Are the Timberwolves more popular than people think?

Minnesota Power · Post #1 » by **Minnesota Power** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:37 pm

I noticed the Timberwolves facebook page has like 373k likes while the Minnesota Wild only has 225k.
Thats quite a difference considering this is the state of Hockey and the Timberwolves haven't made the playoffs in like a decade.

Brings a smile to my face to see that this team has the gigantic fanbase that it has

Post #2 » by **Klomp** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:46 pm

Still 3rd in the pecking order, at best

LordBaldric · Post #3 » by **LordBaldric** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:57 pm

Klomp wrote:Still 3rd in the pecking order, at best

There aren't many cities where the NBA team is more popular than the NFL/MLB teams (if the city has them).

Post #4 » by **The J Rocka** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 10:40 pm

Vikings, Twins, Wild, Gophers all get love before the Wolves. I notice we have a lot of fans outside of Minnesota including outside the US.

As far as NBA popularity, we're definitely not popular. Even if we had a winning culture I feel we would be put under the radar.

King Malta · Post #5 » by **King Malta** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 10:45 pm

The J Rocka wrote:Vikings, Twins, Wild, Gophers all get love before the Wolves. I notice we have a lot of fans outside of Minnesota including outside the US.

As far as NBA popularity, we're definitely not popular. Even if we had a winning culture I feel we would be put under the radar.

I'm a Minnesota fan all the way from Australia, and have actually found myself bumping into Timberwolves fans every now and then.

I think we picked up a few fans during the Garnett era, and possibly a few who started following from a young age like myself and thought the Wolves had the coolest name.

Saltine · Post #6 » by **Saltine** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 10:57 pm

The Wolves have had better television ratings than the wild for at least the last 3 years. The Wild have been around a 2.5 on FSN, the Wolves around 3.7 on FSN. Twins around 6.5 on FSN, Vikings ~35-40 percent of televisions.

Post #7 » by **Calinks** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 11:34 pm

Damn, didn't know the twins were pulling ratings that high.

I noticed that in Minnesota the wolves are pretty "meh" even NBA fans often don't care about the wolves in Minnesota, you never see people wearing wolves gear ever, always some other NBA team if it's NBA stuff. Internationally we seem to have a decent following, maybe even middle of the pack NBA popularity wise, not sure why.

Minnesota Power · Post #8 » by **Minnesota Power** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 11:50 pm

I notice quite a bit of Wolves gear people wear around Minnesota. Though I do see a lot of Chicago Bulls snapbacks and like Lebron James jerseys. I notice most of the non Wolves stuff I see is Lakers, Bulls, Heat. Probably like that everywhere that isn't those 3 places though, not just exclusive to Minnesota.

And I agree there isn't many markets outside of Los Angeles(Doesn't have NFL), and maybe Seattle (before they lost their Sonics to OKC) that have multiple pro sports teams where the NBA team is the most popular.
Some examples are...
Red Sox and Patriots more popular than the Celtics for sure.
Bears and Cubs more popular than the Bulls for sure.
Lions and Tigers more popular than the Pistons for sure.
Falcons and Braves more popular than the Hawks for sure.
Giants and 49ers more popular than the Warriors for sure.
Giants and Yankees more popular than the Knicks for sure.
Packers and Brewers more popular than the Bucks for sure.

Miami is a tough one to say, Marlins don't draw much and I think the difference between the Heat and the Dolphins depends on how well each team is doing. Back in the 70s and 80s before the Heat existed it was football land. But since the Heat are championship contenders and will be for a while while the Dolphins have been irrelevant for a long time probably makes the NBA more popular at the moment.

Saltine wrote:The Wolves have had better television ratings than the wild for at least the last 3 years. The Wild have been around a 2.5 on FSN, the Wolves around 3.7 on FSN. Twins around 6.5 on FSN, Vikings ~35-40 percent of televisions.

Wow, really!? Do you have a source or anything? As both a Twolves and a Wild fan Thats pretty cool if the Wolves have higher TV ratings than the Wild considering this is suppose to be state of hockey.
Isn't surprising for me to see the Twins pulling those kinds of ratings.

Post #9 » by **Calinks** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 11:59 pm

I know attractive females age 14-30 are like programmed to be huge twins fans. It's like the one team they agreed to cheer for to show they are cool and into sports.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #10 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 12:11 am

everybody likes an underdog

southern wolf · Post #11 » by **southern wolf** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 12:12 am

More fans on Facebook is not surprising as basketball is far more popular overseas than baseball and NFL and the Wolves are pretty popular internationally compared to other small market NBA teams.

I think the Wolves could be popular in America if they ever contend, in a sort of OKC, Spurs, cool because they're winning in a small city kind of way.

Saltine · Post #12 » by **Saltine** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:08 am

Cherry_Grape wrote:Wow, really!? Do you have a source or anything? As both a Twolves and a Wild fan Thats pretty cool if the Wolves have higher TV ratings than the Wild considering this is suppose to be state of hockey.
Isn't surprising for me to see the Twins pulling those kinds of ratings.

The state of hockey players, not watchers...Google the numbers, you'll find em.
The Wild were actually down to a 1.8 average 5 years ago, they are getting better...

Their highest rated game ever was the opener last year, and that was a 7.6, their third highest rating ever is a 4.3. They just don't draw a TV audience.
http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2 ... ey-nielsen

wolves_fan_82au · Post #13 » by **wolves_fan_82au** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:11 pm

King Malta wrote:
The J Rocka wrote:Vikings, Twins, Wild, Gophers all get love before the Wolves. I notice we have a lot of fans outside of Minnesota including outside the US.

As far as NBA popularity, we're definitely not popular. Even if we had a winning culture I feel we would be put under the radar.

I'm a Minnesota fan all the way from Australia, and have actually found myself bumping into Timberwolves fans every now and then.

I think we picked up a few fans during the Garnett era, and possibly a few who started following from a young age like myself and thought the Wolves had the coolest name.

im sure most of the wolves fan here were shane heal,Nate Jawai or luc longley fans

Post #14 » by **C.lupus** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:28 pm

All know is when I go to Target I see Vikings shirts, Twins shirts, Wild shirts, and local university shirts. No Wolves shirts.

Wolf_Cry · Post #15 » by **Wolf_Cry** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:42 pm

C.lupus wrote:All know is when I go to Target I see Vikings shirts, Twins shirts, Wild shirts, and local university shirts. No Wolves shirts.

This is will inscrease dramatically once the Wolves establish themselves and KLove along with Rubio are perenial all-stars. In the prime of his career, KG's jersey was probably #1 in MN, with only maybe Randy Moss competing with him. At the moment, I have a Rubio jersey, but plan on getting a Love one eventually.

I've been a Minnesotan basically my whole life. Lived in the cities and suburbs. From what I've experienced, the most popluar is the Vikings by far, then the Twins, the Wilds, and lastly the Wolves. In fact, as a hardcore Wolves fan it is suprising as heck when I stumble upon another Wolves fan on the streets.

I'm probably a bigger Vikings fan than a Wolves fan, but not by much. I just can't get into hockey for some reason (probably because I don't understand how ice skating plays a factor…why not play on solid ground??), and I find baseball boring.

Post #16 » by **Worm Guts** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:52 pm

Cherry_Grape wrote:Wow, really!? Do you have a source or anything? As both a Twolves and a Wild fan Thats pretty cool if the Wolves have higher TV ratings than the Wild considering this is suppose to be state of hockey.
Isn't surprising for me to see the Twins pulling those kinds of ratings.

The popularity of hockey in Minnesota is relative. Hockey is the least popular of the 4 major sports in the US. Hockey is more popular here than most of the country but that doesn't mean it's more popular here than football, baseball or necessarily even basketball.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #17 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 4:52 pm

As is my custom, this post will sound ignorant and/or offensive - particularly to the soon-to-be-mentioned population - but it is what it is: Minnesota's caucasoid suburbia doesn't support hockey, they just say they like it because that's where the flowing current around them takes them. Do a random survey of that population and you'll find that 99.97% say that hockey is cool, basketball is ridiculous, Obama is the worst person in history, and american made SUVs and/or pickups are the only way to drive. They won't have any in depth or informed opinions beyond that, but they'll be quite inflexible about it nonetheless.

shrink · Post #18 » by **shrink** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 7:22 pm

1. Kevin Garnett gave the Wolves some popularity internationally -- while he is gone, some international fans remain. Manchester United still has popularity in the US that is based on Beckham's image crossing the barrier of sport to public recognition.

2. Basketball continues to become more and more popular. The rising tide will lift all boats, especially if the Wolves achieve more success, or at least flashy ESPN-worthy plays by Rubio.

3. Hockey is a niche sport. In Iowa for example, nobody plays it, and it is rarely watched at any level.

Post #19 » by **Klomp** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 8:01 pm

I'd be interested in knowing how many of those Facebook likes are from Spain...

Wolf_Cry · Post #20 » by **Wolf_Cry** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 8:16 pm

Devilzsidewalk wrote:As is my custom, this post will sound ignorant and/or offensive - particularly to the soon-to-be-mentioned population - but it is what it is: Minnesota's caucasoid suburbia doesn't support hockey, they just say they like it because that's where the flowing current around them takes them. Do a random survey of that population and you'll find that 99.97% say that hockey is cool, basketball is ridiculous, Obama is the worst person in history, and american made SUVs and/or pickups are the only way to drive. They won't have any in depth or informed opinions beyond that, but they'll be quite inflexible about it nonetheless.

Ridiculous as in good or bad?

I lived in White Bear lake for 6-7 years and attended high school there as well. There was decent support for the Wilds, but I swear there was only 2 other students who was a Wolves fan. Pretty sad...