Baseball Fever in Chicago

[Dick Allen]

no it doesn't ..... the owners of that is a little different.

 

it like saying more fans comes out that mean more money for the sox to invest b/c of more money the vendors make.

The White Sox own part of the network. When teams are good and ratings high, the cost to advertise increases, which increases revenue, and profit.of which the White Sox snag a percentage.

 

I read an article about it in Crain's last year. When the teams are interesting, not only do the ratings rise for the airing of their games, but all their programming gets a bump.

 

And the more money the vendors make, the more money the White Sox make. They make more per beer sold than any vendor,

Edited December 21, 2015 by Dick Allen

[LDF]

My point being, if they do, it will be to join the Cubs bandwagon, or the White Sox, if they are winners. Not just the sport. The Cubs bandwagon and Wrigley Field is full of people that have no idea what a balk is. There are now thousands of Blackhawks "fans" that couldn't name 5 players on the team. With the renovation at Wrigley, which will actually make it nice, the White Sox have very little chance competing with that particular bandwagon. Even if they win the WS 3 times the next 5 or 6 years and the Cubs fall short, the pendulum might slow, but it won't swing the other way. Except it and move on. The Cubs do their thing, the White Sox do theirs. Capturing the entire city isn't necessary. Even in 2005', when they never where not in first place, they drew a total of 50k for a 3 game series in September vs, KC with a team that at the time was 34 games over .500 and had a 9 1/2 game lead. They had 17 home games in September 2005, and only drew 30k six times.

 

To think they can overtake the Cubs by winning, is a nice theory, but most likely factually incorrect.

 

Like someone said in another thread, it is a Cubs town. It doesn't mean the White Sox can't be successful, but they aren't going to be as popular.

 

a nice post, but i disagree esp with the bold.

 

the best way to win fans, esp the fans who will come to a team if they are winning, is to win. and win big, meaning the WS. if the sox won multi times in several yrs, the fans will come out, maybe never over taking the city but they will break the 3 mil mark for tickets sold, adv companies coming to knock on the door and adv on csn think of the trickle down affect. yeah i will agree, that maybe the sox would never over take the sCrubs and their popularity but they could put a huge dent in their support system.

 

and if they could have down this in the past, today will be a different story of how many fans still follow the northsiders.

 

so now, the concentration chg to operating money and adv. look in baseball ref and look at the total fans that came out, 1 yr after the WS, 2006 and see the difference in 2007. the fans will come out for a winner.

 

now the sox are crawling for a success of selling out weekends and striving for profit on that side. wow, that is a huge fall in mentality...... trying to find ways to survive the popularity in chi.

 

[LDF]

The White Sox own part of the network. When teams are good and ratings high, the cost to advertise increases, which increases revenue, and profit.of which the White Sox snag a percentage.

 

I read an article about it in Crain's last year. When the teams are interesting, not only do the ratings rise for the airing of their games, but all their programming gets a bump.

 

but the ownership is different. i was nailed on this board and rightfully so on the ownership part. 2 different companies and 2 different income for 2 different items.

 

i wish i can remember who nailed me, but they were right

Edited December 21, 2015 by LDF

[Dick Allen]

but the ownership is different. i was nailed on this board and rightfully so on the ownership part. 2 different companies and 2 different income for 2 different items.

 

i wish i can remember who nailed me, but they right

The Bulls and White Sox have different ownership. Many of the same players but different. They each own a percentage of CSN.

[LDF]

The Bulls and White Sox have different ownership. Many of the same players but different. They each own a percentage of CSN.

 

nice point, let me ask this, is the team as an org that owns the % or is the ownership group owns the % ..... but of the profit margin. now the northsiders as a club and org owns the %,.

 

that is the fine line in this and just maybe the answer is in that and only the acct will know the true answer.

Edited December 21, 2015 by LDF

[BlackSox13]

In '15 the cubs were winning and drawing fans, yet the Cell became more vacant as the season wore on. Why? The Sox were playing horrible fundamental Baseball and losing. Winning ball games is the cure for attendance and imo, does not have anything to do with what the cubs are doing. If the Sox are relying on the cubs for attendance help, the Sox are in deeper trouble than we think, which I do not believe is the case. The Sox have brought in a few players (Frazier/Lawrie) that should excite Sox and casual fans enough to peek more interest. Now if the Sox win some games they will see more people in the seats.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Many of us die hard Sox fans dread the upcoming fervor, we're convinced will be sweeping across the city, over the Cubs' quest for their first World Championship in over a Century. We're skeptical that the front office will take the necessary steps to complete revamping the pathetic offense, which wasted so many terrific starts by Sale and Quintana. So, some of us have already resigned ourselves to the inevitability of a 2016 Season, in which the North Side will capture all of the attention of the city, and maybe even the baseball world.

 

We might be a little premature in sinking into this gloomy defeatist mood. Chicago is a great baseball town, and baseball fever is contagious. When the buzz starts to capture everyone's attention, lots of casual fans, and even formerly uninterested by standers, will begin to feel the first symptoms of baseball fever. Picking up the paper every morning and reading about all of the excitement, listening to friends, family and co workers bantering back and forth about players, plays and stats, could all create an irresistible attraction to the sport we all love. Who knows better than we, how much fun and how addicting it can be to be a baseball fanatic?

 

Wrigley can only accommodate 42,000 fans. Where will the rest of the baseball fever struck fans go, for their baseball fix? Everyone in town knows a Sox fan, or two and with a little encouragement from them, the newbie just might be encouraged to buy a ticket and see just what all of the excitement is about. The Sox need only have a decent, competitive product on the field.

 

And if baseball fever is contagious, so is winning. Who knows, with a few more fans in the seats and some of the new personalities in the Sox clubhouse, these guys might just catch fire. If they could get off to a good start, the town could explode with enthusiasm for the game. Imagine the so longed for talk of a crosstown World Series. It wouldn't take much to set off this contagion.

 

We all have our own opinions about whom the front office should acquire, but let's just hope that Sox ownership has a little imagination and can see the opportunity that they would be missing if they don't at least try to make the team a legitimate contender. I'm not suggesting that we Sox fans should celebrate the emergence of the Cubs, but we shouldn't regard it as a negative for our fortunes. The Sox will decide their own destiny and the growing enthusiasm for their crosstown rivals may actually be a positive.

 

I absolutely love your optimistic outlook. I think finishing what they started this off season and winning are the true keys to getting fans into the ballpark. If the product stinks no amount of baseball fever will bring anyone to see the ugly step child the Sox will be. Build it and they will come.

[Lip Man 1]

Many of us die hard Sox fans dread the upcoming fervor, we're convinced will be sweeping across the city, over the Cubs' quest for their first World Championship in over a Century. We're skeptical that the front office will take the necessary steps to complete revamping the pathetic offense, which wasted so many terrific starts by Sale and Quintana. So, some of us have already resigned ourselves to the inevitability of a 2016 Season, in which the North Side will capture all of the attention of the city, and maybe even the baseball world.

 

We might be a little premature in sinking into this gloomy defeatist mood. Chicago is a great baseball town, and baseball fever is contagious. When the buzz starts to capture everyone's attention, lots of casual fans, and even formerly uninterested by standers, will begin to feel the first symptoms of baseball fever. Picking up the paper every morning and reading about all of the excitement, listening to friends, family and co workers bantering back and forth about players, plays and stats, could all create an irresistible attraction to the sport we all love. Who knows better than we, how much fun and how addicting it can be to be a baseball fanatic?

 

Wrigley can only accommodate 42,000 fans. Where will the rest of the baseball fever struck fans go, for their baseball fix? Everyone in town knows a Sox fan, or two and with a little encouragement from them, the newbie just might be encouraged to buy a ticket and see just what all of the excitement is about. The Sox need only have a decent, competitive product on the field.

 

And if baseball fever is contagious, so is winning. Who knows, with a few more fans in the seats and some of the new personalities in the Sox clubhouse, these guys might just catch fire. If they could get off to a good start, the town could explode with enthusiasm for the game. Imagine the so longed for talk of a crosstown World Series. It wouldn't take much to set off this contagion.

 

We all have our own opinions about whom the front office should acquire, but let's just hope that Sox ownership has a little imagination and can see the opportunity that they would be missing if they don't at least try to make the team a legitimate contender. I'm not suggesting that we Sox fans should celebrate the emergence of the Cubs, but we shouldn't regard it as a negative for our fortunes. The Sox will decide their own destiny and the growing enthusiasm for their crosstown rivals may actually be a positive.

 

Lillian:

 

One thing I've found in being a Sox historian and following the team for 55 years is this. Chicago baseball fans are probably the most provincial and most hateful (and I really mean that term) towards the other team in town. Far more than any of the other two team markets.

 

It has transpired over the course of 100 years.

 

This was the first major mistake of the Reinsdorf - Einhorn operation and they should have known better given how long they lived in Chicago before getting the club.

 

From the very beginning their attitude was "we are Chicago's American League team..." They said this publicly and often. I have in my library for example the post game show on WGN from April 81 after the Sox crushed the O's 18-5. Harry Caray asked Einhorn about the excitement around the Sox and how the Cubs bad start would help them and EE immediately started in with the same nonsense, "we don't care what the Cubs do, we compete against ourselves..." and so forth. That refusal to acknowledge the fact that both teams are in direct competition for the entertainment dollar, for media coverage, for sponsorship deals is a big reason the Sox are where they are in their own home market. They have had solid, reasonable chances to take back a good percentage of those areas and urinated them away every single time.

 

The fact is Cubs fans are not going to come out and root, root, root for the Sox at U.S. Cellular Field when they are on the road or can't get tickets and the opposite is also true. I'd say 90% or higher of Chicago baseball fans are for one team at the expense of the other. The term "casual baseball fans in Chicago" in my mind really doesn't apply. So the Cubs selling out won't force those folks in any great numbers into heading south for a baseball fix because their aren't a lot of them in the first place.

 

Just my opinion.

 

Mark

Edited December 21, 2015 by Lip Man 1

[Jose Abreu]

I think that if this logic were really that sound, then our attendance would have improved last year too.

[LDF]

Lillian:

 

One thing I've found in being a Sox historian and following the team for 55 years is this. Chicago baseball fans are probably the most provincial and most hateful (and I really mean that term) towards the other team in town. Far more than any of the other two team markets.

 

It has transpired over the course of 100 years.

 

This was the first major mistake of the Reinsdorf - Einhorn operation and they should have known better given how long they lived in Chicago before getting the club.

 

From the very beginning their attitude was "we are Chicago's American League team..." They said this publicly and often. I have in my library for example the post game show on WGN from April 81 after the Sox crushed the O's 18-5. Harry Caray asked Einhorn about the excitement around the Sox and how the Cubs bad start would help them and EE immediately started in with the same nonsense, "we don't care what the Cubs do, we compete against ourselves..." and so forth. That refusal to acknowledge the fact that both teams are in direct competition for the entertainment dollar, for media coverage, for sponsorship deals is a big reason the Sox are where they are in their own home market. They have had solid, reasonable chances to take back a good percentage of those areas and urinated them away every single time.

 

The fact is Cubs fans are not going to come out and root, root, root for the Sox at U.S. Cellular Field when they are on the road or can't get tickets and the opposite is also true. I'd say 90% or higher of Chicago baseball fans are for one team at the expense of the other. The term "casual baseball fans in Chicago" in my mind really doesn't apply. So the Cubs selling out won't force those folks in any great numbers into heading south for a baseball fix because their aren't a lot of them in the first place.

 

Just my opinion.

 

Mark

 

excellent.

[Lillian]

I'm afraid that some of you have misunderstood the point that I was trying to make. I am not suggesting that Cub fans would convert to Sox fans. Nor am I suggesting that Cub fans might buy a ticket to watch a game at the Cell, because they can't get a ticket to Wrigley. And, I am certainly not asserting that Chicago would become a Sox Town. I understand the rivalry and the animosity that both sides harbor against the other

 

This is about the casual sports fan, and those not yet even interested in baseball. A general atmosphere of excitement over baseball could very well spill over to the South Side. As I said; it will necessitate good play on the field. Of course, the Sox have to win in order for this to happen. However, if they do play exciting and winning baseball, it seems likely to me that there will be more fan interest and support in an environment of excitement over baseball, which the Cubs might help create, than there would be otherwise. Remember, there are lots of people, especially young people, who may not have ever been involved in, or even exposed to the excitement of a pennant race, and the joy of being a baseball fan.

 

All I'm saying is that, other things being equal, a general atmosphere of excitement and enthusiasm over baseball is more conducive to fan support. If the Cubs contribute to that atmosphere, that seems like a good thing to me. This was an attempt to cheer up some of us, who seem down about the emergence of the Cubs as an even more dominant presence in the Chicago sports market.

[LDF]

I'm afraid that some of you have misunderstood the point that I was trying to make. I am not suggesting that Cub fans would convert to Sox fans. Nor am I suggesting that Cub fans might buy a ticket to watch a game at the Cell, because they can't get a ticket to Wrigley. And, I am certainly not asserting that Chicago would become a Sox Town. I understand the rivalry and the animosity that both sides harbor against the other

 

This is about the casual sports fan, and those not yet even interested in baseball. A general atmosphere of excitement over baseball could very well spill over to the South Side. As I said; it will necessitate good play on the field. Of course, the Sox have to win in order for this to happen. However, if they do play exciting and winning baseball, it seems likely to me that there will be more fan interest and support in an environment of excitement over baseball, which the Cubs might help create, than there would be otherwise. Remember, there are lots of people, especially young people, who may not have ever been involved in, or even exposed to the excitement of a pennant race, and the joy of being a baseball fan.

 

All I'm saying is that, other things being equal, a general atmosphere of excitement and enthusiasm over baseball is more conducive to fan support. If the Cubs contribute to that atmosphere, that seems like a good thing to me. This was an attempt to cheer up some of us, who seem down about the emergence of the Cubs as an even more dominant presence in the Chicago sports market.

 

you have to ask yourself one question. why was the casual fan getting interested in baseball all of a sudden??? now here comes the answer as to direction they are leaning too.

Edited December 21, 2015 by LDF

[LDF]

someone mention about the personal animosity the sox have against anything of the norhtside club. that statement as been bugging me a lot the whole morning.

 

is that personal animosity, that dislike, is it reciprocated or is it one-sided???

[Lip Man 1]

I'm afraid that some of you have misunderstood the point that I was trying to make. I am not suggesting that Cub fans would convert to Sox fans. Nor am I suggesting that Cub fans might buy a ticket to watch a game at the Cell, because they can't get a ticket to Wrigley. And, I am certainly not asserting that Chicago would become a Sox Town. I understand the rivalry and the animosity that both sides harbor against the other

 

This is about the casual sports fan, and those not yet even interested in baseball. A general atmosphere of excitement over baseball could very well spill over to the South Side. As I said; it will necessitate good play on the field. Of course, the Sox have to win in order for this to happen. However, if they do play exciting and winning baseball, it seems likely to me that there will be more fan interest and support in an environment of excitement over baseball, which the Cubs might help create, than there would be otherwise. Remember, there are lots of people, especially young people, who may not have ever been involved in, or even exposed to the excitement of a pennant race, and the joy of being a baseball fan.

 

All I'm saying is that, other things being equal, a general atmosphere of excitement and enthusiasm over baseball is more conducive to fan support. If the Cubs contribute to that atmosphere, that seems like a good thing to me. This was an attempt to cheer up some of us, who seem down about the emergence of the Cubs as an even more dominant presence in the Chicago sports market.

 

Lillian:

 

I have found in my experience that there are very few "casual" baseball fans in Chicago. The vast majority are either Cub fans or Sox fans, period. No in between and very few (although I actually do know a handful) root for both. If my assumption (based on a lot of years is true) than your premise doesn't really apply.

 

Mark

 

[spiderman]

Many of us die hard Sox fans dread the upcoming fervor, we're convinced will be sweeping across the city, over the Cubs' quest for their first World Championship in over a Century. We're skeptical that the front office will take the necessary steps to complete revamping the pathetic offense, which wasted so many terrific starts by Sale and Quintana. So, some of us have already resigned ourselves to the inevitability of a 2016 Season, in which the North Side will capture all of the attention of the city, and maybe even the baseball world.

 

We might be a little premature in sinking into this gloomy defeatist mood. Chicago is a great baseball town, and baseball fever is contagious. When the buzz starts to capture everyone's attention, lots of casual fans, and even formerly uninterested by standers, will begin to feel the first symptoms of baseball fever. Picking up the paper every morning and reading about all of the excitement, listening to friends, family and co workers bantering back and forth about players, plays and stats, could all create an irresistible attraction to the sport we all love. Who knows better than we, how much fun and how addicting it can be to be a baseball fanatic?

 

Wrigley can only accommodate 42,000 fans. Where will the rest of the baseball fever struck fans go, for their baseball fix? Everyone in town knows a Sox fan, or two and with a little encouragement from them, the newbie just might be encouraged to buy a ticket and see just what all of the excitement is about. The Sox need only have a decent, competitive product on the field.

 

And if baseball fever is contagious, so is winning. Who knows, with a few more fans in the seats and some of the new personalities in the Sox clubhouse, these guys might just catch fire. If they could get off to a good start, the town could explode with enthusiasm for the game. Imagine the so longed for talk of a crosstown World Series. It wouldn't take much to set off this contagion.

 

We all have our own opinions about whom the front office should acquire, but let's just hope that Sox ownership has a little imagination and can see the opportunity that they would be missing if they don't at least try to make the team a legitimate contender. I'm not suggesting that we Sox fans should celebrate the emergence of the Cubs, but we shouldn't regard it as a negative for our fortunes. The Sox will decide their own destiny and the growing enthusiasm for their crosstown rivals may actually be a positive.

 

Interesting, but I really don't see any uptick in attendance resulting from Wrigley Field not being able to hold the number of people eager to watch Cubs baseball. If anything, the Brewers will be happy 9 times a year and other regional teams will see more Cubs fans (I'm sure they already travel well) during the summer, but the White Sox will probably continue to have their 18-22K on warm summer nights with the exception of fireworks night and Yankee/Red Sox/ Cubs games.

[Lillian]

Lillian:

 

I have found in my experience that there are very few "casual" baseball fans in Chicago. The vast majority are either Cub fans or Sox fans, period. No in between and very few (although I actually do know a handful) root for both. If my assumption (based on a lot of years is true) than your premise doesn't really apply.

 

Mark

 

I think that is probably true, but once again that is not what I'm saying. I am talking about a general increasing interest in the city's baseball, which is bound to increase interest and attendance on both sides of town, even if disproportionately on the North Side. Please forget about persuading people to switch allegiances. I understand that we are all accustomed to thinking about being a baseball fan, from our passionate perspective.

 

Think about a young person who has no allegiance and no prior interest in baseball. Now, they are curious to experience what all of the excitement is about, in Chicago. If both teams are playing well, and in their respective races, some of these new fans could certainly be Sox fans. To that person, they might look at any number of seemingly irrelevant factors in choosing their team. Maybe their cousin roots for the Sox, or maybe they like the idea of being able to get tickets to the games, or maybe they just like the uniforms better. (Hey, could you blame them?)

 

It's really very simple, and shouldn't touch off any big debate. Having the town get caught up in baseball fever should be a good thing. Management just has to be sure that, in that favorable environment, the team is good enough to be in the conversation.

 

[Dick Allen]

I think that is probably true, but once again that is not what I'm saying. I am talking about a general increasing interest in the city's baseball, which is bound to increase interest and attendance on both sides of town, even if disproportionately on the North Side. Please forget about persuading people to switch allegiances. I understand that we are all accustomed to thinking about being a baseball fan, from our passionate perspective.

 

Think about a young person who has no allegiance and no prior interest in baseball. Now, they are curious to experience what all of the excitement is about, in Chicago. If both teams are playing well, and in their respective races, some of these new fans could certainly be Sox fans. To that person, they might look at any number of seemingly irrelevant factors in choosing their team. Maybe their cousin roots for the Sox, or maybe they like the idea of being able to get tickets to the games, or maybe they just like the uniforms better. (Hey, could you blame them?)

 

It's really very simple, and shouldn't touch off any big debate. Having the town get caught up in baseball fever should be a good thing. Management just has to be sure that, in that favorable environment, the team is good enough to be in the conversation.

I just think that market is minimal. Sure a,few people pick up baseball every year, and a few drop it, and if both teams play well probably more pick it up than drop it. But I don't think it is enough that would make a noticeable attendance increase.

 

Brooks can trot out the family of 5 from Dyer who,wanted to go to the Cubs game but tickets were not available or too expensive, so they thought going to a Sox game would be great, and they loved it, but is it going to make a 5,000 increase during the season? I doubt it. If the Sox win they will draw better. It won't be great, but better. They understand this better than anyone.

[ewokpelts]

I have a feeling almost anyone who owns an index based mutual fund has General Electric as one of its components...certainly my Vanguard funds do. Guess who partially owns NBC Universal?

 

I would have to check on Vivendi.

 

Nice try though.

Comcast owns nbc universal. Not vivendi or the Japanese or ge.

[ewokpelts]

Aside from the crosstown cup, the sox wint really see much spillover from Cubs fan demand.

That said, there is quite an inventory of cub tickets from brokers and other season ticket holders looking to make back some lost money in 2011-2014.

[Lip Man 1]

I think that is probably true, but once again that is not what I'm saying. I am talking about a general increasing interest in the city's baseball, which is bound to increase interest and attendance on both sides of town, even if disproportionately on the North Side. Please forget about persuading people to switch allegiances. I understand that we are all accustomed to thinking about being a baseball fan, from our passionate perspective.

 

Think about a young person who has no allegiance and no prior interest in baseball. Now, they are curious to experience what all of the excitement is about, in Chicago. If both teams are playing well, and in their respective races, some of these new fans could certainly be Sox fans. To that person, they might look at any number of seemingly irrelevant factors in choosing their team. Maybe their cousin roots for the Sox, or maybe they like the idea of being able to get tickets to the games, or maybe they just like the uniforms better. (Hey, could you blame them?)

 

It's really very simple, and shouldn't touch off any big debate. Having the town get caught up in baseball fever should be a good thing. Management just has to be sure that, in that favorable environment, the team is good enough to be in the conversation.

 

Lillian:

 

We'll see but I don't think what you propose is going to happen. Simply because again, my opinion, there aren't that many of the people you describe around in Chicago, i.e. "young people, no prior interest." And based on the demographics if there are young people like that more than likely they'll be attracted to the "yuppie / up scale / party atmosphere" around Wrigleyville and probably wouldn't be caught dead on the South Side.

 

But we'll see what happens because barring a run of serious major injuries the Cubs are going to be favored at least to win their division and more than likely will. Pittsburgh may be the only team that can challenge them in the near future.

 

Mark

 

 

 

[caulfield12]

I wouldn't count the Cardinals out just yet, especially if they were to add Gordon/Cespedes/Upton or possibly Chris Davis (that would require a rearrangement of their roster with Adams).

 

That said, the Brewers and definitely the Reds are way off in terms of competing with the top of the division. Milwaukee's probably closer to a rebuild/teardown than a competitive team.

[LDF]

The Bulls and White Sox have different ownership. Many of the same players but different. They each own a percentage of CSN.

 

mr Dick Allen,

 

this whole discussion really is bugging the crap out of me, so i was doing some research. i will say this, with hat in hand, that you are correct and i was wrong. the org, each individual org was given a % of the profit as an enticement to let CSN broadcast their games.

 

so in essence they, the org, will be given the money going in as a profit. as a monetary gain....

 

good job.

 

edit.... geeze.... my english was really bad, that is what i get for writing this when i am half asleep.

Edited December 22, 2015 by LDF

[dpd9189]

I wouldn't count the Cardinals out just yet, especially if they were to add Gordon/Cespedes/Upton or possibly Chris Davis (that would require a rearrangement of their roster with Adams).

 

That said, the Brewers and definitely the Reds are way off in terms of competing with the top of the division. Milwaukee's probably closer to a rebuild/teardown than a competitive team.

 

Agree, I wouldn't count out a lot of teams yet. Just cause a team says they're "out" on a player or because baseball insiders aren't connecting a certain team to a player doesn't mean anything. Grienke to AZ came out of nowhere and the Cubs did the same with Zobrist.

[southsider2k5]

Lillian:

 

One thing I've found in being a Sox historian and following the team for 55 years is this. Chicago baseball fans are probably the most provincial and most hateful (and I really mean that term) towards the other team in town. Far more than any of the other two team markets.

 

It has transpired over the course of 100 years.

 

This was the first major mistake of the Reinsdorf - Einhorn operation and they should have known better given how long they lived in Chicago before getting the club.

 

From the very beginning their attitude was "we are Chicago's American League team..." They said this publicly and often. I have in my library for example the post game show on WGN from April 81 after the Sox crushed the O's 18-5. Harry Caray asked Einhorn about the excitement around the Sox and how the Cubs bad start would help them and EE immediately started in with the same nonsense, "we don't care what the Cubs do, we compete against ourselves..." and so forth. That refusal to acknowledge the fact that both teams are in direct competition for the entertainment dollar, for media coverage, for sponsorship deals is a big reason the Sox are where they are in their own home market. They have had solid, reasonable chances to take back a good percentage of those areas and urinated them away every single time.

 

The fact is Cubs fans are not going to come out and root, root, root for the Sox at U.S. Cellular Field when they are on the road or can't get tickets and the opposite is also true. I'd say 90% or higher of Chicago baseball fans are for one team at the expense of the other. The term "casual baseball fans in Chicago" in my mind really doesn't apply. So the Cubs selling out won't force those folks in any great numbers into heading south for a baseball fix because their aren't a lot of them in the first place.

 

Just my opinion.

 

Mark

This could have stood alone.

[caulfield12]

Oh, I definitely think Mets fans hate the Yankees. Certainly when you had the Giants, Dodgers and Yankees in one metropolitan area that was the case.

 

Nobody in SoCal hates anything. And Giants fans probably feel sorry or pity for the A's.

 

The Nationals and Orioles' owners hate each other, so there's that.