs on WGN and forced to listen to Harry. I ranked Harry up there with Howard Cosell!!! I would literally turn the volume off on the TV and tune in the Reds station on AM radio and listen to Marty and Joe instead. LOL
Iowa DOES have pro teams....just not MAJOR LEAGUE pro teams! Minor League teams (such as the Quad City River Bandits) are pro, since all of the players are paid!
Iowa Barnstormers historically but now with the reincarnation of the AFL, the Iowa Rampage
The Oklahoma City Thunder is a smaller market than any of the ones you listed. Louder arena but smaller market.
i think some people would support thunder in Seattle
No because they have alarge area of influence. The whole state of Oklahome has almost 4 million people. If you add to that some parts of Kansas, Arkansas and maybe Missouri, that’s well over 4 millions people, wich he considers to be the “line” that defines a small market.
@@kazuyayasui1505 if you support the Thunder in Seattle, ur a traitor
@@kazuyayasui1505 you would think incorrectly
@@masedgod1544 how it’s still has the SuperSonics history. Until Seattle gets their new / old team back the thunder is basically the super Sonics. Specially if you are older than 27+. Now if you route for the trailblazers then you are traitor.
All of Baja California (state in Mexico) roots for the padres and a lot for the chargers (they used to be in San Diego) so I dont think is a small market... TJ has a population over 2 mil and Mexicali over 1 mil, the state over 6 mil
Wow, very good. Video. Really explains a whole lot. I'm glad that Cincinnati has a decent following
Excellent work love your video great detail and knowledge of Geographic good job
with being a Wisconsin native, I love how he says “Wisconsin”
With being a transplant to WI - same lol
It's pronounced "Illinois State Park". :)
I thought of a nickname for WI that someone else has probably already thought of: Swissconsin
@@mistersquirrel0 Be gone, FIB! ;)
Great work! Keep it up.
Thanks!
Im 50 years old and this is info i always wanted to learn about . Good stuff !!
I really enjoyed this video and would love to see you do one of these in college sports, particularly football.
One thing I would definitely note in the Arizona market for the NHL, is that most NHL fans in Arizona are older, retired people from some of the cities of original six teams (mainly Boston, Chicago, Detroit, NY rangers fans) so quite a few fans in that area are fans of those 4 teams. Even the younger ones in the area are fans of those teams, influenced by older family members who moved to the state
Great vid, well researched and well thought-out. Let me just add that there are some teams that transcend geography: the Packers, Cowboys, Yankees, and Raiders readily come to mind.
Yes and the Celtics. Always see green shirts in the stands during road games.
@@richardshansky3040 Everybody loves a winner
The Lakers as well.
@@rashaadjorden1187 yep
I'm from New Jersey born and raised but my NFL team is the Raiderssssssssssssssssssss
New to your channel and enjoy it very much. Would be very helpful to see the map of market area again as you talk about each specific example. (In new videos.)
I appreciate you including MLS in these market discussions.
I don’t. The MLS is for gentrifying yuppies and hipsters
Growing up in Montana and living in Utah for the last 5 years, I think the intermountain west gets the shaft here because it's nearly impossible to categorize cities or counties, let alone states, by a single sphere of influence, unless it's the Jazz in Utah. In Montana, the closest metro areas with sports teams are in Calgary, SLC, Seattle, Denver, and then into the Upper Midwest. It makes for a really unique sports landscape, where we get both the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets on the local broadcast. Or the Mariners and Rockies. Great video though, I know the further from population centers, the more difficult this gets, just thought it was interesting coming from the spread-out west.
Inverted fascist Buffalo bill
Love the shark’s hat at the end! 🤘
This is a well put together video.
Really interesting video man. In Baseball, Baltimore is often categorized as a small market team as well. Just curious how many people fall under that sphere of influence, because with Philadelphia to the North and Washington to the south, it feels like Baltimore could also be considered a small market. They also get gobbled up by DC and Philly in hockey and basketball.
Ok. Please don't take this the wrong way as I am not flirting with you. I am a 62 year old grandma! I could care less if there were NO sports fans. No interest to me at all. Why did I watch? Because I like your voice. Same reason years ago I watched CBS News. Mr. Walter Cronkite had a soothing voice that I trusted. Isn't that strange? Anywho, you have a calming voice and I appreciate it. Don't know if you have little ones but if you do, read to them. Tht Really Hurted is right - you would make a great teacher or news anchor! There is something about your voice that commands attention, trusting and listening to. ~Sherrie in South Carolina
Thank you for the compliments. There's a lot of yelling and hyperbole on UA-cam and a lot of people looking for fame. I just want to be helpful and spread the love of geography. I have plans for where I want the "geography king" brand to go that doesn't really involve UA-cam. But I really enjoy making videos. Especially if people find the videos informative without being too boring.
@@GeographyKing I have not seen a boring video yet. Even if I don't particularly have interest in the subject I find something I like in them. Sometimes it's your personality. Your love of geography shines through always. Perhaps you'll get a kick outta this: my mom taught me to spell geography by teaching me - George Ellis's Oldest Girl Rode A Pony Home Yesterday. I was 6 years old and thought I was a very big girl to spell such a hard word. I've loved geography every since then.
@@sharonallen6921 I totally understand being young and loving geography. I started reading maps before kindergarten and was memorizing places not long after. I probably would have had a harder time remembering the sentence you remembered to spell geography than memorizing the countries of the world!
The Raiders aren't new, they played in Oakland for decades with a stint in L.A., so the argument that Reno would be fans of NorCal teams helps the Raiders as they've been watching the Raiders for years already.
I agree. The Raiders sphere of influence is well into LA and the Bay area.
i thinl he ment new to the city, but yea they have a lot of fans across cal
Reno is split between 49er fans and Raider fans. People who grew up as 49er fans won't switch. At the same token, many Las Vegas fans have grown up to route for other teams (Rams, Cardinals, Raiders, 49ers , Cowboys, Packers). Their primary team doesn't change. It's complicated in the west. A's are the primary team in the East Bay, but they are minor in Santa Clara County and San Mateo. SF and Marin, they might as well be in Reno. The A's are a nuisance. Their market is Alameda, Contra Costa, and parts of Solano County.
Anyone who's ever been in LA knows the Raiders run this fuckin city. Lived here my whole life
@@ooonyxxx amen, brotha. Raider fan til I die. Mid-city til I die
Liked and subscribed.
Houston is the largest metro area without an NHL team and they are going to expand into Seattle to make the league 32 teams. Hoping to see a team move here soon. There’s a big following for the movement to bring the NHL to Houston.
You discounting a key element of what makes a sports market in a city or metro area a large sports market, and it's the media presence in that metro area. If the area has several major newspapers/radio stations/media outlets with nationwide circulation/syndication and influence and many prominent sports writers and sports analysts and sports reporter personalities tied to those papers/radio stations/cities/teams, that gives those teams in those cities more weight than other teams.
I think you may have missed what the real idea of a large or small sports market really is. It doesn’t really have anything to do with the actual city population when it comes to sports, because even a decent sized metro area has more than enough people to support a pro team. A true sports market would be how many people in that metro area are in that market. For example even though south Florida is a large metro area, the Florida panthers are a small market team as they don’t have a large amount of people in the market for hockey in SoFlo. It works the same the other way around- the Edmonton oilers may play in a relatively small city, however almost everyone in that city is a hardcore oilers fan, so that would be considered a larger market.
Winnipeg Jets would fit this, they are one of the smallest yet their area really loves hockey so they show up
The Florida baseball teams never draw well, because the people with most of the money are the snowbirds who don't even live there during most of baseball season.
@@Compucles The Florida baseball teams don't draw well for different reasons.
The Marlins are perpetually bad. The Rays play in a dump in St. Petersburg, a long drive from Tampa.
The Panthers have struggled at the gate due to past mediocrity. They were better this past season.
@@penguinsfan251 Even the rare times the Marlins are good (including the 2 times they won the World Series), they don't draw well, and not even their new stadium provided as much of an attendance boost as it does for any other team that gets one.
Meanwhile, the fact remains that the richest residents don't actually live there during most of baseball season, something that doesn't affect the other Florida sports teams nearly as much.
"you're not gonna find too many folks in Albany rooting for the Boston teams" you'd be surprised
Yeah I thought so too. The Masspike is right there...
I worked with a guy, who grew up in Albany, who was a Red Sox fan.
Eh. Red Sox fans are all over the country
i’m from toronto and i’d say a lot of people are bills fans (though a lot of people also pick a team for other reasons, for example i have family in cleveland so i root for the browns) and to me to be a sabres fan is insane with the leafs actually being in southern ontario. thanks for the video man! fascinating
My friend was from Hamilton and die hard Ti-Cats fan and he hated Toronto teams that he would root for the Sabers overs the Leafs
The picture of Scott Norwood probably brought all the Bills fans to tears. Thirty years ago, but it still feels too soon.
Very interesting video. As a Braves fan, I knew "Braves Country" was large, but didn't realize it was the 2nd biggest market.
Now we just need them to start spending money like a big market team instead of a mid-market team.
the MLS map at 1:45 is now woefully out of date because there's now the Nashville SC taking over the Tennessee Valley region.
and inter miami
I seriously doubt that anyone outside of the Nashville metro area will be paying them any attention. I live in East Tennessee and no one here even knows there's a professional soccer team in Nashville. Same with the Titans. No one cares much for them over here.
@@ljones436 that’s how it is for lots of teams. MLS support is very localized, very few fans are outside teams’ metro market (and some teams don’t have many fans in their own market too)
Liking or not liking the Portland Timbers is actually a class divided signifier in the Portland metro area. And that teams influence does not reach the rest of the state in the same way the blazer do
@@collinwhitehead The popularity of the MLS (much like The shady economics that finance it) it’s really overinflated than it’s reality
To get an idea of how the Braves national impact was. The Braves not only were broadcast on TBS, they also played in the NL West in the 80s and early 90s so would play against SF, LA, SD, Cincinatti, Houston. So you'd see Braves games on late at night when they did their west coast trips and TBS would get eyes on their station from those different markets. I remember watching Braves games in the San Jose area in the late 80s on TBS. Also if you were a baseball junkie on the west coast and, you could catch a Cubs game on WGN during the day, Braves game around 4 to 5 pm or so... then watch your local team at 8
Superb video. One minor flaw - other than transplants from the northern part of the state, NOBODY in Cincinnati roots for the Cavaliers.
Your not wrong lol
The Syracuse area is a tough one. Culturally it’s much more similar to Buffalo and it’s also closer but there are plenty of fans of NYC teams. There are also Bills/Rangers fans and Giants/Sabres fans to make things more confusing
Go bills
Syracuse born, raised, and still summering (winters in FL). There are a wide assortment of fans--sort of split between the Yankees and Red Sox in pro baseball. The city has many college and local farm teams (SU has a rabid following of the Orange (football and basketball), and also hockey's Crunch and the baseball team I haven't kept up with recently--for the longest time they were the Chiefs, and at some point became the SkyChiefs--the farm team of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Myself, I'm in my New England parent's roots for siding with the Red Sox and the Pats.
11:37 it’d be pretty interesting to do a follow up video including England for Jacksonville or Mexico for Cowboys/Steelers etc. 🧐
There are also a lot of Raiders fans in Mexico.
“Way out in the sticks...” 😂😂😂. You’re hilarious, dude!
Thanks Kyle! Love it
you're right about the sphere of influence on the Canadian side for American teams. Especially when it comes to the NFL, although Toronto and Hamilton have CFL teams, I would say most southern Ontarians watch NFL over CFL and a good chunk of that fan base in Toronto-Niagara is for the Buffalo Bills, especially when you get closer to Buffalo. But there are also a number of Pittsburgh Steelers fans and you even see some New England Patriots gear every once and a while. In southwestern Ontario as you get closer to Detroit, cities like London Ontario have a good contingent of Detroit Lions fans as I'm sure most cities near the US border follow their closest NFL teams (like Vancouver following the Seahawks). With respect to hockey, it's another story, most in Toronto are diehard Leafs fans (or suspect Montreal Canadiens fans), however, there are people like my brother who was born and raised in the Toronto area, but actually follows the Buffalo Sabres. He has fun going to the Toronto at Buffalo games which are usually overwhelmed by Maple Leafs fans. He enjoys letting them know he is from Toronto while wearing his Sabres jersey lol
Go bills, go sabres
Great video 👍 you would be a great teacher.
Thank you for the kind words. I'm always open to compliments!
Interesting video, thanks for making it! I'd say Baltimore is a very small market because the DC area is a very separate area with separate local TV stations. Baltimore is squeezed between Pittsburgh, Philly, and DC. Take out the suburban DC fans who support the Nats and WFT, Baltimore's sphere of influence is barely 4 million at best.
Really cool video. I love that MLS was also involved. Soccer in Atlanta is huge.
Oh yeah ATL United is GOD TIER. ( A person born and raised in the ATL Metro)
I hope you beat the Portland Timbers every time because only upper middle-class hipsters in yuppie parts of Portland even care we have a soccer team
The Oakland A's are considered a "small market team" because of their low team salary aka moneyball.
Awesome video!
Great video. As a resident of Columbus, Ohio, the city leans about 60/40 but for Cleveland teams
I took a Geography of Sport class in college and loved it. Wish I had the detailed pdfs for the maps showcased in this video
He mentions small but large market areas, and completely Misses Minneapolis-St. Paul
*sad Minnesotan noises*
Libtards don’t deserve a mention
@@chuckinhouston9952 Yes Libertarians are the scum of the earth, but what has that to do with Minneapolis
No, Minneapolis-St. Paul is a well-known large market. It’s one of only 6 metro areas that has all 6 professional sports...
@@chuckinhouston9952 gonna cry?
Louisville Kentucky has won a top level pro team championship more recently than several other cities despite not having a pro team since 1976.
More major championships than Nashville, Memphis, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Sacramento, Las Vegas.
Braves sphere of influence is quite large due to TBS broadcasting Braves games across the country for many years too.
I used to watch Braves games growing up in Chicago.
This subject fascinates me, and I'd be curious if you could do one about college sports, which, if anything, bring up even more regional pride.
I met a Met fan in Oregon one time. He said Yankee fans are everywhere, but if you're a Met fan, you're from New York. I think there is some truth to that.
i'm impressed dude, that you included MLS in this vid...many don't seem to think MLS is a real league so props to you.
Cities that have an MLS team tend to love it and get good attendance but people outside of cities with teams don't know as much about it. TV doesn't want to show sports that aren't 50% commercials.
@@GeographyKing in Portland support for the MLS is actually a signifier of the class divide. Gentrifiers watch the MLS and have a hard time understanding that anyone outside of their culture even cares it exists
The importance of superstations can’t be overstated. My family is St. Louis Cardinals’ fans but we couldn’t watch their games growing up in central Illinois, so we became secondary Braves’ fans because of TBS, even though we are far from Atlanta.
And WREG made lots of Cubs fans.
The adjacent Champlain Valley-Montreal markets were fascinating. The three principal cities in the markets each put a high quality signal into the other two cities. The Vermont side got allocated to the Boston teams, The one channel licensed on the New York side got either New York City or Buffalo. The Montreal stations carried the Expos and the Canadiens.
In the case of Major League Baseball, the Red Sox had an affiliate in Burlington, Vermont, which impeded national games offering the Yankees. Because the CBC had a contract with the Expos, the NBC game of the week either went to the New York Mets, or the second choice team in the event that there was some conflict with the Expos or the Mets: The Atlanta Braves.
Now you will get why the third choice would be the Braves, but for those who don't, this was less than 30 years after the Braves left Boston. There were still Braves fans in New England.
We never knew who our NFC game was going to be. CBS was licensed to Vermont. AFC was always Buffalo and the Jets because NBC was licensed to the New York side.
The NBA was either the Celtics or the Buffalo Braves, and all of our hockey programming came from the CBC.
It became much less complicated when I moved to Atlanta.