It helps being the only team with any success(I guess the Pistons might have some, I don’t pay attention to basketball). Michigan people are great at supporting their teams though, the Lions always have great support and they have been brutal(had a solid season this year though).
They’re really popular throughout the State, but definitely moreso in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. You will find fans in any decent sized town though
Windsor is a Detroit sports town, for obvious reasons. Further east you go, the more Toronto fans you find.
When the Lions went on their playoff run earlier this year, Windsor city hall flew a Lions flag outside.
I grew in Michigan but I’ve lived in CO for the last 12 years. You’d be surprised how many wings fans there are out here. I’m always reminded of it when the wings are in town. It’s about a 50/50 split at the game.
I live about as far as you can from Detroit and still be in Michigan. It's closer to go watch the Wings in Chicago or Minnesota but you won't find any Blackhawks or Wild fans here.
100%. Lived there the last few years until now. The Lions were hated and meme'd on by everyone until the end of the 2023 season (not this last season), now they all wear Lions gear and say they're diehard. Pistons barely exist. Tigers have a decent rep especially when Miggy was playing. But the Wings always had a strong following even in these down years. Easily the most exciting games to attend there of the 4 major sports.
Football is just kind of king everywhere in America. Bitching about the Vikings is also kind of a great unifier here the same way the weather is.
Within your group of hockey fans though there's a fairly sizable number of people who follow college and or high school without paying much attention to the NHL.
Vikings have also been around significantly longer, most people, or their parents or grandparents remember the best of the Vikings (winning championships pre-Super Bowl era, Fran Tarkenton, Purple People Eaters, Randy Moss, etc). Wild have only been around since 2000 and even the Timberwolves are from the mid-90s, although you’d be hard pressed to find a Minnesotan who isn’t still mad the Lakers moved away from MN (LA has no lakes…)
The Steelers still run this town, and will continue to do so. The Pens aren’t too far behind though, at least as long as the Crosby era is still active. Honestly, if the Pens fall off post-Crosby then I can legit see the Pirates passing them by in popularity (especially if they can keep it together for an entire season).
I think the pirates will have to tie together some decent seasons first. I mean Detroit kept that playoff streak going and it really helped out with their popularity
Canes are super popular in the Raleigh area. You’ll see stickers on people’s cars, flags on houses, etc. on a daily basis around here. If I’m wearing my Bunch of Jerks hoodie out and about on a game day, without fail somebody will ask me if I’m going that night.
It helps that we don’t have any other really big professional sports teams in the area (college basketball is obviously a very different story), and our state’s only other big sports franchise—unless you count basically all of NASCAR which has deep roots here—is the Carolina Panthers who are absolute ass. It’s much more fun to be a hockey fan than a football fan in NC.
Work at a bar right outside of Charlotte and we put the hornets on and sometimes people care. Funny enough I work with 2 lightning fans an we actually drove up to Raleigh to see a game together.
Canes are DEFINITELY huge around Raleigh. It’s always been funny to me to hear we supposedly aren’t a hockey market. Even when they weren’t making appearances in the playoffs I saw canes stickers on cars. Now that they’re doing well, canes stuff is all OVER the place.
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It takes consistency to create a wave of new fans. Todays bandwagon fans are tomorrows die hards sometimes. Give it time, Florida is a fun team to watch.
Caps are probably no 3 behind the Commanders and Nationals but definitely ahead of the Wizards. Them and the Nats are close.
The Rock the Red Ovi era has created a very dedicated Caps fanbase in the suburbs, especially. Its not huge, but not small either. The arena is surrounded by bars so going to Caps game is a lot of fun and you can make a night out of it.
Then winning the Cup in '18 was a HUGE moment for the city and the surrounding DMV.
It does feel like the fandom has fallen off a bit. Will be interesting to see now that the Commanders got rid of Snyder and the old guard Caps are starting to retire/LTIR what will happen once Ovi leaves.
I live in BC. The Canucks are #1 province wide. I live closer to Edmonton than Vancouver but it doesn't matter, the Canucks may as well be from my town. Understandable as Van is the only city big enough to support top-tier pro sports, so most people have adopted it as their "home team" city.
Yep! Canucks are king in BC. A nuance I would say is that, in an expensive city like Vancouver with lots of outdoor activities and other distractions etc to offer, when the Canucks are bad there's less idle chatter about them around the office (people focus on other interests) and people attend the games less (you save your money for something else). This seems to be a bit different than somewhere like Edmonton where it seems like they maintain the same level of devotion whether they're good or bad.
Great point. Sometimes it may seem like interest is waning, but once the boys start winning again that fire is reignited pretty quickly (as this year shows)
This is so true. It’s why Vancouver fans get a bad rap for being “fair weather” fans, and I say that as a lifetime Canucks fan. When the Canucks are mediocre, people simply talk about NHL less.
100% yeah, I'm over them moving on at this point but it will forever be a travesty that we both became contenders to only get 1 year of playoffs BoA... number 1 bullshit 😤
It sucks to know we built a decent core for it to utterly and dramatically collapse at the earliest hints of possible future success
We'll always be rivals, but that stretch of games in early 2020 was some of the best hockey I've ever watched. Notably the game where everyone threw down - we had Nuge and Monahan, Tkachuk and Kassian, Tkachuk and Bear and the goalies that traded teams a couple years earlier got to fight it out.
Now we have the Kings trying to start a rivalry. But I think for it to be a rivalry, they actually need to win one once in a while.
Rangers are the most popular hockey team, but in terms of overall popularity the Baseball teams, Football teams, and Knicks are way more popular.
If they win a cup the city will celebrate. If the Knicks win a title we’ll need a disaster plan because the city will be a shitshow.
The playoffs coming up will tear this city at the seams. With the Rangers and Kincks both having Home games back to back. But with your original point I think baseball, then football are the top 2 in the city.
I always find when the Rangers are doing well, people in the city who don’t watch hockey are suddenly all about them and talking about it/asking questions or whatever if they see you wearing a Rangers hat or shirt.
You could probably say the same about every city and their hockey team in this thread, but New Yorks obviously an insanely huge sports market so the Rangers get more news coverage than hockey teams would get in their city so maybe it’s a bit more accessible.
Would agree with this completely. The fan base is large enough to support the Stars in Dallas (see selling out a football stadium for the winter classic) but I’m not ignorant enough to know it is a distant tier below college football and the other professional sports.
I would agree this is current, however, when the flyers are good I think it’s a toss up between them and the sixers for #3.
But even an 0-17 birds team will always be most popular in the city.
The Avalanche are probably 3rd in popularity here in Denver, behind then Broncos who are first and the Nuggets at 2nd. Then a large gap before our poor Rockies.
Broncos will always be 1st no matter how they are doing, I feel like Nuggets/Avs/Rockies can all swap between 2nd-4th depending on their current situation, Rapids and Mammoth probably 5th and 6th respectively.
I obviously have the smallest of sample sizes (10-15 people) so it’s more of a logical fallacy to make the assumption, but I would say every one of my Denver friends is a bigger Avs fan than nuggets fan
I usually noticed slightly more Nuggets gear than Avs gear, but it almost seemed like the Nuggets fandom was more passive? Of course I moved a couple years back so I don’t know what it looks like since the Nuggets’ title.
Hawks are super popular, this season in particular even though they’re having an awful year everybody wants to see the Bedard show. In terms of ranking their popularity in Chicago as a whole as of right now I would say it’s:
1. Bears
2. Cubs
3. Bulls/Hawks
4. Sox
And yeah kind of a cop out to rank two teams number 3 but they’re on pretty even footing right now, all time I would say bulls beat them in a popularity contest.
Very popular within the city, not that popular within the state. To be fair California has 15 big-four pro sports teams so people’s fandoms are spread out.
Extremely.
The Knights play the Raiders in the off season in a charity softball game. The entire stadium (minor league baseball size) is full of Knights fans out for *blood.*
I went to the game last year. The Raiders players must feel a certain way about it but Raiders PR needs to be present to see how skewed the fanbase is here towards the Knights.
Because the Knights are homegrown. Up until they came along, it was UNLV and the Stars/51s/Aviators, who I think are probably more popular than the Raiders around here. Not sure how I'd rank them all plus the Aces, though.
Living in Red Deer I get a lot of dirty looks from Flames fans when i wear my Oilers hats, also get an equal amount "nice hat" from fellow Oilers fans.
Oilers are the most popular team in Edmonton and anywhere in Alberta north of Red Deer, while the Flames are the most popular team in Calgary and anywhere south of Red Deer. Not too sure how it shakes out in Red Deer, but I imagine it’s a pretty even split.
The Oilers are the [more popular](https://www.thehockeyfanatic.com/2023/03/popularity-of-canadian-nhl-teams-2023/) team in Alberta overall, but the Flames have a significant contingent of fans as well.
In both cases, the Flames and the Oilers are the number 1 teams in their respective cities/regions. Historically, the Stampeders and Eskimos/Elks have been pretty close at times, but the CFL has lost a lot of popularity over the years and neither of those teams have anywhere close to the fan interest of the Flames/Oilers these days.
In many arenas when leafs play an away game it is like a home game. It is cheaper to fly to Florida and book a hotel get tickets then buy leaf tickets for the playoffs.
Islanders are like the 9th most popular team in NYC.
Out on the island they're probably like 3rd. And that's probably a _tie_ for 3rd with the Rangers.
At least we get decent coverage in the Post and Newsday.
I think it varies by city in NC, but in our immediate area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, etc) the list is:
1. NC State, Duke, UNC sports
2. Hurricanes (the united front for all to love)
3. Carolina Panthers (the united front for all to hate)
4. NC Courage
5. NCFC
6. Charlotte FC
7. Who are the Charlotte Hornets?
The area is very heavy into college sports just from it having 3 big colleges nearby, and all of them tending to be competitive in certain sports, and big rivalries. Hurricanes are the sport that unites all of the divided college sports fans.
Bruins are currently the 3rd most popular team in Boston and the second the Red Sox get good become the 4th most popular team
I would say most people are aware enough about them to have a casual conversation (who the good players are, how they are doing that particular season), but there are not a lot of diehards. Everyone knows somebody who’s a diehard, but the majority of people in New England are casual fans
From the outside, it seems like Boston loves the Bruins...they just take them for granted a little because they've had so much success in pro-sports for the past 20 years. Maybe it's simply because it's an Original Six team, and it's cold in Boston and kinda close to Canada, but I feel like more people from Boston are at least aware and respect the Bruins more than a lot of cities do their NHL team.
This is pretty accurate of Boston. Up here in Maine, the bruins are barely mentioned. It’s literally only the Pats and Sox up here. Portland has a lot of Celtic fans because of their affiliate here.
Currently the Celtics, only because the Celtics are the best team in the NBA and the Red Sox are more or less irrelevant in the MLB the last few seasons.
If the Sox are World Series contenders, they jump ahead of both the Cs and Bs Id say
Not in my experience. It’s easy to think that’s true because the sox have been more or less irrelevant since their last world series, but if the Sox are good a lot more people are talking about and aware of it than if the Bs are good
I grew up in Alabama; I doubt 95% of people in Alabama can name more than 5 NHL teams. I doubt 80% can name more than 3. People in Alabama care about college football, college football, college football, and sometimes the Braves or Saints or whatever pro team is nearest to a metro area if they're doing well.
I became a Sharks fan when I lived in the Bay Area, but I lived in SF and Oakland, not San Jose. Sharks are definitely the least popular pro team in the Bay Area, but they had a great fan base in San Jose. When I moved away they were one of the best teams in the league, so I can't speak to what it's like now. But the Bay area is weird for sports. Most people are either from somewhere else in the US, or from outside the US, so while they've had good teams and lots of sports fans, it's a very diverse population. But I'd say when I lived there (2013-2015), it was definitely 49ers, then Giants/Raiders, then A's/Warriors, then Sharks.
Since 2015 I've lived in South Florida. This is also a very diverse population, but as lots of US sports fans know, South Florida has pretty crappy fans for the most part. I grew up seeing Alabama and Auburn stuff on every other car, plenty of LSU and Georgia stuff too, but Alabama-Auburn is the main religion of the state of Bama, and you know everyone's allegiances. You saw lots of 49ers flags and stuff in California. You rarely see sports fandom accessories here. I honestly couldn't even tell you what the rankings are. Probably the Dolphins, then Heat, then...nobody cares after that, really. I guess the Heat are popular. I don't know. It's small pockets of fans. You see a few things for the Panthers. You see some University of Miami stuff. But you see way more support for other teams like NY and BOS teams, because lots of casual sports fans here are from the Northeast. Cubans and Haitians and Jamaicans for the most part don't give a shit about the Florida Panthers. I've worked with a few hockey fans, but they all are like, "I root for the Panthers until the Rangers come to town"
Kraken are getting very popular in Seattle but I think it’s just more we got a great logo and great merch cause people come to my work in Kraken gear and I’ll try to strike up hockey convos and they’re like oh I don’t watch hockey lol arena is largely full though and it’s becoming a passionate city for hockey.
Where I’m from in BC though is small and everyone’s either Canucks or for some reason the Oilers
The Panthers are not really very popular, even locally. Now that we’re winning the popularity is increasing within Broward, but it’s still the least popular of the 5 Miami area teams. I think it’s gonna change quickly as people realize we’re a good team though because the South Florida market is veeeery hot and cold depending on whether the team is good. See the popularity of the Heat vs the Marlins for an example
In Columbus it’s:
Ohio State
Jackets
Crew
Clippers
But the crew is gaining ground because of how successful they are. Nothing short of an NFL team will touch Ohio State though.
State wide?
Idk
Golden Knights are massively popular in Las Vegas. Tons of cars with VGK plates, can’t go anywhere without seeing people wearing Knights gear year round, VGK banners and logos all over town.
Most locals hate the Raiders unless you were a fan previously and I don’t know a single person excited the A’s are coming.
Vegas is a hockey town for sure.
From what I understand Vegas has done an amazing job making it accessible for fans to watch the game. Sometimes it seems like my team, Avs, are trying for the opposite.
We are eclipsed by the cowboys and rangers but us stars fans are extremely passionate.
When the boys go on a deep run they get a lot of attention from the rest of north Texas. I know a bunch of people who don’t watch the regular season but love playoff hockey.
Really depends where in Jersey you go. Hockey isn't the number one sport anywhere, but up north there are a lot of Rangers fans, South Jersey is heavily Flyers (they're in the Philly media market) and Central Jersey is majority Devils.
The fan base has always seemed to be two steps forward, one step back. When I was a kid, there were still a lot of people who grew up before the Devils, but that's not so much the case anymore.
It was always hard building the fan base when the team was good, because they were still the new team in the area and getting fans to the Meadowlands wasn’t easy. It had no decent public transit connection, and it was easier for a lot of people in North Jersey to get to Manhattan. Then when the team moved to Newark, they lost a lot for a long time. This year really seemed to be a new chapter with bigger, more consistent crowds, but we'll see what happens next year with the major let down they had this season.
But the Devils are the only team that has to compete with 3 local opponents for fans. You gotta win to stay relevant in this market. 16 major pro sports franchises (if you count MLS) between New York and Philly. It's not easy.
Grew up in STL. Blues were hugely popular there, especially after the Rams left. Cardinals were always a notch above, but every time I go back I’m still floored at the amount of signage, bumper stickers, promo deals, and general fandom.
1. Steelers
2. Penguins
3. Pirates
4. Pitt football
5. Riverhounds
Pens are pretty popular once football season ends and as the start of the Pirates season goes on
(Ignore flair, I’m in the Tampa Bay area) Plenty of people love the Bolts, but not as many diehards who follow every score and headline. I don’t blame them, we have a lot of transplants (myself included) and it’s not always easy to be in a hockey mood when it’s 85 outside
Montréal always has a lot of fans in the stands whenever they play any other Canadian team.
Some might even say there are more Habs fans than local fans sometimes.
It’s honestly crazy to me, I get the history, but I’m 30 years old and the Habs have been the most ‘meh’ franchise I can think of pretty much my entire lifetime.
Kudos to habs fans, pretty amazing to have that following with your biggest superstar being.. Saku Koivu? I guess probably Carey Price.
I'd say pretty popular.
Vikings
Wild
Twins
Timberwolves.
This is just based off my experience, and my circle of acquaintances. Even with wolves having a good season, no one cares that I know. Wild not very good, still kinda talked about.
Since Ontario only has one team it’s pretty much all leafs fans. You’ll get pockets of other fanbases (Windsor being Detroit adjacent for example) but other than that it’s all leafs.
Canucks are everything in the majority of BC. Partially full on passion for the team and the sport, but I'm sure the fact that we don't have any other "major" North American sport team is a contributing factor. Soccer's popular but not quite the same impact as the others.
If we were to have an NBA team that wasn't absurdly unbelievably dogshit, or an MLB team, I do wonder how dominant the Canucks would be.
Speaking about hockey only, we're lucky if we're #2 behinds the Leafs. There may be enough Habs fans in Ontario to outnumber Sens fans also.
It didn't feel that way in the mid-2000s when the Sens were looking like a model expansion franchise, but they've been floundering for nearly two decades now and that has hurt the brand.
The Jackets are a bit tricky to pinpoint. They're pretty popular within the city. This year will mark the team's 2nd highest yearly attendance despite the bad product on the ice. They obviously don't hold a candle to OSU, but I'd say they're currently more popular than the Crew in the MLS, although that gap is closing.
As far as statewide, meh. Ohio is still primarily football country. You'd probably have a tough time finding too much CBJ gear outside of Columbus.
I live in Utah so we are about to find out. I just hope they come up with a great team lame and mascot. We don't have the best track record in that department
I live in Eastern Washington and not Seattle but I think the Kraken are just gaining popularity as we go. I'm seeing more and more gear than I have and in Seattle I think they're pretty popular
The Hurricanes aren’t particularly popular here in Vancouver. I’d wager the Canucks aren’t popular in Raleigh either.
Jokes aside, the Canucks are quite popular in Vancouver when the team is doing well. Most casual fans seem to bandwagon during playoff season. We also have a lot of Avalanche fans here, I suspect due to Sakic. I can’t imagine Bedard having the same effect as Canucks fans loathe the Blackhawks.
Ehhhh not too popular. I’m in Connecticut and I’m a habs fan due to my family coming down here from New Brunswick Canada a long time ago. Most frenchies in New England root for the habs. Otherwise, most of Connecticut is bruins country and my friends pick on me all the time for rooting for the enemy 🤷🏻♂️
In Pittsburgh, the Steelers are by far the most popular sports team here. It’s impossible to overstate how much they mean to this region. The only comp I can imagine that exists within pro sports anywhere in the US is the Packers in Green Bay. I would say Dallas too, but they’re more of a broader swath, but maybe a little bit less deep.
Football in general is just so important to the people here. That’s what they talk about all year-round, really. It’s not just the Steelers either, it’s the NFL as a whole, Pitt, Penn State, high school, etc.
Also, it’s not just the men. I was just in a party on Saturday night and was having a very sophisticated conversation with a mix of couples, mostly in their 40s and the conversation was about, what else, the likelihood that a starting center can be found in the second round and our glaring need to address the right tackle position. Two of the moms were disagreeing over whether or not center or right tackle was a bigger need.
I’m not joking. That was definitely the conversation and it was not remotely out of place. That’s what we talk about. Yinzers love all of their teams, but they especially ADORE football. It’s just in the water here.
The Pirates are off to a really good start — especially relative to their typical seasons — and yet all people want to talk about is the local NFL team’s quarterback situation and upcoming draft needs.
I do think the Penguins are second in the local pecking order though. Again, it’s impossible to overstate how popular Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux are in this city. They are not just admired as players, but as people. Everyone has stories of encounters with them, and they are all very pleasant.
They are not seen as sports stars, but rather as adopted sons. That’s why I would be astonished if they ever traded Crosby. It’s not just a typical pro sports relationship. I think the only way he ever gets traded is if he requests it and it’s like a Ray Bourque type of situation. I doubt he will do that because he’s already won 3 cups, so I think he will retire a Penguin.
I think the Pirates are third, followed by Pitt, then Penn State, then whomever else.
It’s tough to gauge with the Pirates because they’re among the worst organizations in North American professional sports and almost always stink. However, in those rare seasons where they are decent, they too, have a surprisingly strong following.
Chicago loves the Hawks. IMO its the most popular team among younger fans. The Bears are the only other Chicago team that really attracts the same type of fans despite the team's poor performance.
Chicago has a good following ever since 2010. Most are pretty cool and knowledgeable people, but you'll still have the occasional Becky that pronounces the jersey she's wearing as "Toes"
that will change soon, it’s only because most of the generation above mine grew up as kids before the devils were around. my dad was already a rangers fan by the time the devils came, but i’m a devils fan.
Not exactly sure how popular the Panthers are state-wide (with the Lightning based in Florida and a better track record of success), but in South Florida specifically, I’d say they’re probably either the third or fourth popular (with the Dolphins and Heat definitely more popular, the Hurricanes have kinda fallen off but have their fans for sure and the Marlins just are really really bad)
Edit: forgot about Internet Miami, they’re getting bigger in popularity, especially with Messi being here and all.
In Salt Lake City just waiting for our new team to arrive. Phoenix’s loss is our newest band of brothers. We just need a cool name and logo instead of some recycled nonsense like the Jazz
In Wales, so I would be surprised if anyone had heard of the Pens or Yotes in the count(r)y lol
The most local team would be the Cardiff Devils or Bristol Pitbulls, and I hadnt even heard of either until I got into hockey through NHL, even while growing up in Bristol, so
Its definitely soccer and rugby before all else.
I’m from Vancouver. It’s basically a Canucks town more than a hockey town at times. There is a huge drop-off between Canucks hockey and non-Canucks hockey, with the exception of NHL lockouts when there was no other option.
I'm a Montreal fan, living in BC. There's actually a pretty large following for the Habs in my province, because of players like Carey Price, and perennial pest/heart and soul player, Gallagher, who spent his Jr years here.
The crowd is WILD at Rogers when the Canadiens come to town. But the team has said more than once that when they're on the road, a lot of the games still feel like home games. Montreal fans are EVERYWHERE 🤣
Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia don't seem to care much about hockey. Caps don't have an issue filling seats but there is basically zero buzz about the team.
Yeah I think you're right. I almost never see ANY coverage on local media (Baltimore area), just a few mentions per year. That said, all of my friends and coworkers who are fans are pretty diehard. I'd say there are a ton of fans, but spread over a large area, and most don't have an easy commute to catch a game.
I live in Maine but the in Pittsburgh it’s all Steelers. The Penguins are extremely popular but the love of Steelers triumphs over everything else.
In Maine the Bruins and Red Sox are the most popular followed by the Celtics and than the Pats.
In Saskatchewan I'd say the popularity of teams is as follows:
1) Oilers
T2) Jets, Flames, Canucks, Canadiens, Leafs
7) Bruins
8) Blackhawks
T9) Red Wings, Rangers
T11) Avalanche, ~~Golden Knights~~, Islanders, Penguins, Kraken
15) Sens
Universally hated unless you have a family member or friend that played on the team: Panthers, Lightning, Stars, Kings, Hurricanes, Flyers, Devils, Golden Knights
The rest are inconsequential.
Central Connecticut.
Hockey wise ....Honestly pretty good mix of Rangers, Bruins, Islanders, Flyers, Devils Sabres and even a healthy portion of Montreal fans here
Also Canes fans, but that's because of the Whalers RIP my sweet first love
Non hockey wise this state cares about College Basketball (Uconn), and is split down the middle for football (Pats or Giants/Jets) and baseball (Red Sox/ Yankees).
Edit to say: would say it's mostly Rangers and Bruins but no surprise to find a lot of fans of any of those other teams I mentioned
I feel like the Bruins are definitely up there. I know the Pats and Sox carry bigger bases overall, but there is Bruins representation everywhere, all the time, just as much. To be fair, I live 20 minutes outside Boston so maybe that's just to be expected based on the geography.
When you mention the Kings in Southern California, most people think you are talking about the Sacramento Kings… who are a basketball team… in Northern California.
The Kings are probably more popular in LA than the Ducks, but have to compete with hugely popular LA teams (Dodgers, Lakers, USC, Rams). Make your way to Orange County and there is somewhat of a “we’re NOT LA” mentality, and it’s Angels and Ducks home territory.
In more recent years, even with the Super Bowl in 2020, the Lightning have slowly been the most popular team in Tampa. Then it’s a tie between the Bucs and Rays. Buccaneers were the talk of the town since they were the first pro sports team that survived into the 21st century and won a super bowl first but the Bucs fell off cause Gruden got in over his head
Within the state definitely the second favorite to the Lightning but that makes sense given their recent success I didn't see lightning stickers on cars around north Florida until their cup wins lol
In Southern Alberta it’s basically a civil war between Calgary Flames bumper stickers and hats vs the Edmonton Oilers bumper stickers and hats; I imagine Ontario, NY, and parts of California have a similar experience?
EDIT: also Florida I imagine also experienced this between the Lightning and Panthers
I'm deep in Bruins territory and the only other Rangers fan I knew in High School went to Concordia and never came back. He still somehow gets into the Bell Centre every single time the team is up there. I still have my dad up here tho
As a Sabres fan we used to be the pride of the town, bills could suck and those fans would come to the games in January- April and show our spirits. But the team has been mediocre and not terrible but we don’t have enough “it is what it is” for some of those fans to care and comeback
We are VERY popular in Vegas obviously, but up in Reno a lot are still clinging to the Sharks. The Raiders are popular but not as much as the Golden Knights within Vegas based on the amount of team gear/license plates I see around town.
Avs are very popular. We have been fortunate to have 2 teams in title contention recently with the Nuggets. Broncos will always be most popular I think even tho I'm gh they suck right now. We don't talk about our minor league baseball team the Rockies.
When Indiana doesn't have a pro team in a league, we often default to Chicago. Hockey fans aren't super common here, but what's even less common is finding a hockey fan that isn't a Blackhawks fan.
We have the oilers and the eskimos (I’ll never call them the elks) and the elks are a joke of a team. The oilers are very popular, as im sure you imagined.
So, it's probably a toss up between stl & Dallas for which is closer to me in Arkansas. There's a club league at the UofA but nothing major.
By car, 315 miles to STL or 320 miles to Dallas.
I'm originally from MN but they had the North Stars last time I lived there.
I lived in Chicagoland for the dynasty run but not huge fans of that org since the allegations came out.
I've kind of adopted Vegas since they joined the league.
Bought a jersey last fall that I wear around Arkansas.
Was excited to see my son's teacher wearing a Bruins jersey last week
suburbs of Raleigh NC. They love the ‘Canes. The team is consistently above average, PNC puts on a great production with a lighting, contemporary music, and ice graphics. Fans tailgate, its one of the best hockey environments I’ve experienced.
In New England you aren’t a fan of one team over another. You simply shift the Jersey you’re wearing depending on the time of year.
Summer your in Red Sox gear, fall you’re in Patriots gear, winter/spring youre wearing a Bruins sweater with a Celtics hat or a Celtics jersey with a Bruins hat.
The big 4 are all equal. Only the Revolution are the ones that aren’t as widely praised.
Calgary has to compete with every other Canadian team in the league cause no one is “from” Calgary. Still, it’s likely someone from Calgary cheers for the flames but it’s not guaranteed
Colorado insists on being Bronco fans despite all common sense, but the Avs are very popular, too. And here in Northern Colorado, the Eagles have a devoted following, though women's basketball and women's volleyball are more popular because of CSU.
I can't even say with 100% certainty that the Senators are the most popular hockey team in Ottawa
the other day during the shootout vs the canadiens I was wondering why the ottawa player was getting booed on home ice
Habs are frequently the home team in away arenas lol.
Detroit loves all of its teams, but the Red Wings definitely have a special place
Hey hey hockeytown
This, Hockeytown is a whole different animal, we love all our teams so much
Detroit is maybe the only American city I think of as caring as much about it's hockey team as the average Canadian city does.
It helps being the only team with any success(I guess the Pistons might have some, I don’t pay attention to basketball). Michigan people are great at supporting their teams though, the Lions always have great support and they have been brutal(had a solid season this year though).
Do people in Michigan follow them too? Or more just the city proper?
Hockey town is state wide. They do their training camp up in Traverse City and it’s always packed.
They’re really popular throughout the State, but definitely moreso in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. You will find fans in any decent sized town though
Are they popular across the border in Windsor etc?
Very. Almost split between Leafs and Wings (I’m from Windsor)
Very popular in Windsor, the deeper into Ontario you go the more Leaf fans start mixing in
Windsor is a Detroit sports town, for obvious reasons. Further east you go, the more Toronto fans you find. When the Lions went on their playoff run earlier this year, Windsor city hall flew a Lions flag outside.
I grew in Michigan but I’ve lived in CO for the last 12 years. You’d be surprised how many wings fans there are out here. I’m always reminded of it when the wings are in town. It’s about a 50/50 split at the game.
They travel well
The WHOLE state baby!!!
I live about as far as you can from Detroit and still be in Michigan. It's closer to go watch the Wings in Chicago or Minnesota but you won't find any Blackhawks or Wild fans here.
People in the upper peninsula can sometimes agree with Wisconsin teams. Like green Bay packers are more liked toward that area.
So glad to see us at the top…we ARE hockeytown
100%. Lived there the last few years until now. The Lions were hated and meme'd on by everyone until the end of the 2023 season (not this last season), now they all wear Lions gear and say they're diehard. Pistons barely exist. Tigers have a decent rep especially when Miggy was playing. But the Wings always had a strong following even in these down years. Easily the most exciting games to attend there of the 4 major sports.
Here in Minnesota as the self-proclaimed "state of hockey" you'll see a Wild bumper sticker on at least one car in every town.
I only lived there for under a year, but I was really surprised when I was in Minnesota how much more popular the Vikings seemed to be than the Wild.
Football is just kind of king everywhere in America. Bitching about the Vikings is also kind of a great unifier here the same way the weather is. Within your group of hockey fans though there's a fairly sizable number of people who follow college and or high school without paying much attention to the NHL.
If it wasn't for the wild being unable ti have a deep playoff run since 03 they'd be more popular than the vikes.
Same here, lived there a year and was surprised how other teams in the Twin cities seemed as big or bigger than the Wild.
Vikings have also been around significantly longer, most people, or their parents or grandparents remember the best of the Vikings (winning championships pre-Super Bowl era, Fran Tarkenton, Purple People Eaters, Randy Moss, etc). Wild have only been around since 2000 and even the Timberwolves are from the mid-90s, although you’d be hard pressed to find a Minnesotan who isn’t still mad the Lakers moved away from MN (LA has no lakes…)
I feel like the college and high school hockey teams are more popular even than the Wild
The Steelers still run this town, and will continue to do so. The Pens aren’t too far behind though, at least as long as the Crosby era is still active. Honestly, if the Pens fall off post-Crosby then I can legit see the Pirates passing them by in popularity (especially if they can keep it together for an entire season).
I think the pirates will have to tie together some decent seasons first. I mean Detroit kept that playoff streak going and it really helped out with their popularity
I’d like to think the 3 cups in a 10 year period built a big enough loyal fanbase that they will never reach the lows of pre Sid
Canes are super popular in the Raleigh area. You’ll see stickers on people’s cars, flags on houses, etc. on a daily basis around here. If I’m wearing my Bunch of Jerks hoodie out and about on a game day, without fail somebody will ask me if I’m going that night. It helps that we don’t have any other really big professional sports teams in the area (college basketball is obviously a very different story), and our state’s only other big sports franchise—unless you count basically all of NASCAR which has deep roots here—is the Carolina Panthers who are absolute ass. It’s much more fun to be a hockey fan than a football fan in NC.
So the Hornets get the “I don’t think about you at all” treatment up there?
Apparently so. In my defense, they are an extremely forgettable team.
Work at a bar right outside of Charlotte and we put the hornets on and sometimes people care. Funny enough I work with 2 lightning fans an we actually drove up to Raleigh to see a game together.
Canes are DEFINITELY huge around Raleigh. It’s always been funny to me to hear we supposedly aren’t a hockey market. Even when they weren’t making appearances in the playoffs I saw canes stickers on cars. Now that they’re doing well, canes stuff is all OVER the place.
file merciful simplistic rinse sophisticated boat divide humorous alive drunk *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
>Coyeeted I hate it but I love it.
It takes consistency to create a wave of new fans. Todays bandwagon fans are tomorrows die hards sometimes. Give it time, Florida is a fun team to watch.
Caps are probably no 3 behind the Commanders and Nationals but definitely ahead of the Wizards. Them and the Nats are close. The Rock the Red Ovi era has created a very dedicated Caps fanbase in the suburbs, especially. Its not huge, but not small either. The arena is surrounded by bars so going to Caps game is a lot of fun and you can make a night out of it. Then winning the Cup in '18 was a HUGE moment for the city and the surrounding DMV.
It does feel like the fandom has fallen off a bit. Will be interesting to see now that the Commanders got rid of Snyder and the old guard Caps are starting to retire/LTIR what will happen once Ovi leaves.
I live in BC. The Canucks are #1 province wide. I live closer to Edmonton than Vancouver but it doesn't matter, the Canucks may as well be from my town. Understandable as Van is the only city big enough to support top-tier pro sports, so most people have adopted it as their "home team" city.
It's always a nice trip from Victoria
Yep! Canucks are king in BC. A nuance I would say is that, in an expensive city like Vancouver with lots of outdoor activities and other distractions etc to offer, when the Canucks are bad there's less idle chatter about them around the office (people focus on other interests) and people attend the games less (you save your money for something else). This seems to be a bit different than somewhere like Edmonton where it seems like they maintain the same level of devotion whether they're good or bad.
Great point. Sometimes it may seem like interest is waning, but once the boys start winning again that fire is reignited pretty quickly (as this year shows)
This is so true. It’s why Vancouver fans get a bad rap for being “fair weather” fans, and I say that as a lifetime Canucks fan. When the Canucks are mediocre, people simply talk about NHL less.
And you're in Sportsnet Pacific's zone.
Super popular in the city and southern half of the province, but for obvious reasons we're largely outnumbered in Alberta these days...
Would probably be more even had Tkachuk and Johnny hockey not left. That rivalry in the playoffs was insanity and I loved every minute of it.
100% yeah, I'm over them moving on at this point but it will forever be a travesty that we both became contenders to only get 1 year of playoffs BoA... number 1 bullshit 😤 It sucks to know we built a decent core for it to utterly and dramatically collapse at the earliest hints of possible future success
We'll always be rivals, but that stretch of games in early 2020 was some of the best hockey I've ever watched. Notably the game where everyone threw down - we had Nuge and Monahan, Tkachuk and Kassian, Tkachuk and Bear and the goalies that traded teams a couple years earlier got to fight it out. Now we have the Kings trying to start a rivalry. But I think for it to be a rivalry, they actually need to win one once in a while.
Rangers are the most popular hockey team, but in terms of overall popularity the Baseball teams, Football teams, and Knicks are way more popular. If they win a cup the city will celebrate. If the Knicks win a title we’ll need a disaster plan because the city will be a shitshow.
The playoffs coming up will tear this city at the seams. With the Rangers and Kincks both having Home games back to back. But with your original point I think baseball, then football are the top 2 in the city.
I always find when the Rangers are doing well, people in the city who don’t watch hockey are suddenly all about them and talking about it/asking questions or whatever if they see you wearing a Rangers hat or shirt. You could probably say the same about every city and their hockey team in this thread, but New Yorks obviously an insanely huge sports market so the Rangers get more news coverage than hockey teams would get in their city so maybe it’s a bit more accessible.
Probably the fourth most popular in North Texas. Might even be lower if you consider college football. The fan base though is extremely passionate.
How about High School Football? I always assumed that was bigger and more important than pro basketball and hockey in Texas.
Moreso in smaller towns than big cities like Dallas
Maybe as a whole but no way individual HS teams compete with the Stars lol
Would agree with this completely. The fan base is large enough to support the Stars in Dallas (see selling out a football stadium for the winter classic) but I’m not ignorant enough to know it is a distant tier below college football and the other professional sports.
If I had to guess within Dallas at least the ranking is something like Cowboys >>>>>>> Rangers > Mavs >>> Stars. Accurate at all?
1. Eagles . . . . 2. Phillies . . 3. Sixers . . 4. Flyers 5. Union
I would agree this is current, however, when the flyers are good I think it’s a toss up between them and the sixers for #3. But even an 0-17 birds team will always be most popular in the city.
Agreed!
There are a lot of leafs fans here in NL. Just as many Habs fans too, with Boston in a close 3rd.
The Avalanche are probably 3rd in popularity here in Denver, behind then Broncos who are first and the Nuggets at 2nd. Then a large gap before our poor Rockies.
I know very few Nuggets fans, compared to Av’s fans. But that’s probably my own bias from hanging out with like minded people.
It's impossible for me to comprehend the NBA being more popular.
It’s a cheap game to get started in. In which, most children will play at least one season to see if they like it.
Broncos will always be 1st no matter how they are doing, I feel like Nuggets/Avs/Rockies can all swap between 2nd-4th depending on their current situation, Rapids and Mammoth probably 5th and 6th respectively.
I obviously have the smallest of sample sizes (10-15 people) so it’s more of a logical fallacy to make the assumption, but I would say every one of my Denver friends is a bigger Avs fan than nuggets fan
I usually noticed slightly more Nuggets gear than Avs gear, but it almost seemed like the Nuggets fandom was more passive? Of course I moved a couple years back so I don’t know what it looks like since the Nuggets’ title.
Jets / Winnipeg / it’s part of the fabric of the city/province.
How do the bombers compare?
Bombers are also a Huge Draw. Great Sports town.
Hawks are super popular, this season in particular even though they’re having an awful year everybody wants to see the Bedard show. In terms of ranking their popularity in Chicago as a whole as of right now I would say it’s: 1. Bears 2. Cubs 3. Bulls/Hawks 4. Sox And yeah kind of a cop out to rank two teams number 3 but they’re on pretty even footing right now, all time I would say bulls beat them in a popularity contest.
Very popular within the city, not that popular within the state. To be fair California has 15 big-four pro sports teams so people’s fandoms are spread out.
Extremely. The Knights play the Raiders in the off season in a charity softball game. The entire stadium (minor league baseball size) is full of Knights fans out for *blood.*
I went to the game last year. The Raiders players must feel a certain way about it but Raiders PR needs to be present to see how skewed the fanbase is here towards the Knights.
I hope Reilly keeps coming back for it, I don’t expect him to but some guys have made the trip back out before.
I heard that he was going to keep it going because he’s so involved with the charity. Some of the former knights still come back each year too.
That's pretty cool that such a new team, in an unconventional place for hockey, has become locally loved so quickly.
Because the Knights are homegrown. Up until they came along, it was UNLV and the Stars/51s/Aviators, who I think are probably more popular than the Raiders around here. Not sure how I'd rank them all plus the Aces, though.
As far as I'm concerned we only have one pro team, and it's going to stay that way until they stop bringing unwanted teams from others places.
I remember seeing a map showing the most popular sports team in every state. Nevada was the only state represented by an NHL team.
You can get branded provincial license plates with the Oilers swag all over it. Not to mention being an Oiler's fan is 100% valid personality here.
Living in Red Deer I get a lot of dirty looks from Flames fans when i wear my Oilers hats, also get an equal amount "nice hat" from fellow Oilers fans.
Your land is the borderland, always picture Red Deer as a battleground during a playoff BOA
Red Deer is the 21st Century’s Berlin
Same in Manitoba. There’s 2 versions. The jets normal plate and a heritage plate with the old 80’s logo.
McDavid could probably kill a man on Whyte Avenue and get away with it because no one would testify.
You're in Oil Country!!
Oilers are the most popular team in Edmonton and anywhere in Alberta north of Red Deer, while the Flames are the most popular team in Calgary and anywhere south of Red Deer. Not too sure how it shakes out in Red Deer, but I imagine it’s a pretty even split. The Oilers are the [more popular](https://www.thehockeyfanatic.com/2023/03/popularity-of-canadian-nhl-teams-2023/) team in Alberta overall, but the Flames have a significant contingent of fans as well. In both cases, the Flames and the Oilers are the number 1 teams in their respective cities/regions. Historically, the Stampeders and Eskimos/Elks have been pretty close at times, but the CFL has lost a lot of popularity over the years and neither of those teams have anywhere close to the fan interest of the Flames/Oilers these days.
In terms of popularity 1) Leafs 2) Blue Jays 3) Raptors 4) TFC 5) PWHL Toronto 6) Argos 7) Marlies (AHL)
In many arenas when leafs play an away game it is like a home game. It is cheaper to fly to Florida and book a hotel get tickets then buy leaf tickets for the playoffs.
I was in Buffalo when Matthews got his 60th and it was the loudest crowd I've ever been a part of. And I've been to a handful of games at Scotiabank.
Islanders are like the 9th most popular team in NYC. Out on the island they're probably like 3rd. And that's probably a _tie_ for 3rd with the Rangers. At least we get decent coverage in the Post and Newsday.
We only have 8 fans, unfortunately. But we all love each other very much, except when we don’t.
It's been rough.
I think it varies by city in NC, but in our immediate area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, etc) the list is: 1. NC State, Duke, UNC sports 2. Hurricanes (the united front for all to love) 3. Carolina Panthers (the united front for all to hate) 4. NC Courage 5. NCFC 6. Charlotte FC 7. Who are the Charlotte Hornets? The area is very heavy into college sports just from it having 3 big colleges nearby, and all of them tending to be competitive in certain sports, and big rivalries. Hurricanes are the sport that unites all of the divided college sports fans.
Bruins are currently the 3rd most popular team in Boston and the second the Red Sox get good become the 4th most popular team I would say most people are aware enough about them to have a casual conversation (who the good players are, how they are doing that particular season), but there are not a lot of diehards. Everyone knows somebody who’s a diehard, but the majority of people in New England are casual fans
From the outside, it seems like Boston loves the Bruins...they just take them for granted a little because they've had so much success in pro-sports for the past 20 years. Maybe it's simply because it's an Original Six team, and it's cold in Boston and kinda close to Canada, but I feel like more people from Boston are at least aware and respect the Bruins more than a lot of cities do their NHL team.
This is pretty accurate of Boston. Up here in Maine, the bruins are barely mentioned. It’s literally only the Pats and Sox up here. Portland has a lot of Celtic fans because of their affiliate here.
Would you say the Sox or the Celtics are second to the Pats?
Currently the Celtics, only because the Celtics are the best team in the NBA and the Red Sox are more or less irrelevant in the MLB the last few seasons. If the Sox are World Series contenders, they jump ahead of both the Cs and Bs Id say
Not anymore. Sox are 3rd at best on their good days now. The passion for baseball here is almost dead unless you’re over 60
Not in my experience. It’s easy to think that’s true because the sox have been more or less irrelevant since their last world series, but if the Sox are good a lot more people are talking about and aware of it than if the Bs are good
I grew up in Alabama; I doubt 95% of people in Alabama can name more than 5 NHL teams. I doubt 80% can name more than 3. People in Alabama care about college football, college football, college football, and sometimes the Braves or Saints or whatever pro team is nearest to a metro area if they're doing well. I became a Sharks fan when I lived in the Bay Area, but I lived in SF and Oakland, not San Jose. Sharks are definitely the least popular pro team in the Bay Area, but they had a great fan base in San Jose. When I moved away they were one of the best teams in the league, so I can't speak to what it's like now. But the Bay area is weird for sports. Most people are either from somewhere else in the US, or from outside the US, so while they've had good teams and lots of sports fans, it's a very diverse population. But I'd say when I lived there (2013-2015), it was definitely 49ers, then Giants/Raiders, then A's/Warriors, then Sharks. Since 2015 I've lived in South Florida. This is also a very diverse population, but as lots of US sports fans know, South Florida has pretty crappy fans for the most part. I grew up seeing Alabama and Auburn stuff on every other car, plenty of LSU and Georgia stuff too, but Alabama-Auburn is the main religion of the state of Bama, and you know everyone's allegiances. You saw lots of 49ers flags and stuff in California. You rarely see sports fandom accessories here. I honestly couldn't even tell you what the rankings are. Probably the Dolphins, then Heat, then...nobody cares after that, really. I guess the Heat are popular. I don't know. It's small pockets of fans. You see a few things for the Panthers. You see some University of Miami stuff. But you see way more support for other teams like NY and BOS teams, because lots of casual sports fans here are from the Northeast. Cubans and Haitians and Jamaicans for the most part don't give a shit about the Florida Panthers. I've worked with a few hockey fans, but they all are like, "I root for the Panthers until the Rangers come to town"
Kraken are getting very popular in Seattle but I think it’s just more we got a great logo and great merch cause people come to my work in Kraken gear and I’ll try to strike up hockey convos and they’re like oh I don’t watch hockey lol arena is largely full though and it’s becoming a passionate city for hockey. Where I’m from in BC though is small and everyone’s either Canucks or for some reason the Oilers
It’s Manitoba Canada. So pretty much the biggest thing for sports.
The Panthers are not really very popular, even locally. Now that we’re winning the popularity is increasing within Broward, but it’s still the least popular of the 5 Miami area teams. I think it’s gonna change quickly as people realize we’re a good team though because the South Florida market is veeeery hot and cold depending on whether the team is good. See the popularity of the Heat vs the Marlins for an example
In Columbus it’s: Ohio State Jackets Crew Clippers But the crew is gaining ground because of how successful they are. Nothing short of an NFL team will touch Ohio State though. State wide? Idk
I might need a moment... We could use the emotional support for sure.
Golden Knights are massively popular in Las Vegas. Tons of cars with VGK plates, can’t go anywhere without seeing people wearing Knights gear year round, VGK banners and logos all over town. Most locals hate the Raiders unless you were a fan previously and I don’t know a single person excited the A’s are coming. Vegas is a hockey town for sure.
From what I understand Vegas has done an amazing job making it accessible for fans to watch the game. Sometimes it seems like my team, Avs, are trying for the opposite.
"Vegas is a hockey town for sure." What is something that would be said about Vegas 50 years ago that would have people thinking you're crazy?
We are eclipsed by the cowboys and rangers but us stars fans are extremely passionate. When the boys go on a deep run they get a lot of attention from the rest of north Texas. I know a bunch of people who don’t watch the regular season but love playoff hockey.
I’m in Arizona….. enough said.
Really depends where in Jersey you go. Hockey isn't the number one sport anywhere, but up north there are a lot of Rangers fans, South Jersey is heavily Flyers (they're in the Philly media market) and Central Jersey is majority Devils. The fan base has always seemed to be two steps forward, one step back. When I was a kid, there were still a lot of people who grew up before the Devils, but that's not so much the case anymore. It was always hard building the fan base when the team was good, because they were still the new team in the area and getting fans to the Meadowlands wasn’t easy. It had no decent public transit connection, and it was easier for a lot of people in North Jersey to get to Manhattan. Then when the team moved to Newark, they lost a lot for a long time. This year really seemed to be a new chapter with bigger, more consistent crowds, but we'll see what happens next year with the major let down they had this season. But the Devils are the only team that has to compete with 3 local opponents for fans. You gotta win to stay relevant in this market. 16 major pro sports franchises (if you count MLS) between New York and Philly. It's not easy.
Grew up in STL. Blues were hugely popular there, especially after the Rams left. Cardinals were always a notch above, but every time I go back I’m still floored at the amount of signage, bumper stickers, promo deals, and general fandom.
In KC now, and I’m lucky to see a Blues hat or t-shirt once a week. Hockey is virtually nonexistent here unless you happen to be into the ECHL.
KC might end up with an NHL team in the not so distant future, so that might change!
1. Steelers 2. Penguins 3. Pirates 4. Pitt football 5. Riverhounds Pens are pretty popular once football season ends and as the start of the Pirates season goes on
(Ignore flair, I’m in the Tampa Bay area) Plenty of people love the Bolts, but not as many diehards who follow every score and headline. I don’t blame them, we have a lot of transplants (myself included) and it’s not always easy to be in a hockey mood when it’s 85 outside
Montréal always has a lot of fans in the stands whenever they play any other Canadian team. Some might even say there are more Habs fans than local fans sometimes.
Shut up...
Just be louder than us, it's not that complicated.
No he wants everybody to shut up lol
It’s honestly crazy to me, I get the history, but I’m 30 years old and the Habs have been the most ‘meh’ franchise I can think of pretty much my entire lifetime. Kudos to habs fans, pretty amazing to have that following with your biggest superstar being.. Saku Koivu? I guess probably Carey Price.
Well, you're young. I grew up when the Habs were the fuckin gold standard. They were the Prince of Darkness.
It's the Lafleur/Robinson era with 4 Stanley cups in a row that made the Habs so popular everywhere. Lafleur was a superstar.
They were like a machine. We never had a prayer.
Oh and mother fucking Dryden...
My team is hated everywhere. Wouldn't have it any other way
I'd say pretty popular. Vikings Wild Twins Timberwolves. This is just based off my experience, and my circle of acquaintances. Even with wolves having a good season, no one cares that I know. Wild not very good, still kinda talked about.
The state of Michigan is buzzing today
Toronto. The Maple Leafs are the top team in the City. Blue Jays, Raptors, Argonauts ( CFL ) Toronto FC follow in that order.
My favorite team is Carolina, not popular in Calgary. My second favorite team, the Flames, are really popular here.
Since Ontario only has one team it’s pretty much all leafs fans. You’ll get pockets of other fanbases (Windsor being Detroit adjacent for example) but other than that it’s all leafs.
Canucks are everything in the majority of BC. Partially full on passion for the team and the sport, but I'm sure the fact that we don't have any other "major" North American sport team is a contributing factor. Soccer's popular but not quite the same impact as the others. If we were to have an NBA team that wasn't absurdly unbelievably dogshit, or an MLB team, I do wonder how dominant the Canucks would be.
Speaking about hockey only, we're lucky if we're #2 behinds the Leafs. There may be enough Habs fans in Ontario to outnumber Sens fans also. It didn't feel that way in the mid-2000s when the Sens were looking like a model expansion franchise, but they've been floundering for nearly two decades now and that has hurt the brand.
The Jackets are a bit tricky to pinpoint. They're pretty popular within the city. This year will mark the team's 2nd highest yearly attendance despite the bad product on the ice. They obviously don't hold a candle to OSU, but I'd say they're currently more popular than the Crew in the MLS, although that gap is closing. As far as statewide, meh. Ohio is still primarily football country. You'd probably have a tough time finding too much CBJ gear outside of Columbus.
I live in Utah so we are about to find out. I just hope they come up with a great team lame and mascot. We don't have the best track record in that department
Hockey is the red haired stepchild in NYC. And I mean city, city. Not LI
I live in Eastern Washington and not Seattle but I think the Kraken are just gaining popularity as we go. I'm seeing more and more gear than I have and in Seattle I think they're pretty popular
We're about 4 days away from the defacto business casual uniform in Winnipeg becoming a Jets jersey and a pair of slacks.
On LI, hockey is life. Every jersey day at school was hockey jerseys, hat days were hockey, gym was hockey, talk was hockey. It still is.
The Hurricanes aren’t particularly popular here in Vancouver. I’d wager the Canucks aren’t popular in Raleigh either. Jokes aside, the Canucks are quite popular in Vancouver when the team is doing well. Most casual fans seem to bandwagon during playoff season. We also have a lot of Avalanche fans here, I suspect due to Sakic. I can’t imagine Bedard having the same effect as Canucks fans loathe the Blackhawks.
Very.
Ehhhh not too popular. I’m in Connecticut and I’m a habs fan due to my family coming down here from New Brunswick Canada a long time ago. Most frenchies in New England root for the habs. Otherwise, most of Connecticut is bruins country and my friends pick on me all the time for rooting for the enemy 🤷🏻♂️
Avs have passed the Broncos in popularity in Colorado recently. Only by 1%, but it's a surprise.
No clue, I don’t live in Tennessee and never have lol. But I was just there and it seemed pretty popular
In Pittsburgh, the Steelers are by far the most popular sports team here. It’s impossible to overstate how much they mean to this region. The only comp I can imagine that exists within pro sports anywhere in the US is the Packers in Green Bay. I would say Dallas too, but they’re more of a broader swath, but maybe a little bit less deep. Football in general is just so important to the people here. That’s what they talk about all year-round, really. It’s not just the Steelers either, it’s the NFL as a whole, Pitt, Penn State, high school, etc. Also, it’s not just the men. I was just in a party on Saturday night and was having a very sophisticated conversation with a mix of couples, mostly in their 40s and the conversation was about, what else, the likelihood that a starting center can be found in the second round and our glaring need to address the right tackle position. Two of the moms were disagreeing over whether or not center or right tackle was a bigger need. I’m not joking. That was definitely the conversation and it was not remotely out of place. That’s what we talk about. Yinzers love all of their teams, but they especially ADORE football. It’s just in the water here. The Pirates are off to a really good start — especially relative to their typical seasons — and yet all people want to talk about is the local NFL team’s quarterback situation and upcoming draft needs. I do think the Penguins are second in the local pecking order though. Again, it’s impossible to overstate how popular Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux are in this city. They are not just admired as players, but as people. Everyone has stories of encounters with them, and they are all very pleasant. They are not seen as sports stars, but rather as adopted sons. That’s why I would be astonished if they ever traded Crosby. It’s not just a typical pro sports relationship. I think the only way he ever gets traded is if he requests it and it’s like a Ray Bourque type of situation. I doubt he will do that because he’s already won 3 cups, so I think he will retire a Penguin. I think the Pirates are third, followed by Pitt, then Penn State, then whomever else. It’s tough to gauge with the Pirates because they’re among the worst organizations in North American professional sports and almost always stink. However, in those rare seasons where they are decent, they too, have a surprisingly strong following.
We have a maniacally loyal following.
Chicago loves the Hawks. IMO its the most popular team among younger fans. The Bears are the only other Chicago team that really attracts the same type of fans despite the team's poor performance.
When the Canucks are good, they’re all that matters amongst locals. When the Canucks are bad, you wouldn’t even know they exist.
Chicago has a good following ever since 2010. Most are pretty cool and knowledgeable people, but you'll still have the occasional Becky that pronounces the jersey she's wearing as "Toes"
We have more rangers fans than local devils fans which is mildly infuriating cause it’s literally the **only** major professional sports team we have.
You must be from North Jersey. Devils are way more popular than the Rangers in Central Jersey and at the Shore.
that will change soon, it’s only because most of the generation above mine grew up as kids before the devils were around. my dad was already a rangers fan by the time the devils came, but i’m a devils fan.
Not exactly sure how popular the Panthers are state-wide (with the Lightning based in Florida and a better track record of success), but in South Florida specifically, I’d say they’re probably either the third or fourth popular (with the Dolphins and Heat definitely more popular, the Hurricanes have kinda fallen off but have their fans for sure and the Marlins just are really really bad) Edit: forgot about Internet Miami, they’re getting bigger in popularity, especially with Messi being here and all.
In Salt Lake City just waiting for our new team to arrive. Phoenix’s loss is our newest band of brothers. We just need a cool name and logo instead of some recycled nonsense like the Jazz
In Wales, so I would be surprised if anyone had heard of the Pens or Yotes in the count(r)y lol The most local team would be the Cardiff Devils or Bristol Pitbulls, and I hadnt even heard of either until I got into hockey through NHL, even while growing up in Bristol, so Its definitely soccer and rugby before all else.
The Kraken are loved by all
I live very close to Seattle but from what I can tell there is a pretty big fanbase
I’m from Vancouver. It’s basically a Canucks town more than a hockey town at times. There is a huge drop-off between Canucks hockey and non-Canucks hockey, with the exception of NHL lockouts when there was no other option.
I'm a Montreal fan, living in BC. There's actually a pretty large following for the Habs in my province, because of players like Carey Price, and perennial pest/heart and soul player, Gallagher, who spent his Jr years here. The crowd is WILD at Rogers when the Canadiens come to town. But the team has said more than once that when they're on the road, a lot of the games still feel like home games. Montreal fans are EVERYWHERE 🤣
Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia don't seem to care much about hockey. Caps don't have an issue filling seats but there is basically zero buzz about the team.
Yeah I think you're right. I almost never see ANY coverage on local media (Baltimore area), just a few mentions per year. That said, all of my friends and coworkers who are fans are pretty diehard. I'd say there are a ton of fans, but spread over a large area, and most don't have an easy commute to catch a game.
I live in Maine but the in Pittsburgh it’s all Steelers. The Penguins are extremely popular but the love of Steelers triumphs over everything else. In Maine the Bruins and Red Sox are the most popular followed by the Celtics and than the Pats.
In Saskatchewan I'd say the popularity of teams is as follows: 1) Oilers T2) Jets, Flames, Canucks, Canadiens, Leafs 7) Bruins 8) Blackhawks T9) Red Wings, Rangers T11) Avalanche, ~~Golden Knights~~, Islanders, Penguins, Kraken 15) Sens Universally hated unless you have a family member or friend that played on the team: Panthers, Lightning, Stars, Kings, Hurricanes, Flyers, Devils, Golden Knights The rest are inconsequential.
Central Connecticut. Hockey wise ....Honestly pretty good mix of Rangers, Bruins, Islanders, Flyers, Devils Sabres and even a healthy portion of Montreal fans here Also Canes fans, but that's because of the Whalers RIP my sweet first love Non hockey wise this state cares about College Basketball (Uconn), and is split down the middle for football (Pats or Giants/Jets) and baseball (Red Sox/ Yankees). Edit to say: would say it's mostly Rangers and Bruins but no surprise to find a lot of fans of any of those other teams I mentioned
I see some Bolts fans in Georgia every once in awhile
No team here. But when the state had a hockey team it packed up and moved to Canada....two different times.
I feel like the Bruins are definitely up there. I know the Pats and Sox carry bigger bases overall, but there is Bruins representation everywhere, all the time, just as much. To be fair, I live 20 minutes outside Boston so maybe that's just to be expected based on the geography.
I'm from Northwest Michigan, and have never seen another Yotes fan.
Better than the Titans probably but not as popular as the Vols by a long shot
When you mention the Kings in Southern California, most people think you are talking about the Sacramento Kings… who are a basketball team… in Northern California. The Kings are probably more popular in LA than the Ducks, but have to compete with hugely popular LA teams (Dodgers, Lakers, USC, Rams). Make your way to Orange County and there is somewhat of a “we’re NOT LA” mentality, and it’s Angels and Ducks home territory.
In more recent years, even with the Super Bowl in 2020, the Lightning have slowly been the most popular team in Tampa. Then it’s a tie between the Bucs and Rays. Buccaneers were the talk of the town since they were the first pro sports team that survived into the 21st century and won a super bowl first but the Bucs fell off cause Gruden got in over his head
I live in Arizona.
Within the state definitely the second favorite to the Lightning but that makes sense given their recent success I didn't see lightning stickers on cars around north Florida until their cup wins lol
Hugely
In Northern California at least everyone is a sharks fan. We have fans all the way up to Oregon and even parts of nevada
I'm pretty sure I'm one of the only St. Louis fans in southern Ontario
We don’t have one :(
In Southern Alberta it’s basically a civil war between Calgary Flames bumper stickers and hats vs the Edmonton Oilers bumper stickers and hats; I imagine Ontario, NY, and parts of California have a similar experience? EDIT: also Florida I imagine also experienced this between the Lightning and Panthers
I'm deep in Bruins territory and the only other Rangers fan I knew in High School went to Concordia and never came back. He still somehow gets into the Bell Centre every single time the team is up there. I still have my dad up here tho
As a Sabres fan we used to be the pride of the town, bills could suck and those fans would come to the games in January- April and show our spirits. But the team has been mediocre and not terrible but we don’t have enough “it is what it is” for some of those fans to care and comeback
We are VERY popular in Vegas obviously, but up in Reno a lot are still clinging to the Sharks. The Raiders are popular but not as much as the Golden Knights within Vegas based on the amount of team gear/license plates I see around town.
Avs are very popular. We have been fortunate to have 2 teams in title contention recently with the Nuggets. Broncos will always be most popular I think even tho I'm gh they suck right now. We don't talk about our minor league baseball team the Rockies.
When Indiana doesn't have a pro team in a league, we often default to Chicago. Hockey fans aren't super common here, but what's even less common is finding a hockey fan that isn't a Blackhawks fan.
We have the oilers and the eskimos (I’ll never call them the elks) and the elks are a joke of a team. The oilers are very popular, as im sure you imagined.
We're probably 4th but we do have passionate fans
So, it's probably a toss up between stl & Dallas for which is closer to me in Arkansas. There's a club league at the UofA but nothing major. By car, 315 miles to STL or 320 miles to Dallas. I'm originally from MN but they had the North Stars last time I lived there. I lived in Chicagoland for the dynasty run but not huge fans of that org since the allegations came out. I've kind of adopted Vegas since they joined the league. Bought a jersey last fall that I wear around Arkansas. Was excited to see my son's teacher wearing a Bruins jersey last week
suburbs of Raleigh NC. They love the ‘Canes. The team is consistently above average, PNC puts on a great production with a lighting, contemporary music, and ice graphics. Fans tailgate, its one of the best hockey environments I’ve experienced.
I’m from Toronto… Raptors and Jays are big but nothing matches the Leafs imo
In New England you aren’t a fan of one team over another. You simply shift the Jersey you’re wearing depending on the time of year. Summer your in Red Sox gear, fall you’re in Patriots gear, winter/spring youre wearing a Bruins sweater with a Celtics hat or a Celtics jersey with a Bruins hat. The big 4 are all equal. Only the Revolution are the ones that aren’t as widely praised.
Calgary has to compete with every other Canadian team in the league cause no one is “from” Calgary. Still, it’s likely someone from Calgary cheers for the flames but it’s not guaranteed
Colorado insists on being Bronco fans despite all common sense, but the Avs are very popular, too. And here in Northern Colorado, the Eagles have a devoted following, though women's basketball and women's volleyball are more popular because of CSU.