[Map] Which NBA team does your town root for?

Lakers are still relevant?

Of course.

(-.-)

 

where the **** are the clippers?

 

Awesome find.

 

Maybe the media is justified in ignoring the Rockets. Houston is the 3rd most popular team in its own STATE.

 

Pretty cool. I wish they charted the Supersonics too

 

There's a logical statement here:

If two teams are equal distances from my location OR if both teams are more than a short distance away, bandwagon the team that has won more historically.

 

Houston teams don't have a very big footprint.

Astros: North to Trinity, East to Lake Charles, South to Galveston, West to Columbus & Hallettsville, Southwest to Victoria.

Rockets: North to Huntsville, barely East to Beaumont/Port Arthur, South to Galveston, West to Columbus, Southwest to El Campo, Bay City, and Palacios.

 

I don't know the methodology, but it seems the Bulls are more popular in LA county than the Clippers

 

I am not surprised. The Clippers have been a trash franchise until recently.

I am actually surprised that the Rockets have such a small reach.

 

Winning a whole bunch gives you a bigger footprint..something none of our teams have done lately.

I promise you, before 2010 the Rangers footprint was nowhere near that extensive. Not even close. Austin and San Antonio were Astros territory...throw in 5 years of the best years in Rangers franchise history mixed at the exact same time of 5 years of the worst years in Astros franchise history, and you get a map like the one you're seeing there.

 

That Rangers Astros map looked so different five years ago. So did the Rockets vs Mavs before they won the championship. All Houston teams need is some success and the bandwagon in the rural areas will be back.

 

No wonder some people think the Houston economy will crash if Jeremy Lin is traded.

 

It would be really cool to see how it's changed over the lifetime of the NBA.

 

Where's red China map?

 

Them poor Nyets.

 

Code:

Team	Number of Counties
LAL	3268
MIA	2486
CHI	1410
BOS	1275
DAL	204
OKC	193
TOR	186
SAS	163
DEN	123
MIN	122
IND	87
NYK	83
DET	82
CLE	72
MIL	63
UTA	59
ATL	50
POR	48
NOP	45
HOU	37
MEM	34
GSW	29
SAC	28
WAS	23
PHO	21
PHI	21
ORL	18
CHA	18
BRK	5
LAC	3

I parsed all the data and found the number of counties where the team is ranked in the top 3. I guess the clippers have sucked forever and Brooklyn has usually been second fiddle to the NYK.

 

There's actually a sector of North Los Angeles County, the suburban cities of Lancaster and Palmdale to be exact that are DEEPLY loyal to the Clippers ... for whatever reason IDK .

I guess it's the same with the N.Y. Mets, hardly anyone is a fan, but it's such a large market city that even a die-hard fringe can support a pro-sports franchise.

 

I have TV/radio advertising and team sponsorship numbers on teams in Houston & Dallas (because I buy advertising) and what the Rangers have done in the past few years is truly amazing. They dominate radio. Y'all would be surprised who the 10 fastest growing fan bases are according to the latest ad data I have. The Thunders and Clippers are tops in the NBA. Somehow the Hawks are in the top 5! There's a hockey team in the top 3...

 

Loooking at that NBA map, of all the open pockets of space with slight fan interest and outside of the regions that have low populations and not counting places where I believe current teams such as the Grizzles, Hawks, Hornets, Wizards, 76ers and Cavaliers can extend their reach, there are two areas that are screaming for an NBA franchise.

The first and loudest one is Seattle. They had a franchise and a successful one only to lose it to OKC when they couldn't get a new arena. There are passionate fans up their and they certainty have the population on their own and a massive one when you factor in Vancouver being less than 200 miles away. The other is St.Louis. That is another area that has a large enough population and their reach based on their location also reaches into parts of Illinois. Also provides a good opportunity to give Memphis a good rival as they are not too far from one another.

Now they could look into expanding into 32 teams and do it NFL style with 4 divisons of 4 teams, but if they were to stay at 30, logical relocations would include.

Orlando: Looking at the map Miami has a real stronghold over not only most of Florida, but a good amount of the southeast. Does Orlando really need their own franchise?

Milwaukee: There reach isn't that great and with Chicago only an hour away do they need their own team?

Sacramento: Not going to happen, but much like Milwaukee, with Golden State already having a team and their distance not too great does Sacramento need their squad?