For places that have both an NFL and NBA team, how many of those places would you say care more about the NBA team?

[therealbig3]

We can safely say America is way more into the NFL than the NBA in general, and for most places, it’s the football team that reigns supreme in terms of a city’s sports identity, way more than their NBA counterpart. For example, I don’t think it’s controversial at all to say that Dallas cares way more about the Cowboys than the Mavs, and Milwaukee cares way more about the Packers than the Bucks. Eagles over Sixers for sure.

But which cities/states actually care more about their NBA team than their NFL counterpart?

A few that come to mind for me (and are probably still arguable):

-Celtics over Patriots
-Bulls over Bears (maybe more so during the 90s, probably not so much now)
-Lakers over Rams/Chargers
-Knicks over Giants/Jets

Which others?

[ScrantonBulls]

We can safely say America is way more into the NFL than the NBA in general, and for most places, it’s the football team that reigns supreme in terms of a city’s sports identity, way more than their NBA counterpart. For example, I don’t think it’s controversial at all to say that Dallas cares way more about the Cowboys than the Mavs, and Milwaukee cares way more about the Packers than the Bucks. Eagles over Sixers for sure.

But which cities/states actually care more about their NBA team than their NFL counterpart?

A few that come to mind for me (and are probably still arguable):

-Celtics over Patriots
-Bulls over Bears (maybe more so during the 90s, probably not so much now)
-Lakers over Rams/Chargers
-Knicks over Giants/Jets

Which others?

Not a chance. Even in the 90s. The Bears always reign supreme in Chicago. Even above the Cubs. Chicago is a huge football city.

[Lalouie]

We can safely say America is way more into the NFL than the NBA in general, and for most places, it’s the football team that reigns supreme in terms of a city’s sports identity, way more than their NBA counterpart. For example, I don’t think it’s controversial at all to say that Dallas cares way more about the Cowboys than the Mavs, and Milwaukee cares way more about the Packers than the Bucks. Eagles over Sixers for sure.

But which cities/states actually care more about their NBA team than their NFL counterpart?

A few that come to mind for me (and are probably still arguable):

-Celtics over Patriots
-Bulls over Bears (maybe more so during the 90s, probably not so much now)
-Lakers over Rams/Chargers
-Knicks over Giants/Jets

Which others?

giants are massive. season tkts are like gold, they are "inherited". i mean, who wants to go to another state to watch THEIR OWN home nfl team...crazy giants fans that's who

i'd be interested to hear about the dodger - laker dynamic though. the lakers are global but the dodgers have a very DEEEEP fanbase

[jokeboy86]

From an outsider’s standpoint I always assumed the Heat were more popular than the Dolphins especially since Riley’s arrival but maybe a Miami local could tell me I’m wrong. As far as NY sports what has helped the Knicks wide popularity all this time is they’ve never really had to share their sport’s popularity like the other pro sports team in the city. Even with the Giants and Jets and Rangers, the Jets, Mets, and Islanders have some really strong fan bases whereas everyone across the city unites around the Knicks(sorry Nets fans).

This is why there’s a huge disconnect between where the national media think the NBA’s popularity is and where it actually is in markets with multiple pro teams. And if we expand the popularity of a team outside the metro and go statewide I bet that most NBA teams aren’t more popular than their MLB counterparts. The Lakers are truly the anomaly and I think that has entirely to do with the glamour aspect and the fact that’s where the TV/movie industry is based.

[Ice Man]

Bulls over Bears

As Scranton wrote, Chicago is a football town, plain and simple. Maybe the Bulls caught up with the Bears in the Nineties. They certainly weren't anywhere near the Bears before or after. Sports talk radio is about the Bears 12 months per year.

[Yoshun]

I think LA is really the only place where this works.

[Mi Scusi]

LA mostly.

[pwayknicks]

Knicks only fit the bill when they are good. When they weren’t, even if the giants n jets were bad they were still bigger. And even more so, im a met fan, but the Yankees probably rain supreme over both the giants and the Knicks


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[Warspite]

Suns over Cardinals

[JDR720]

Probably just LA. I think the Rams and Chargers are both below the Dodgers too.

[Blame Rasho]

It is much easier to get invested to a team when they only play 8 times a year in your city. Given that LA has never really had a football team as a fixture, the Lakers is the answer in my estimation. Hell, the Raidernation has been everywhere and still strong even in a town like Vegas but they were never bigger than the Lakers in LA.

[Roscoe Sheed]

Probably just LA. I think the Rams and Chargers are both below the Dodgers too.

I think there are more Raider fans than Rams or Chargers fans in LA. Many Cowboy fans for whatever reason too

[Moose]

We can safely say America is way more into the NFL than the NBA in general, and for most places, it’s the football team that reigns supreme in terms of a city’s sports identity, way more than their NBA counterpart. For example, I don’t think it’s controversial at all to say that Dallas cares way more about the Cowboys than the Mavs, and Milwaukee cares way more about the Packers than the Bucks. Eagles over Sixers for sure.

But which cities/states actually care more about their NBA team than their NFL counterpart?

A few that come to mind for me (and are probably still arguable):

-Celtics over Patriots
-Bulls over Bears (maybe more so during the 90s, probably not so much now)
-Lakers over Rams/Chargers
-Knicks over Giants/Jets

Which others?

I've seen some replies that I disagree with and I think it's important to note for all who don't know:

NYC is a basketball town.

[carrrnuttt]

Suns over Cardinals

Not in the last decade.

[wegotthabeet]

Raptors > Bills

[Michael Bradley]

I think the Yankees and the Knicks are above both the NFL teams in local popularity. Football is obviously the more popular sport but in terms of pure fandom, I wouldn't rate the Giants or the Jets above the Yankees and Knicks in NY/NJ.

[jkvonny]

We can safely say America is way more into the NFL than the NBA in general, and for most places, it’s the football team that reigns supreme in terms of a city’s sports identity, way more than their NBA counterpart. For example, I don’t think it’s controversial at all to say that Dallas cares way more about the Cowboys than the Mavs, and Milwaukee cares way more about the Packers than the Bucks. Eagles over Sixers for sure.

But which cities/states actually care more about their NBA team than their NFL counterpart?

A few that come to mind for me (and are probably still arguable):

-Celtics over Patriots
-Bulls over Bears (maybe more so during the 90s, probably not so much now)
-Lakers over Rams/Chargers
-Knicks over Giants/Jets

Which others?

NFL/ Football is king here in the US.
Many of the fans are very very loyal. Good years and bad years. And not really player fans. They are team fans and very regional pride loyalty.

Problem with NBA is, that the fans (not all, but a lot) are pretty fickle, fairweather.
And many of the casuals are player fan types (LeBron, Kobe, Melo, Luka, Iverson, KD, Westbrook, Kyrie, Curry, Harden, Nash, MJ etc etc) bounce from team to team or bandwagon the top teams or dynasties.
Example: here in south Texas. Back in the '90s we'd have quite a few Bulls fans .... present day, you hardly ever run into a Bulls fan. 10 yrs ago, we'd have a few Heat fans here or there...... now, nothing hardly any Heat fans. Same for GSW. We'd have GSW fans pop out of nowhere 10 yrs ago...... prior to that, zero. No GSW fans, the Warriors were a joke during the '90s, '00s.

That's a pretty good list there.
One I really agree with you is LA. Despite being a huge market. LA has always been a bad city for NFL football for whatever reason. They love their college football teams more, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans. They are huge basketball fans, Lakers, Clippers and the college basketball teams.
NFL struggles there. The Rams relocated to/from LA a few times over the decades. They couldn't hang on to the Raiders (relocated several times including Oakland now in Las Vegas) over the decades. They just recently acquired the Chargers, which is BS IMO, they belong in San Diego.
LA NFL fans are also pretty fairweather.
BTW, MLB is huge there too. Dodgers and Angels.

NY??? Eh, that's a tuff one. Because, NYers are just loyal and passionate period! In all sports. Good years or bad years. They are diehards. NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB.

Chicago , Boston/New England , Philly are the same way as NY. So that's a tuff one.
Yup even the Bears during the '90s over the Bulls or at least even par.

Bay area (SF/Oakland). SF 49ers are king I think. Also Raiders. Compared to Sacramento Kings, GSW .

Miami is kinda like LA. Somewhat fairweather fans. I think Dolphins fans are more diehard/loyal than Heat fans. But that's typical of NFL fans.

Atlanta, Memphis, Charlotte, and New Orleans for sure it's NFL football. Same with the Texas, Florida teams. Football is king in the south. High school, college, pro. So you have the New Orleans Saints, Tennessee (Nashville) Titans, Atl Falcons, Panthers (Carolina over the Hawks, Grizzlies, Hornets, Pelicans.
And for sure Dallas Cowboys over Mavs. Houston Texans over Rockets (Texans are younger franchise but have gained huge over the years) Dolphins over Heat,
North/Central Florida? Jacksonville Jaguars/Tampa Bay Buccaneers over Orlando Magic.

Wisconsin folks are diehards in all of their sports. Brewers, Bucks, Packers. So it's hard to say. I'd probably lean Packers over Bucks.
Same thing with Michigan folks and Minnesota folks. Upper midwest. They love their teams. Minn Twins, Wild , TWolves, Vikings. Detroit Lions, RedWings, Tigers, Pistons.
I'd probably lean Lions over Pistons and Vikings over Twolves tho. But again...football is king in the US.

Cleveland?? Browns for sure. Good or bad years, their fans are loyal as hell. Super diehards. Browns over Cavs
You think the 2016 Cavs parade was huge??
Wait til the future if/when the Browns win a Super Bowl! It will be humongous. Same for the MLB team ((Indians/Guardians) . Good sports town, but the Browns are kings there, and the MLB team. Cavs have lots of fans too but not as huge , widespread, loyal as the NFL and MLB teams.

I could see the Phoenix Suns fans more vocal than AZ Cardinals fans. That I can see! Phoenix has a lot of transplants, so loyalty for the AZ cards may not be as huge especially since the Cardinals have had more bad years than good years, AZ Cardinals are also kinda new (around 3 decades) to AZ, relocated from St Louis, MO back in the late '80s.
The Suns have been around for decades ('60) and that city, region really loves that team. There's more history with them and the city. The Suns have been a successful franchise majority of their history, just have yet to win a Championship. If the Suns wins an NBA title and AZ Cardinals wins a Super Bowl.... I would not be shocked the Suns had a larger wilder parade than the Cardinals.

Ok. Denver Broncos over the Nuggets.
DMV area? Washington Commanders (Redskins) and Baltimore Ravens over Washington Wizards.

Indiana is tuff, because basketball is huge in that state. They love their college basketball teams (Indiana, Purdue, Norte Dame, Butler, Indiana State etc) and their pro team (Pacers). But at the same time also a big football state. They love their college teams and pro team (Indianapolis Colts). This one is a tuff one. I'd say a toss up.

Buffalo Bills (upstate NY) over Toronto Raptors maybe?? Both have large loyal, loud fanbase. Good or bad years.

[jkvonny]

Bulls over Bears

As Scranton wrote, Chicago is a football town, plain and simple. Maybe the Bulls caught up with the Bears in the Nineties. They certainly weren't anywhere near the Bears before or after. Sports talk radio is about the Bears 12 months per year.

I agree. I have family in Chicago.

Bears have always been huge there. Long history with the city.
Even during the Bulls heyday of the '90s, the Bears were still huge up there. The upper midwest is football country. Lol
And the Bears haven't won a Super Bowl championship since 1985.

Chicago is a good sports town tho. They love the Bulls, Bears, WhiteSox, Cubs, Blackhawks. NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB.

[jkvonny]

Suns over Cardinals

I had mentioned that too.
Longer history and success with the Suns and that city.

[jkvonny]

I think LA is really the only place where this works.

I think LA and Phoenix.

Probably Indiana, but not yet. Kinda even with Pacers/Colts.