# Who do you root for when two rival teams play in the same stadium? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 17, 2006, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-root-for-when-two-rival-teams-play-in-the-same-stadium/384493 "2006-12-17T09:15:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-root-for-when-two-rival-teams-play-in-the-same-stadium/384493/21 "2006-12-17T23:59:43Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Then why didn’t you just say so in the first place? If you had asked, “Sports fans, how do you become a fan of your particular team?” then I don’t think people would be so confused. I thought I did, but I must have been unclear. I’ve been having these communication issues a lot lately. I don’t know what it is. > [@GorillaMan](#): > > Glasgow is the most obvious aspect of the religious/sectarian angle. I’ve heard it said that it’s impossible to get a foot on the ladder in business or politics in Turin if you support Torino, and I’m sure there’s plenty of other and better examples of this. And inherited support from parents is a major factor in Liverpool, for example. Good info–can you elaborate on this? > [@Nuveau Geek](#): > > It’s really not. It is if you look at it from a sociological perspective of trying to document cultural trends. > [@Keeve](#): > > which made it sound like you viewed the “fan bases” and “people” as one group, which you were NOT asking about, as opposed to “the sporting world”, which you WERE asking about. I had no idea I would create such a monster just by trying not to say the phrase “fan bases” twice in two sentences. Apologies to those who I’ve confused. > [@Keeve](#): > > Your original post included the idea that they were playing in the same stadium. That’s what was throwing us all off. Why did you include that? Because that’s what the entire question is about. I root for pro teams based on my residence, so I was asking how entire fan bases differentiate between two teams that have exactly the same “residence affiliation”. In a city with two teams that play in different neighborhoods–Chicago in baseball, New York in baseball and hockey, London in soccer–there is still a clear geographical difference between the two teams’ fan bases. I was asking about teams which would theoretically draw from the same group geographically, because they play their home games in the same stadium. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-root-for-when-two-rival-teams-play-in-the-same-stadium/384493/22 "2006-12-18T00:12:29Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] Because that’s what the entire question is about. I root for pro teams based on my residence, so I was asking how entire fan bases differentiate between two teams that have exactly the same “residence affiliation”. In a city with two teams that play in different neighborhoods–Chicago in baseball, New York in baseball and hockey, London in soccer–there is still a clear geographical difference between the two teams’ fan bases. [/QUOTE] In most cases, geographic affiliation is only part of the cause of people’s affiliation to football teams. And it’s dissipated over time - for example. West Ham have a strong following in Essex, due to post-war movement out of east London. > [@](#): > > Good info–can you elaborate on this? On the specific example of Turin, no, because it was just an anecdotal case about which I don’t know a lot more. Liverpool, until hooliganism in the 70s, was the home of a ‘friendly derby’, where friends and couples would be divided by loyalties to either team, but there was no further tension. Manchester divides primarily along geographic lines between City & United. Elsewhere, I’m not so sure. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-root-for-when-two-rival-teams-play-in-the-same-stadium/384493/23 "2006-12-18T04:07:55Z")
Absent inheriting a loyalty from family or friends, there is always the A team and the B team: Lakers \> Clippers Giants \> Jets ??? Not sure of any others that share stadiums, but even in separate digs there is still the A and B distinction: Yankees \> Mets Cubs \> Sox Rangers \> Islanders Some people naturally gravitate to the A teams, and some to the B teams. What story do you find most compelling? The storied franchise steeped in respectability, or the scrappy upstart overcoming long odds? That’s pretty much it. Irrefutable evidence that LA is undeserving of an NFL franchise is that the Rams and Raiders didn’t have a rigid A/B hierarchy when they were both in LA. (Did they share a stadium?) Clearly the LA-LA land inhabitants don’t have a clue. The Giants and Jets are the ultimate example of the A/B divide. One weekly source refers to them explicitly as Jersey/A and Jersey/B. hehheh. Also, they both play in Giants Stadium. Ha! The A team is always overrepresented in the local papers, with the B team getting relegated to the back pages. And you rarely hear as much about them in the media in general. Granting that Eric Mangini runs a tighter ship than Tom Coughlin, how many stories have you heard about the Giants and Jets this year? 10 to 1 says you’ve heard more about the Giants. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-root-for-when-two-rival-teams-play-in-the-same-stadium/384493/24 "2006-12-18T13:38:12Z")
[QUOTE=Ellis Dee] The Giants and Jets are the ultimate example of the A/B divide. One weekly source refers to them explicitly as Jersey/A and Jersey/B. hehheh. Also, they both play in Giants Stadium. Ha! The A team is always overrepresented in the local papers, with the B team getting relegated to the back pages. And you rarely hear as much about them in the media in general. Granting that Eric Mangini runs a tighter ship than Tom Coughlin, how many stories have you heard about the Giants and Jets this year? 10 to 1 says you’ve heard more about the Giants. [/QUOTE] Which is interesting considering few native NJers are actually attached to the Jets. I grew up with the feeling that the Jets were just temporarily housed in NJ ([which is actually the case](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giants_stadium)). It will be interesting to see which team new residents are loyal to when the [new Meadowlands stadium](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Meadowlands_Stadium) is constructed because the Giants and the Jets will actually be equal partners in the stadium. Children of current residents will most likely identify with the family’s team of choice. I grew up going to Giants games with my family and never really had an interest in the Jets because they gave off the feeling of a NY team that was transplanted to NJ. I became attached to the Mets because my family had season tickets when I was growing up which makes me an anomaly. Most people who live in Jersey that are not from NY originally, cheer for the Yankees or as **Ellis Dee** puts it, Team A. While there is a clear regional divide, there is no reason for people in Jersey to be more loyal to the Bronx over Queens or vice versa. This may not pertain to your question exactly, as they Yanks and Mets play in two different stadiums, but the region from which they draw their fan base extends past the city of New York and into NJ and CT as well. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-root-for-when-two-rival-teams-play-in-the-same-stadium/384493/25 "2006-12-18T13:54:09Z")
A related question, as it kinda bugs me. Of course we see cross-town games and even the occasional subway series in sports. But it seems like there is never a game between the Giants and the Jets, even discounting the inherent lower chance of scheduling between any NFC team and any AFC team. It could just be that I rarely get Jets games or NFC East games that don’t involve the (ugh!) Cowboys. Why wouldn’t the NFL schedule a Jersey/A vs Jersey/B game every year? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-root-for-when-two-rival-teams-play-in-the-same-stadium/384493/26 "2006-12-18T14:02:06Z")
Lilbro is a fan of two soccer teams: Osasuna because it’s “our” local team and he inherited it from Dad; Barça because it’s one of the big teams, not-Real-Madrid and he inherited it from Mom’s Dad. Gives him serious tummy pains when they play each other, it does, but in the end it serves to show that his heart belongs to Osasuna 😃 Barcelona has two big teams, separated along social and political lines. Barça is “more than a club”, catalanist, catalan-language, more-catalan-than-thou-even-though-my-parents-were-born-outside, traditionally lower income (not any more); Español is not-separatist, spanish-language, who-gives-a-shit-but-my-family-was-here-before-the-Romans, traditionally higher income. When I was working near Milano, some guy asked our local co-workers whether they rooted for Milano. Their answer was “no for political reasons, I’d rather go without calcio than have anything to do with that _putana_ Berlusconi.” Since he was their president, according to Spanish notions they have the right to call Signore B a whore if they wanna. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-root-for-when-two-rival-teams-play-in-the-same-stadium/384493/27 "2006-12-18T14:17:31Z")
[QUOTE=asterion] A related question, as it kinda bugs me. Of course we see cross-town games and even the occasional subway series in sports. But it seems like there is never a game between the Giants and the Jets, even discounting the inherent lower chance of scheduling between any NFC team and any AFC team. It could just be that I rarely get Jets games or NFC East games that don’t involve the (ugh!) Cowboys. Why wouldn’t the NFL schedule a Jersey/A vs Jersey/B game every year? [/QUOTE] The Giants and Jets do play in the preseason when it does not count for beans. My friends and I always make a point of going to these games because it’s always entertaining. I would love it if they played annual regular season games and I am not sure why they do not. For the record, the last time they met in the regular season was in 2003. The subway series (with regards to Yankees/Mets) is a newly restored institution if I remember correctly. Where is **What Exit?** , he could answer a lot of these questions? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-root-for-when-two-rival-teams-play-in-the-same-stadium/384493/28 "2006-12-18T23:04:38Z")
As far as baseball goes, there’s always the NL/AL divide. Some people are American League fans, and some people are baseball fans. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-root-for-when-two-rival-teams-play-in-the-same-stadium/384493/29 "2006-12-18T23:34:09Z")
[QUOTE=asterion] A related question, as it kinda bugs me. Of course we see cross-town games and even the occasional subway series in sports. But it seems like there is never a game between the Giants and the Jets, even discounting the inherent lower chance of scheduling between any NFC team and any AFC team. It could just be that I rarely get Jets games or NFC East games that don’t involve the (ugh!) Cowboys. Why wouldn’t the NFL schedule a Jersey/A vs Jersey/B game every year? [/QUOTE] Many owners wanted this. The original scheduling plan cum realignment back in 2002 was to have league-wide annual “local rival” matchups. Giants/Jets, Raiders/49ers, Ravens/Redskins, etc… The owners were hyped about this, but in the end it just doesn’t work. The biggest problem was that not all teams have a local rival, so schedule imbalances could never be overcome. Who would Seattle play? Even worse, the Ohio teams already play twice a year because the Bengals & Browns are in the same division. It just doesn’t work. Thus, the preseason is where the local rivalries play out, and IIRC it’s almost always in week 3, which is the most important of the meaningless games. As for the Jets and Giants playing each other, it happens every four years under the new schedule. Last time was 2003, and they meet again next year. (When the NFC East again plays the AFC East.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-root-for-when-two-rival-teams-play-in-the-same-stadium/384493.md?page=1)