# Team Wins Important Game On the Road; Fans Congregate at Home Stadium **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 30, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-wins-important-game-on-the-road-fans-congregate-at-home-stadium/421029 "2007-09-30T14:27:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-wins-important-game-on-the-road-fans-congregate-at-home-stadium/421029/1 "2007-09-30T14:27:47Z")
[A large crowd was gathered outside of Wrigley Field as the Cubs clinched the 2007 NL Central Division.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz818bX9X8Q) The Cubs themselves were in Cincinatti at the time. Is this a nationwide trend, or is it specific to Cubs fans? Was there a crowd gathered in downtown Indianapolis when the Colts won the 2007 Super Bowl? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-wins-important-game-on-the-road-fans-congregate-at-home-stadium/421029/2 "2007-09-30T15:18:46Z")
It happened at Lambeau the last time the Packers won the Super Bowl down in New Orleans. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-wins-important-game-on-the-road-fans-congregate-at-home-stadium/421029/3 "2007-09-30T15:59:20Z")
And at Fenway when the Sox won the ALCS in NY in 2004 (this one got ugly), and again when they won the WS in St Louis. ---
**Author:** ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-wins-important-game-on-the-road-fans-congregate-at-home-stadium/421029/4 "2007-09-30T23:21:34Z")
On many occasions, the home stadium is even open for fans who want to watch the game on giant screens. Last season, the Chicago Park District offered to open Soldier Field for the Super Bowl, but [the NFL said no](http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/232346,CST-NWS-field28.article), which created a stir. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-wins-important-game-on-the-road-fans-congregate-at-home-stadium/421029/5 "2007-09-30T23:30:47Z")
I’m guessing that the team generally returns to the stadium to bring back their uniforms and equipment and it is easier to get access to the players at the stadium than at the airport. (That would be especially true in the last six years; I don’t know when the “wait at the stadium” tradition started. The last time I was in a town for a national championship, charter planes were often still deboarded out on the taxi ramp and the passengers had to walk to the terminal in front of people lined up at the fences. _I appear to be a jinx against championships._) The other possibility, of course, is that the stadium is simply the one place that everyone associates with the team and is a good place to gather in celebration. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-wins-important-game-on-the-road-fans-congregate-at-home-stadium/421029/6 "2007-09-30T23:34:56Z")
Well, Wrigley Field is one of a few stadiums that is located in the middle of an already-busy neighborhood. The bars in Wrigleyville do a good business serving cubs fans (and thousands of others) even when the team is out of town. So many of us- er, I mean, the fans, were within a few blocks anyway and already quite drunk. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-wins-important-game-on-the-road-fans-congregate-at-home-stadium/421029/7 "2007-10-01T12:06:21Z")
A few years ago, when my beloved West Virginia football team won a big game against Virginia Tech on the road, fans congregated at the home field. They then proceeded to tear down the goalposts. I heard that from a guy who was there…because I had nothing to do with it. 😉