Not everyone goes for the same team. The team whose jersey you wear or watch on TV is decided by multiple factors. No longer can one assume a person from a city roots for every team within the limits. A person in a big enough town can have multiple within one sport like New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Or you may be where there are no teams and have to choose one. And you cannot discount rivalries and people choosing a side. Those are just some of the reasons you or someone you know is a fan of a team among many others.
Neighborhood
Depending on where exactly your home is you are pulling for that team. These hardworking people play live right in your backyard. Here in New York, it is epitomized by our baseball teams. The New York Yankees, have been here in the Bronx since 1923, from neighboring upper Harlem in the 1910s. Its staying power bought them a long-standing die-hard fanbase of Bronxites. The Yankees aided themselves leaning into their home base, a common nickname of theirs being the Bronx Bombers. Their consistent winning helped to get their support up.
Out in Queens and neighboring Long Island, The Mets serve as their own baseball team. It took a while to get support consistently, but winning got the people to embrace them. A shock World Series win in 1969, an NLCS 4 years later in 1973, and then winning it all again in 1986 helped garner support for the Amazins’, primarily on the outskirts of New York City.
The rivalry peaked with the 2000 World Series, with both teams competing for the Commisioner’s trophy, an ultimate battle of bragging rights, ultimately won by the Yankees. While the city was brought together for its love of baseball, its differences were exaggerated based on who they supported. The Subway Series still pulls full crowds into Citi Field and Yankee Stadium.
Availability
Some big cities in the United States do not have sports teams. If they do, it may be just 1. Nashville just has the Predators of the NHL. Baltimore has baseball and football, but not basketball or hockey. Connecticut has just women’s basketball, college, and professional. It begs the question “Who’s your team?” That is when it depends on the region. Connecticut is divided in half horizontally. Those closer to NYC would root for the Knicks, while those approaching the Massachusetts border pull for the Celtics + Red Sox. Meanwhile, in Birmingham, Alabama, Jackson, Mississippi, etc, The Atlanta Braves end up on their television sets and radio stations, bringing them more fans. Then there are people from rural areas or out in the suburbs. There might be some places close enough to get a major market, but most of America around the Great Plains has none.
An example includes my old high school English teacher, a Northern Californian from the country. There were no sports out there at all. The Kings only moved to Sacramento when she was less than 10 years old. So how did she end up a Braves fan? Ted Turner and his magnate. Her first game was watching the Braves. Coincidentally, she had the privilege of watching them during the 90s, when Atlanta won 3+ National League Pennants and A World Series. While being a California Girl should have made her pull for the Giants, A’s, Angels, or Dodgers, The Braves being who exposed her to baseball made her loyal to them. As of 2024, she has not wavered. Being a Harlem resident, she roots for the Yankees on occasion, but should the Braves come to New York like they did back in June this year, she will wear her red A.
Family
Like all television watching as a youngster, a person probably has watched their first game with a parent or other guardian. Whether that is in person or on TV depends on the above but, it meant someone explaining the rules to you. While I picked up most of my favorite teams by watching them on my own, I am a Yankees fan because my grandpa was one. He moved to New York from South Carolina in the mid-1960s, before the Braves moved to Atlanta, where he might have been able to listen to or watch a game. Instead, as a newly minted Bronxite, he picked up the Bombers, and passed on the passion to me.
If you also root for a team because your father does, you are not alone. In fact, a study cited by NPR shows over 30% of participants root for a team because their dad did. All respect to mine, but I was not in Carolina, so the Panthers would not be my team. For others, that’s exactly why their team is the same as their father’s. Heritage, passing down tradition, shared experiences with said team, of either joy or despair. All of it roots from the one family member who spent their time rooting for their squad.
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