If you live in a state that has multiple professional sports teams, how do you decide who to root for?

[moaterboat]

Being a Minnesota boy, I never had this problem, so I don't really know. Is there a line running across Texas to divide it into Cowboys and Texans territory? Or do you just pick one? What if you live in the actual home city of the team? Like if you are in Pennsylvania you can be a Steelers OR an Eagles fan, unless you actually live in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia? How does it all work? And don't you feel bad about hogging the teams when so many states don't have any? You should be ashamed of yourselves. California and New York in particular. Look at poor old Idaho. Why can't you share?

[DanAG]

Whichever team you like best. Most of the fan base will be with whatever team is closer, but that's not always true. Also if one team is newer a lot of people will remain loyal to the old team.

I remember when the Bengals started. Before that everyone in Ohio was a Browns fan. After the Bengals came to Cincinnati it took a long time for loyalties to switch in that part of the state. Even though it's been over 40 years, a lot of people stayed Browns fans all that time (including me).

Some teams are just easier to like than others. My own loyalties aren't all that strong. When I lived in California I was a niners fan, and still am after leaving the state. I've always been a Miami fan also.

In Sacramento I think there are probably a lot more niners fans than Raiders fans even though Oakland is slightly closer. Or at least that was true when I lived there.

Most people will like the nearest team, but it's really who you like best.

As for Idaho, there aren't any cities large enough to support a pro team in the big sports. Boise is the largest city and it's not very big at all.

[jmowen]

I'm from Kansas. Technically we don't have any sports teams but the Royals and Chiefs are the popular teams in my area.

However, I am not a hardcore fan of those teams but I do support them regardless. My favorites for the following sports:

NFL: Denver Broncos - Father is from Denver so he raised me to be a Denver fan (John Elway era).

MLB: Texas Rangers - I started liking them when I first noticed Pudge Rodriquez. Became even more of a fan when I went to my first game in Arlington last year.

NBA: Dallas Mavericks - Just became a fan of them. No big reason why.

[RedSmartie]

Well, I'm Californian so I have this problem. We typically pick teams that we live closer to. Most teams are clustered around LA or the bay area. I live closer to the bay area, so I root for bay area teams. For football, I prefer the 49ers to the Raiders because they have a better park and Raiders fans can be pretty ghetto. In baseball, I prefer the Giants to the A's because I prefer the National League to the American League (the DH is for wimps).

But for the most part, people root for the teams that they are raised to root for, unless they move.

[pickledxtofu]

I'm from Texas and the way it works is, people typically go by where they're from or where their family is from. If you're from the North Texas area you probably root for Cowboys unless your family is from Houston.

My friends from Houston/Austin root for the Texans.

[emptypackofsmokes]

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area which has a clusterf**k of professional sports teams. All of my friends have their favorites. Some have hang-ups on the Oakland vs San Francisco rivalry because San Francisco teams get new stadiums and Oakland teams don't but it's all changing because of 2 big moves happening soon. The Golden State Warriors (currently based in Oakland) will be moving to San Francisco & the San Francisco 49ers will be moving to Santa Clara (a city on the outskirts of San Jose).

This is how it's going to look very soon:

San Francisco (City)

San Francisco Giants

Golden State Warriors

East Bay:

Oakland Athletics

Oakland Raiders

South Bay:

San Jose Sharks

San Francisco 49ers

As you can see, traditional fan-zones are will shift because of the changes.

I'm going to start rooting for everybody. I love my Giants & they will continue to have my loyal attendance. Other than that, I'm going to spread my love around!

[emptypackofsmokes]

*There are many East Bay fans under the age of 40 that grew up being 49er fans because of the fact that the Raiders were in Los Angeles from 82-94. Since the 49ers were so succesful during the Raiders stint in Los Angeles, many East Bay football fans continued to support the 49ers after they moved back to Oakland in 1994. It's a mess!

[MrAtticusLebowski]

SoCal here. We have 3 MLB teams here. It's usually where you're from and which area you grew up in. I was born in LA but I've lived close to the San Diego area for most of my life. So I pretty much root for the Padres and Chargers. I've always wondered how Oakland A's/SF Giants fans are decided. The cities are so close.

[johnny_hustle]

Although my state only has one team, where I live it's typically split between 3-4 teams.

I live the closest to Chicago, then Indy, then Detroit, then St. Louis. I'm a Rams fan, but most of my friends are either Bears or Colts fans with a few being Detroit and Rams fans.

[johnny_hustle]

Also, local Fox picks up Bears and Local CBS picks up Colts. The 4:30 games are pretty random. Weird thing is FoxSports is Detroit (for baseball/hockey/basketball) then WGN for Cubs/Whitesox/Bulls/Blackhawks and when Fox has games it'll be the Cardinals and Blues.

[johnny_hustle]

So, when it comes to deciding who do people root for? It's generally who's ever is on TV the most or whomever they were raised to like by their parents, and sometimes people will root for whichever team is the in-state team regardless if another team is closer.

[sovetskii13]

I lived in Bronx, NY when I first moved to the United States. I became a Yankees fan in baseball because the Yankees are in the Bronx, a Rangers fan in Ice hockey because the Islanders were part of Long Island. The only problem I had was the Jets or the Giants. I am still not a fan of just one. I like both.

[jwhit]

I'm from Virginia, so you would assume I'm a Redskins, Nationals, or Wizards fan, but I'm not.

I like the Miami Heat since 04 ( when Shaq was traded from LA)

Dallas Cowboys since I came out the womb lol. Those two team I liked because of my dad mainly. But I'm a Tampa Bay Rays and Lightning fan because I lived in Tampa for a minute and I didn't have a favorite baseball or hockey team.

It all depends on family upbringing or location.

[davdus]

Most of southern Ohio, roots for the Bengals and the Reds, while most of northern Ohio is the Indians and Browns. Columbus (our state capital is where it divides). Columbus is actually more so for the north.

Sorry we beat you today. I'm in Cleveland

[Anonymous]

I live in a Los Angeles suburb, so I root for the Dodgers, Kings and Lakers mainly because of proximity. For football I can choose between the Raiders, the 49ers or the Chargers, and since I like Southern California/beaches more than the Bay Area, I chose the Chargers. Kinda stupid but any other reason for a team would be just as dumb, if not more.

[lisa16]

I'm from Pennsylvania, but I was born and raised in philly, so I root for all the philly teams!

[futureSURGEON]

i'm from LA, I've had a laker jersey since I was about 6 months old. other than that, I like the broncos and the sf giants. not really an LA things.

[danix]

Support your local team.

[Anonymous]

Go by the average length of the managers' penises!

[Anonymous]

I pick the team that is closest to my hometown