Come on dogg how many times do I have to tell u that I like my teams based on childhood shit not area?? I was born in Indiana although I grew up in cali they didnt even have a team when I was a baby!! Regardless it wouldnt mattered cause my other tems are in other places like the Bulls!! I wasnt fuckin wit no pacers lol!! the only Indiana team I like the the Hoosiers hoop team!! Bob Knight was the homie!! But there are fans world wide that like teams in other states so i dont know why this is always brought up!! Got Em!!
Pacers = losers (in your childhood anyways)
Hoosiers = winners
Well my suspicion regarding out of area fans is really only about one thing : that the reason said team was chosen by said person is simple, winning.
If you were to take a worldwide poll/inventory/survey and write down the number of out of area fans each squad has, and compare the proportions to the number of in area fans each squad has, it would show that the successful teams are
far more likely to attract out of area folks. In otherwords, people want to root for winners.
And certainly, I view folks in areas with literally no teams slightly differently than folks in markets with teams. Somebody in Germany pulling for the Dallas Cowboys is different than someone in Spokane, Washington (or the Bay) pulling for them.
But in your case, rooting for one of the 5 most successful NFL franchises, rooting for one of the 5 most successful NCAA basketball teams and rooting for one of the 5 most successful NBA franchises without ever having lived in either squad's area of influence except for the Hoosiers, it's pretty clear there's no coincidence there. Every fan of every team wants to root for a winner, so some take shortcuts.
And the saddest thing to me is that I believe deeply that folks who take these shortcuts are denying themselves (without even knowing it) much of the emotional side of sports.
These folks obviously may be perfectly good, wonderful people, but in the realm of sports, picking ones teams based largely on winning percentage is a character flaw I can't overlook. It removes these people from the category of "sports fan" in general to me.