I’ve often wondered what it was like living in a state that has no major professional sports teams. Is there a general feeling of disconnect? Who, for instance, do people living in central South Dakota cheer for during football season? What baseball team do most people in Alabama support?Etc…
Having been to both SD and AL, I’ve noticed the South Dakotans usually root for the Minnesota or Colorado teams. Alabamans tend to go towards their Goergia neighbors.
There’s lots of states out there though: Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana, etc. A lot of those states root for their collegiate teams. Don’t discount the importance of local high school or regional collegiate sports for them guys.
Tripler
Yeah, when Minot, ND is five hours away from Fargo or Grand Forks, you tend to focus on the local stuff.
I’ve noticed the couple times I’ve been in SD that high school baseball was a huge topic in places like Sioux Falls.
But it can also be huge in small towns in states that do have pro sports teams.
Regarding Alabama, if we are talking football I’d averr it depends on what part of the state you are talking about. The Saints have a big fan base in the south, the Titans are building one in the north and the Falcons have always been a state-wide favorite. No real “disconnect.” But, and this is a BIG but, college football trumps all in AL, even when there were pro-football teams active in the state (WFL, USFL, etc.). As far as baseball is concerned, overwhelming Braves fan base, with a little Cardinal thrown in. Pro basketball, hockey fandom is neglible. IMHO.
Around here, folks basically root for whomever they want. Seattle and Denver seem to be the most popular, but you’ll find fans of any team you care to name. This might be influenced by the fact that this is a college town, so the population comes from rather far-flung places.
I’m not going to speak for the whole state of Arkansas, but the Razorbacks are pretty popular in my family of TN/AR residents since for the most part the TN people couldn’t care less.
-Lil
I grew up in Nebraska. No pro teams there. College football has always been a pretty big deal, although that is partly a function of the team’s success (that is, focusing on college teams may not the outlet for our neighbors in, say South Dakota or Wyoming). Some people tend to identify with teams that are reasonably nearby–especially those within reasonable travel distance. I grew up a Royals fan for the sole reason that I went to a few games as a kid. Kansas City and Denver are both pretty close for people in many parts of Nebraska.
I don’t know if the lack of pro teams is the reason, but I do know that attendance at local and regional amateur sporting events is heavy. People make a pretty deal out of the college world series in Omaha, for example. I was told that when the NCAA held the Elite 8 volleyball final in my small hometown, they had the best attendance they have had in the history of the tournament.
Twin Bridges MT (pop. <400) seems to have more than it’s fair share of Packers fans but otherwise Denver or Seattle, pro baseball and basketball are generally ignored, and Hockey seems split between Calgary & Denver. We do tend to go totally apeshit about 8-man football, girls volleyball and peewee hockey, however.
In AL, our art even reflects our passion for football.
How about if you live in East St. Louis which I believe is in Illinois? Do you cheer on the Bears or Rams?
Many Alaskans root for Seattle teams. (Seahawks, Mariners)
For East St. Lou the local TV is St. Louis based so I don’t think that the river and state line mean much. I grew up in St. Louis and the population within the local broadcast footprint followed the Cards.
I live in the KC area now and the fan base for the Royals and Chiefs (located in KC,MO) is the same way with the Kansas population.
CrankyAsAnOldMan stated what I think is common. If a pro team is within a reasonable travel distance then it probably has the majority of the fn base.
Former Oklahoma resident here.
I was always an Oklahoma Sooners fan (hey they used to get paid like professional athletes 
). People don’t necessarily have a specific favorite pro team… at least not one based on geography.
I like all teams Texas when it comes to the pros, but that’s just me.
Cowboys, Rangers, Mavericks, Stars.
Boo to Astros, Texans, Spurs, Rockets
Better suited to IMHO, so let’s move it.
samclem GQ moderator
How about Hawaiians? Is there a general predilection for Southern Californian teams, or is there truly a complete disconnect?
Most of Delaware’s population is in Wilmington, and roots for Philadelphia teams in their favorite sports. However, south of the C & D Canal, the population’s roots extend towards Baltimore and Washington D.C. The local accent owes a lot to the Baltimore accent, and most of our tourists are from the D.C. suburbs. So downstate, you’ve got lots of Orioles and Redskins fans. Most of this is cheering for the same team your dad cheered for, so there aren’t as many fans of the Nats and the Ravens.
There are also team “fads” locally - when I was in middle school, I can remember everyone wearing big puffy team jackets for the Raiders, or wearing Chicago Bulls jerseys to gym class. Baseball caps were all stylish but an Oakland A’s green-and-gold hat was the thing to have. I don’t know much about sports, so this could be due to those teams winning multiple championships against their cross-town rivals, or scoring lots of goals when the other team’s batsman lost his nerve and fumbled a hole-in-one.
Most San Diegans apparently didn’t know we had a football team until 2004. Before then, they rooted for the Denver Broncos. If you ever see someone wearing Chargers gear in San Diego, they were probably a Broncos fan four years ago and are currently overcompensating. I try not to associate with these people.
It’s an interesting topic.
And I have a follow-up question for it:
What happens to network game telecasts? A lot of times, there is a “local market” priority. It can be rather marked in a place like the stretch of I-95 between Baltimore and DC (where I live), in which affiliates need to choose a team allegiance to broadcast. It helps for football that Fox has the contract for NFC, and Redskins get Fox 5 DC (though not always Fox 45 Baltimore), while CBS holds the AFC contract, so the Ravens get CBS 13 Baltimore (though not always CBS 9 DC). But baseball is a pretty hotly disputed ground for television broadcast, and thanks to Peter Angelos’ maneuverings, the Nationals are almost entirely shut out of broadcast, though the Orioles are easy enough to find.
But if there is no local market based on in-state preference, what happens in states like the Dakotas or Oklahoma? Do they default to the nearest geographical team, even if it’s a state or two away? Is it a random toss-up on which game they decide to show? Do they just try and show the most interesting match-up each week?
Two years ago, for their 50th Anniversary, Sports Illustrated did a 50-states theme. Every week, they focused on a different state and one page had a poll as to which is their favorite teams in each major sport. (Stupidly, the California issue had separate polls for Northern California and Southern California - it would have been nice to know which teams get more statewide support.)
I’ve managed to find it on line. Bearing in mind that this is from 2004 (Washington Nationals still Montreal Expos, Charlotte Bobcats didn’t begin until September, Hornets had not yet played in OKC), here’s the list.
State - Favorite MLB - Favorite NFL - Favorite NBA - Favorite NHL - Favorite Pro Sports overall
AL - Braves - Titans - Lakers (only 9%, 58% said no fav) - Red Wings (only 3%, 71% said no fav) - Braves
AK - Mariners - Seahawks - Lakers - Devils - Seahawks
AZ - Diamondbacks - Cardinals - Suns - Coyotes - Diamondbacks
AR - Cardinals - Cowboys - Lakers - Red Wings (only 6%, 62% said no fav) - Cowboys
CA(N) - Giants - 49ers - Kings - Sharks - 49ers
CA(S) - Dodgers - Chargers/49ers (tie) - Lakers - Ducks - Lakers
CO - Rockies - Broncos - Nuggets - Avalanche - Broncos
CT - Yankees - Giants - Celtics - Rangers - Yankees
DE - Phillies - Eagles - 76ers - Flyers - Eagles
FL - Marlins - Dolpins/Buccaneers (tie) - Heat - Panthers - Dolphins/Buccaneers (tie)
GA - Braves - Falcons - Hawks - Thrashers - Braves
HI - Giants - 49ers - Lakers - Ducks (only 8%, 57% said no fav) - 49ers
ID - Mariners - Broncos/Seahawks (tie) - Jazz - Avalanche - Mariners
IL - Cubs - Bears - Bulls - Blackhawks - Cubs
IN - Cubs - Colts - Pacers - Blackhawks - Colts
IA - Cubs - Packers - Bulls - Wild (only 7%, 72% said no fav) - Cubs
KS - Royals - Cliefs - Lakers - Red Wings (only 9%, 64 % said no fav) - Chiefs
KY - Reds - Titans - Lakers - (no NHL poll) - Reds
LA - Braves - Saints - Hornets - Stars (only 5%, 68% said no fav) - Saints
ME - Red Sox - Patriots - Celtics - Bruins - Patriots
MD - Orioles - Redskins - Wizards - Capitals - (no Pro Sports overall poll)
MA - Red Sox - Patriots - Celtics - Bruins - Red Sox
MI - Tigers - Lions - Pistons - Red Wings - Red Wings
MN - Twins - Vikings - Tmberwolves - Wild - Vikings
MS - Braves - Saints - Lakers - Red Wings/Ducks (tie) - Saints
MO - Cardinals - Rams - Lakers - Blues - Cardinals
MT - Yankees/Mariners (tie) - Broncos - Lakers - Avalanche - Broncos
NE - Cubs - Packers - Lakers - Avalanche - Packers
NV - Giants - 49ers/Raiders (tie) - Lakers - Avalanche/Red Wings - Raiders
NH - Red Sox - Patriots - Celtics - Bruins - Patriots
NJ - Yankees - Giants - Nets - Devils - (no Pro Sports overall poll)
NM - Diamondbacks - Cowboys - Lakers - Avalanche - Cowboys
NY - Yankees - Giants - Knicks - Rangers - Yankees
NC - Braves - Panthers - Lakers - Hurricanes - Panthers
ND - Twins - Vikings - Timberwolves - Wild - (no Pro Sports overall poll)
OH - Indians - Browns - Cavaliers - Blue Jackets - (no Pro Sports overall poll)
OK - Cardinals - Cowboys - Lakers - Stars - Cowboys
OR - Mariners - Seahawks - Trail Blazers - Red Wings (only 6%, 62% said no fav) - Trail Blazers
PA - Pirates - Steelers - 76ers - Penguins - Steelers
RI - Red Sox - Patriots - Celtics - Bruins - Patriots
SC - Braves - Panthers - Lakers - Hurricanes (only 8%, 64% said no fav) - Braves
SD - Twins - Vikings - Timberwolves - Wild - Vikings
TN - Braves - Titans - Lakers - Predators - Titans
TX - Rangers - Cowboys - Mavericks - Stars - Cowboys
UT - Yankees - 49ers - Jazz - Avalanche - Jazz
VT - Red Sox - Patriots - Celtics - Bruins - Red Sox
VA - Orioles - Redskins - Wizards - Capitals - Redskins
WA - Mariners - Seahawks - Supersonics - Canucks - Mariners
WV - Pirates - Steelers - Lakers - Penguins - Steelers
WI - Brewers - Packers - Bucks - Red Wings - Packers
WY - Rockies - Broncos - Jazz - Avalanche - Broncos
Man, that Kentucky poll must have been taken… actually, I have no idea where it could have been taken.
The Reds are only popular in Central Kentucky, basically, because Western Kentucky is the heart of Cardinal Nation. The Titans aren’t really that much more popular than the Rams or Bengals, and I’ve never met a Lakers fan and I’ve lived here all my life.
All pro sports are secondary to Kentucky basketball, though.