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Are you a fan of your team or your city? (1 Viewer)

Would you follow your team if they left your home state/city?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 35 34.3%

  • No.

    Votes: 49 48.0%

  • Let's just hope it never comes to that.

    Votes: 18 17.6%
  • Total voters
    102
Autumn Wind

Autumn Wind

Footballguy
All this moving business got me wondering about where the average NFL fan's loyalties really lie - to their team or just to their geograhic area. I grew up a Raiders fan in NJ so I watched them move to LA and back to Oakland and it never really impacted me one way or another. But I also remember going to a NJ Devils rally when it looked like they would move to Nashville, and I was sick at the thought of them leaving. I honestly don't know if I would have stayed a fan if they had left.

So where are you on this? And don't think your team could never move. In today's pro sports landscape, any team is a flight risk.

 
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Skins fan who grew up and still lives in NE. My dad is a Skins fan and raised me that way, I never had a chance.

I think sometimes about how much more fun my childhood would have been being a Patriots fan, experiencing SB's with my friends.

But anyways, nothing would really change for me if they moved so I'd still be a fan.

 
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ConnSKINS26 said:
Skins fan who grew up and still lives in NE. My dad is a Skins fan and raised me that way, I never had a chance.

I think sometimes about how much more fun my childhood would have been being a Patriots fan, experiencing SB's with my friends.
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Yeah, but that would be weird to be a Pats fan in Nebraska.
 
If I moved, I'd still be a Vikings fan. If the team moved, screw them.

I didn't care in the least about the Stars when they moved to Dallas.

 
City

Bengals have a weird situation where they have another team right by them that is not any kind of rival. If the Bengals moved, we'd be colts fans. It's about 1.5 hrs Cincy to Indy.

 
Team...mostly because I grew up in Wisconsin and then moved to TN. Titans were not here until I was getting out of college.

Pull for them...but as an interest in local things doing well.

At least for football.

NHL, I was more of a college hockey fan growing up but started on the Predators when they got here. If they moved, I don't know what if do. We wouldn't get a new team, so I'd probably pull for them still wherever they went (depending on circumstances)

While I am a Bucks and Brewers fan...I don't care that much about either... I'd probably pull for the local team if we got NBA or MLB here...cared more about the Brewers when I was younger. Near the end of the Selig's pissed me off.

 
I remained a fan of the Hornets when they moved to NO. I wasn't happy about it, but I still followed them - just not as closely. I was very happy that Charlotte obtained the name back because I couldn't make myself pull for the Bobcats.

Other than that, it's based on city. I wasn't a Whalers fan prior to them moving to Raleigh and changing their name to the Carolina Hurricanes. Before that move, I was a Chicago Blackhawks fan. In the NFL, I was a huge Joe Montana fan and pulled for the 49ers prior to the Panthers being announced. And the same for the NBA - prior to the Hornets being franchised, I was a Bulls fan because of Michael Jordan (who I loved due to being a Tar Heels alumni). I still cheer for those teams I had interest in before getting real home teams, but not as much as I do the homers.

Oh, and as for baseball (which I hardly follow), I call the Cubs my team since I grew up watching them play on WGN. It's almost as if Chicago is my home away from home.

 
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sho nuff said:
Team...mostly because I grew up in Wisconsin and then moved to TN. Titans were not here until I was getting out of college.

Pull for them...but as an interest in local things doing well.
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This, pretty much. Having moved 6 times in the last 16 years, I pull for the local teams to do well and when teams we used to live by play teams we haven't, we pull for formerly local teams. This weekend we'll be cheering for the panthers and Chiefs but we wouldn't cheer for them over the Titans (not that that's a real choice any time soon).

We pull for the local college team (roll tide) but not against our Alma mater (again, not really a problem as the Jayhawks aren't good in football and the tide isn't in the same tier as KU in basketball)

But this us because we moved, the teams haven't left us.

 
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I follow the team, thats probably because I live in a state and area where there isn't any pro teams. The closest pro teams to me are in Minnesota. I'm a Raiders fan and have been my whole life, if they moved to say San Antonio I would have no problem with that. I follow the Raiders, Yankees, Celtics, and Penguins in pro sports and by looking at my avatar I obviously follow the Hawkeyes in college sports.

 
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My answer is that it depends on if my city got a new team. If my team left and my city had no team, sure I would continue to root for them, as they would probably still have many players I had followed for a few years.

But if my city got a new team, I'd probably switch alliances. Also after a number of years, the roster of your "old" team would turn over and it would feel more and more like they belonged to "the other city."

 
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Autumn Wind said:
All this moving business got me wondering about where the average NFL fan's loyalties really lie - to their team or just to their geograhic area. I grew up a Raiders fan in NJ so I watched them move to LA and back to Oakland and it never really impacted me one way or another. But I also remember going to a NJ Devils rally when it looked like they would move to Nashville, and I was sick at the thought of them leaving. I honestly don't know if I would have stayed a fan if they had left.

So where are you on this? And don't think your team could never move. In today's pro sports landscape, any team is a flight risk.
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Chris, is that you?

 
Both. But... I'd root for the team until the players I liked while they were in my city are gone. Once there has been a full turnover, it's just another team.

 
If the Bucs went to Orlando I would still consider them my team, but anywhere outside of the region I wouldn't.

 
Feel like it really depends on why you like the team in the first place. Like many others, I'm a fan of my team because of my dad growing up. TN didn't have a pro team, and my dad was a huge 49ers fan. So, I'm a 9ers fan, but still cheer for the Titans. If the Titans left Nashville, I wouldn't continue to follow them really.

 
Detroit has had four major team franchises longer than any city outside of New York. I'll always root for them. I don't dislike the NYC/NJ teams, just indifferent. Could not care less. And I love being a New Yorker.

If the Pistons moved I would stop rooting for them. I suppose theoretically it's possible the Lions, Red Wings or Tigers might one day move, but seems doubtful it would happen in my lifetime. Never say never, though.

 
When I lived in Pittsburgh I'd have been bitter enough over a departure to fall back on a previous fandom.

Now that I've been out of Pittsburgh for decades, and still cheering for the Steelers, the team means more, and I don't care nearly as much where they play.

 
Being in Iowa I don't have any professional teams in the state so it's a little different. I have always been a Chicago fan though. The Bears, Cubs, Blackhawks and Bulls. If the Bears were to move I'd still be a huge fan since they are not my local team but it would feel a little different.

 
Hawkeye21 said:
Being in Iowa I don't have any professional teams in the state so it's a little different. I have always been a Chicago fan though. The Bears, Cubs, Blackhawks and Bulls. If the Bears were to move I'd still be a huge fan since they are not my local team but it would feel a little different.
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I also grew up in Iowa and supported whichever team had players I liked. Ask 10 people there who their favorite team is and you're likely to get 10 different answers.

 
FF Ninja said:
Both. But... I'd root for the team until the players I liked while they were in my city are gone. Once there has been a full turnover, it's just another team.
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I think that's pretty much what I would do. When the Charlotte Hornets left, I still sort of followed the team until the players I loved were gone...then I stopped (or switched to a Bobcats/now Hornets) fan when they came in.

I am a more diehard Panthers fan and wouldn't hold it against the players, but if they left I'm not sure I could retain my loyalty. I'd probably just go to not having a favorite team and just playing fantasy.

 
Grew up in L.A. I was too young to remember any team actually playing in L.A, so I when I was a bit older I would kind of follow the Chargers since geographically they made the most sense and I always hated the Raiders. Hopefully the Chargers move up to L.A, so I have both an AFC and NFC team to follow. If not, I'll be giving the Rams most of my attention.

 
Chaka said:
When you move from one city to another do you adopt the team(s) in your new city?
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Personally, I wouldn't. But I can see why people would. It's fun to attend a game and actually root for a particular team.

 
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The only situation I can think of where you wouldn't stick with the team is what happened with the Browns. They went to Baltimore, changed their name and sacrificed all of the Browns history. They were, in effect, a new team entirely. So I can see sticking with the city in that case.

But for a situation like the Rams (or when the Raiders went to LA and back to Oakland) I don't see why you wouldn't remain a fan of the team so long as they kept their name/history. It's really those identifiers that connect people to a team, not a stadium location.

I can see a gray area, for example, when the Oilers moved they kept their history despite the change in team name. With Houston getting a new team I am not sure where my allegiance would fall in that situation.

 
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I think it's sad that this is even a pertinent question. In the UK professional soccer teams ARE the local community and their entire identity/existence is based on where they are from. The idea of them upping and moving to a different city is a preposterous one.

But I guess in essence that is what you guys have college sports for. In many ways they seem to be far more permanently ingrained into a local community like a soccer team here.

I guess I'm lucky in that I follow all the Detroit teams and have never had to experience what it's like to lose a team.

 
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TartanLion said:
I'm lucky in that I follow all the Detroit teams and have never had to experience what it's like to lose a team.
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Well, that's certainly a great example of finding the silver lining in the poop sandwich. I applaud your rosy outlook.

 
Grew up rooting for all Boston teams (Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, Celtics). Still do.

I moved to Memphis and have taken on a light rooting interest in some local teams:
• Volunteers (Coll Football) : Alumni. Won National championship while there. Wasn't a big NCAAFB fan before then.
• Grizzlies (NBA) : I'm not really a fan of the NBA so it makes it easier to cheer for the locals... though would root for celtics over them H2H
• Titans (NFL): Hell no. Zero rooting slip from Patriots to the Titans.
• Predators (NHL): Zero rooting interest slip from Bruins to Preds.

Not sure what I'd do If the boston teams ever moved...

 
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If I moved, I would certainly still be a fan of my original home teams. I would probably follow the local teams as a fan to some extent.

If my team left, I would probably stop following them. I think that it would most likely be motivated by the owner's desire over the community's, which is fine, but I would ha e a hard time supporting that, I think. Might adopt my wife's team (steelers). Not sure about other sports.

 
A big part of being a fan is sharing that with other people. That pretty much goes away when the team up and changes cities.

At this point it wouldnt impact too much of anything for me. Sports fan>>>>>home team fan

 
Why is it okay for you to leave your city, presumably for better options in life, but it's not okay for your team?

 
I grew up as a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Football Giants. When the Dodgers moved to LA I remained a fan for many years. By the time I moved to San Diego I had no interest left in baseball as a result of the steroid era and the trashing of records by doped up players so I never cared about either the Dodgers or the Padres. I still root for the Giants and I had some interest in the Chargers until recently. Now I don't care if they stay or go. My real interest in football at this point is neither the city nor the team, it is fantasy football (but not the daily games which are no better than buying lottery tickets.) The NFL management and its inconsistencies in dealing with the bad boys and its convoluted rules which not even a football coach with a law degree can understand have turned me off from the game. The nicest thing about the Chargers probable move to LA would be that we wouldn't have a home team so we would always get the best games of every week on TV.

 
A little of both, but I'm loyal to the teams I liked growing up. Since that was Los Angeles, most of those are L.A. teams -- Lakers, Dodgers, USC. For NFL, I grew up liking the Niners even though the Raiders and Rams were still in town. This was because my mother was a 49ers fan and raised me to be so. The first NFL game I can still remember watching was the 1989 Super Bowl against the Bengals. Later as a young adult, I asked my mom how was it that she became a Niners fan in Los Angeles. She said she thought Joe Montana had a nice ###. So my lifelong fandom of the 49ers is based on a man's posterior. And it turns out my mother is a fair-weather fan. Now she likes the Seahawks because of Pete Carroll and his connection to USC. Yet, I'll never like an NFL team the way I do the Niners just because they are the team I rooted for as a kid.

I don't now like the Clippers just because they are in Los Angeles and better than the Lakers. I won't like the Rams or Chargers when they are back in Los Angeles. I like them less because they abandoned the city in the first place. But if the NFL had given Los Angeles an expansion team, I would be a fan. And if that team was exciting and the Niners' ownership/management continued to be awful, I could see myself maybe liking the expansion team better at some point.

 
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Chaka said:
Why is it okay for you to leave your city, presumably for better options in life, but it's not okay for your team?
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They can do whatever they want. I can also think they are tremendous greedy #######s, that is going to stick to the team.

Prime example: Howard Schultz and the Sonics. #### that guy, #### Clay Bennett therefore the Thunder basketball team is dead to me.

 
Grew up in LA: Dodgers, Lakers and Rams. I left for school before the Rams left, so when they did, it didn't reduce my interest or loyalty. I moved to New Hampshire and never liked the Red Sox or Patriots. Then moved to NM, Cowboys and Bronco country, and have never come to like either. Still Dodgers, Lakers and Rams. Very glad to have the Rams coming home, even though I'm still away.

 
I hate the A's and Charlie Finley for leaving Kansas City, and it occurred before I was born. My father taught me to hate, and I will install it in my children as well.

 
SaintsInDome2006 said:
I will never understand people who live in a city with an NFL team but support some other team.
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I grew up in Wisconsin. I followed the Lombardi Packers. We attended games and held season tickets. We had connections to the team medical staff. We had numerous players, now Hall of Famers, in our home. When I moved to Minneapolis and then Denver I followed those teams more closely than I had previously, but I remain a Packer fan. I support the Packers. The early loyalty is deeply ingrained. If Dan Devine and Lindy Infante could not kill it nothing can.

 
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Chaka said:
Why is it okay for you to leave your city, presumably for better options in life, but it's not okay for your team?
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It's okay for the team.

But when I move, I don't expect my old neighbors to pay my salary or buy stuff with my name on it.

 
FUBAR said:
Chaka said:
Why is it okay for you to leave your city, presumably for better options in life, but it's not okay for your team?
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It's okay for the team.

But when I move, I don't expect my old neighbors to pay my salary or buy stuff with my name on it.
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But you expect your friends to still be your friends. You don't expect to pick up the tab for drinks or dinner but every now and again you do, and they remain your friends. If your friend moves to a different city for a better job they remain your friend. You even pay out of pocket to visit them from time to time and they remain your friend.

Again it seems like a silly thing to begrudge a team for.

 
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