The most popular sports team in every state

[knapplc]

According to this guy on Reddit and I'm sure this is scientific.

To no one's surprise, Nebraska is the most popular team in Nebraska. Kinda woulda thought we'd have a shot in SoDak, but three straight losing seasons hurts your brand some.

The creator of this graphic states it's based off Google trends and survey data, but doesn't explain his method.

I have a hard time believing Oklahoma is ruled by the Thunder and not the Sooners.  Even if you think the Cowboys split some of the CFB vote, that's hard to buy.

 

[Roundball Shaman]

For some states and areas, this graphic makes sense... like Nebraska and Iowa. In other places, the state as a boundary doesn’t mean much. Tell people in the San Francisco Bay area that the most popular team in the state is the Dodgers. Or people in middle and Southern Illinois that it’s the Cubs and not the Cardinals.

Certain parts of states are nothing like the rest of the state. Chicago is one kind of place and nothing like the rest of Illinois. In fact, they are almost actively hostile to each other. Same with the counties around Los Angeles or San Fran and the rest of the state of California. Northern parts of Florida are nothing like Miami or Tampa. Texas? Austin and Houston and Dallas and El Paso are one thing and the rest of the state something different.

As for Oklahoma... the Thunder are the new kids on the block. Maybe Sooner fatigue set in. State has pride in its only major league franchise. They went wild for the NBA when the New Orleans team temporarily had to play there years ago. And Durant and Westbrook really put them on the national map years ago.

An interesting metric would be a graphic of how PASSIONATE the fans in each area are for their team. Huskers, The Tide, the Saints, Vegas Golden Knights fans gonna do pretty well on that list.