Curious about your fan base...

[southern wolf]

I wonder how much those rankings will change if AP leaves the Vikings. He was the main reason I started following the NFL more closely since I already had the Minnesota connection with the Wolves.

[Klomp]

I wonder how much those rankings will change if AP leaves the Vikings. He was the main reason I started following the NFL more closely since I already had the Minnesota connection with the Wolves.

I don't think it will.

Before Peterson was Moss...before Moss was Carter...before Carter was someone else (before my time). Someone will take over as the face of the franchise.

[jade_hippo]

before Carter we had defensive stars, Randle, MIlard, Doleman, Thomas, Browner... and that Herschel Walker guy but I'd call him infamous.

[C.lupus]

Fran Tarkinton and the Purple People Eaters!

[southern wolf]

I hope Teddy Bridgewater is the next face of the franchise. With a name like that, how could he not be?

[Worm Guts]

Cordarelle. I don't know if he'll be the face of the franchise but he's an awesome player with a cool name.

[eyeteeth]

I think if you really want to get into relative popularity, it is hard to separate the Twins and the Vikings. Especially outside the Twin Cities, the Twins and Vikings have huge fan loyalty way up north and way out into the Dakotas and even Montana. The Twins motto "This is Twins Country" speaks to that. In my mind, I don't really think you could rank one above the other. You might think the Vikes are bigger, but think about how many people own Twins gear. Like everybody it seems like. If the Twins were any good, people would be all over them. As it is, they stink like rotten eggs, and yet people still wear their Twins hats.

Hockey, yeah, people love their ice skate-boxing up here. Kind of an idiotic game if you ask me, at least the way the NHL plays it. (Olympic hockey, now that's another thing entirely, great game.) But in MN, hockey is beloved. How many years did the XCel sell out even when they were putting mediocre teams on the ice? Many.

As for the Timberwolves, there are a surprising amount of fans. It's not as big or widespread as the other sports, but it is definitely there. And if they start winning, it will be huge. It's true what others have said, Minnesotans are huge homers. If a MN team is winning, folks up here will get into it.

The glaring exception to this is the Lynx. They've won Championships. They could've won another this year. Still no great love for ladies playing basketball. Too bad, really.

[Klomp]

The glaring exception to this is the Lynx. They've won Championships. They could've won another this year. Still no great love for ladies playing basketball. Too bad, really.

Compared to the rest of the WNBA, the Lynx have a large following (second in the league the last three seasons). It's actually gone down, though, each of the past two seasons.

[TMo519]

With the Lynx, there's some winning fatigue, when you first win it's incredible. Then you just kinda respect it and enjoy it. The Lynx will continue to draw as they remain a contender, but they probably won't match their first year totals attendance-wise just cause the novelty is a little worn off.

The one thing about the Twins is they have what the other three don't is championships. And though 1991 was a while ago, it's still in recent memory enough that the major portion of the fan base still remembers it. They gained a tons of fans from that time period who are probably still with them today through those struggles.

[Worm Guts]

It helps that the Vikings and Twins have way more history than the Wild or Wolves. The Vikings are more popular than the Twins though.
The Lynx aren't as popular because women's basketball isn't as popular. Women's pro basketball wouldn't even be considered a major professional sport.

[Calinks]

I also think another reason why you see a lot of twins gear, specifically hats, is because it's well designed, iconic, and also represents the Twin Citites. A lot of people get the TC hats probably just for that. People like to rep their city its another reason why the New York and Chicago hats are so popular. Wolves and Vikings stuff seems a little cheesier design wise so if you arent a major fan you probably wont rock them. You dont even have to be a twins fan to appreciate a TC hate.

[Narf]

I also think another reason why you see a lot of twins gear, specifically hats, is because it's well designed, iconic, and also represents the Twin Citites. A lot of people get the TC hats probably just for that. People like to rep their city its another reason why the New York and Chicago hats are so popular. Wolves and Vikings stuff seems a little cheesier design wise so if you arent a major fan you probably wont rock them. You dont even have to be a twins fan to appreciate a TC hate.

13.5 million people attended a Twins home game over the last 5 years. In the same time, the Wild have had about 3.5 million people and the Timberwolves have had about 3 million people.

It's not just that people like the hat better, it's also that there are simply more people going to Twins games.

[ace625214]

I also think another reason why you see a lot of twins gear, specifically hats, is because it's well designed, iconic, and also represents the Twin Citites. A lot of people get the TC hats probably just for that. People like to rep their city its another reason why the New York and Chicago hats are so popular. Wolves and Vikings stuff seems a little cheesier design wise so if you arent a major fan you probably wont rock them. You dont even have to be a twins fan to appreciate a TC hate.

13.5 million people attended a Twins home game over the last 5 years. In the same time, the Wild have had about 3.5 million people and the Timberwolves have had about 3 million people.

It's not just that people like the hat better, it's also that there are simply more people going to Twins games.

To be fair, there are twice as many Twins home games as there are for the Wild or Wolves. Having the same number of games would make those numbers closer.

Target Field also has twice the capacity of Xcel and the Target Center. That doesn't change the fact that there are more people going to Twins games, but as far as filling their respective venues they are all pretty close.

[Narf]

I also think another reason why you see a lot of twins gear, specifically hats, is because it's well designed, iconic, and also represents the Twin Citites. A lot of people get the TC hats probably just for that. People like to rep their city its another reason why the New York and Chicago hats are so popular. Wolves and Vikings stuff seems a little cheesier design wise so if you arent a major fan you probably wont rock them. You dont even have to be a twins fan to appreciate a TC hate.

13.5 million people attended a Twins home game over the last 5 years. In the same time, the Wild have had about 3.5 million people and the Timberwolves have had about 3 million people.

It's not just that people like the hat better, it's also that there are simply more people going to Twins games.

To be fair, there are twice as many Twins home games as there are for the Wild or Wolves. Having the same number of games would make those numbers closer.

Target Field also has twice the capacity of Xcel and the Target Center. That doesn't change the fact that there are more people going to Twins games, but as far as filling their respective venues they are all pretty close.

I'm willing to cut the Twins games in half for comparison purposes, that still gets you 6.25 million people. I think that's a fair representation vs the Wild and Wolves 3.5 and 3 million people.

It's just hard to cut it any way that says anything else. Twins are clearly the #2 pro sports team in Minnesota.

[ace625214]

I'm willing to cut the Twins games in half for comparison purposes, that still gets you 6.25 million people. I think that's a fair representation vs the Wild and Wolves 3.5 and 3 million people.

It's just hard to cut it any way that says anything else. Twins are clearly the #2 pro sports team in Minnesota.

I agree. In terms of pure number of attendance, there is no arguing it. I just found it interesting that when you figure in venue capacity they all end up almost identical.

[funkatron101]

13.5 million people attended a Twins home game over the last 5 years. In the same time, the Wild have had about 3.5 million people and the Timberwolves have had about 3 million people.

It's not just that people like the hat better, it's also that there are simply more people going to Twins games.

To be fair, there are twice as many Twins home games as there are for the Wild or Wolves. Having the same number of games would make those numbers closer.

Target Field also has twice the capacity of Xcel and the Target Center. That doesn't change the fact that there are more people going to Twins games, but as far as filling their respective venues they are all pretty close.

I'm willing to cut the Twins games in half for comparison purposes, that still gets you 6.25 million people. I think that's a fair representation vs the Wild and Wolves 3.5 and 3 million people.

It's just hard to cut it any way that says anything else. Twins are clearly the #2 pro sports team in Minnesota.

Also, not to argue against the point, but Target field plays a role, does it not?

[Saltine]

attendance isn't all that useful a comp...
Total Attendance 2013
MLB - 74,026,895
NHL - 21,470,155
NFL - 17,124,389
NBA - 17,100,861

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s ... ce_figures

Follow the money, revenues last season;
Vikings - $250 million
Twins - $221 million
Wolves - $116 million
Wild - $81 million

http://www.forbes.com/teams/minnesota-vikings/
http://www.forbes.com/teams/minnesota-twins/
http://www.forbes.com/teams/minnesota-timberwolves/
http://www.forbes.com/teams/minnesota-wild/

[King Stannis]

Twinks were firmly in 2nd place until 2011 when the Pohlads got cheap and let an annual playoff team implode. But hey, at least they got their stadium on our dime.

I'd say that mantle is up for grabs now.

[Minnesota Power]

It may vary year to year due to how good the team is, but no, the Vikings and Twins are the most popular, followed by the Wild then the Wolves. Wild are not more popular then the twins. And no I'm not some baseball lover. Football and Basketball are my 2 favorite sports and only watch hockey sometimes and even less baseball. Sure with the Wild being a playoff team and the Twins doing bad, they may be hotter at the moment, but no, overall, the Wild don't come close.

Just about all markets that have all 4 pro sports leagues, the NFL and MLB team is the most popular. Theres a reason why the NBA and NHL have a hard on for markets where they're the only team in town (OKC, Utah, Portland, San Antonio, Sacramento, Memphis, Orlando yes I know Orlando is getting MLS but obviously in the 1989 expansion they didn't have an MLS team derpy derp) is becuase in general the MLB and NFL are more popular and always overshadow them.

Chicago-Cubs and Bears more popular than Blackhawks. Not even close
Boston-Patriots and Red Sox over the Bruins. Again, not even close.
Dallas-LOLOLOLOL at anyone thinking the Stars are more popular then the Cowboys.
Bay area- Giants and 49ers way more popular then the Sharks.
Philadelphia-Again, Eagles and Phillies are more popular then 76ers and Flyers.
New York-If you think the Rangers and Islanders are more popular then the Yankees and Giants, you're smoking something.
Phoenix-I don't even have to explain how the Coyotes are, by far, Arizona's least popular pro team. Like saying water is wet.

Detroit may be one of the few where NHL may be most or second most popular (Tigers probably more popular). But again you gotta remember, the Lions have never been to a Super Bowl and have 1 playoff win since 1960. Red Wings got like 50 billion Stanley Cups.

Seattle is hard to say, it is considered a great basketball town but they lost their team that had nothing to do with fan support. The Mariners don't have a lot of history compared to other MLB teams (Expansion team from 1977) And have never been to a world series and have horrible owners, i'd probably say if Seattle still had the NBA or gets it back via relocation or expansion MLB would still be behind, but if the Mariners won the World Series and Seahawks went like 2-14, it can vary. But i'd still say overall Their NFL and former NBA are more popular then the MLB.


And I love the selective memory when talking about Wild Attendance. We had to lose the North Stars in order to be able to sell out.
http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/ ... p?tmi=6876
1990-1991 averaged 7838 in an arena that held around 15k people. Averaging 50% in a supposedly "great hockey state" the season they go to the finals is considered great? huh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXIhIao7iZM
buy 2 get 1 free season tickets? Plus free tickets to the rest of the current seasons remaining home games? What? If fan support is so great why are they giving them away? Whens the last time the Maple Leafs or Packers (yes I know NFL vs NHL not fair, but it's true) had a sale on season tickets?
If we were truly great we would of been selling out like crazy when the North Stars were horrible, just like how the Maple Leafs sold out despite the fact they missed the playoffs for how many years straight and have some of the worst owners in pro sports.
Kind of funny how a 22 year old like me born in 1992 knows more about the North Stars then all these "Old wise men" here who are 3 times my age.


Anyways my personal ranking is
Vikings and Wolves tied for me

Don't care about the rest.

And no I don't hate hockey. Just stating facts. Thats like saying I hate Culvers because I say something like "McDonalds has 30,000+ restaurants whereas Culvers only has around 500"

[JasonL]

Wolves and Vikings are tied for me. I couldnt pick one over the other

Didnt grow up a hockey fan but have really enjoyed getting into it the last 5 years or so.