A new change of scenery for the Colts will definitely help attendance next season as they will be moving into a brand new stadium. The Pacers could be in trouble fan-wise, especially if they continue to miss the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference.
5. Arizona Fans
Some of the best sports venues in the country are in Arizona, as well as a couple very good teams in the Suns and the Diamondbacks. The Suns have no problem selling out as they are the jewel of Arizona sports.
The D-backs, however, even with a World Series title and the current best record in MLB, get no respect from Arizona fans, sitting at 17th in average attendance, filling Chase Field each game to 56.7 percent capacity.
The Phoenix Coyotes, even with a brand new facility that is incredible in Westgate, were 29th out of 30 NHL teams in average attendance, and that is with a young improved roster that challenged for a playoff spot most of the season. There is a problem when fans show up wanting to see Wayne Gretzky stand on the bench rather than the actual hockey game that's taking place.
The Cardinals have always been the joke of Arizona sports, but are now improving and, with a new stadium, brought fan support, but how long until the fans start leaving because the team isn't winning anything? My guess would be this season, especially since last season attendance fell toward the end of the season when the Cards were out of playoff contention.
Arizona fans are some of the biggest bandwagon fans in the country, I feel; many will talk about how they love the teams but then say they never attend the games—that's a problem.
4. Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks Fans
The winner for biggest bandwagon jump of the season I think goes to the fans of the Atlanta Hawks, rarely selling out their arena if at all the entire season was a problem, but finally, when the team made the playoffs for the first time in nine years, the fans came.
What I found funny was how into the game the fans were; where were they at the beginning of the season when the Hawks weren't in the playoff race?
The Atlanta Braves have been successful for years, but maybe their fans got a little too greedy. When the team struggles to sell tickets for the NLDS, there may be a problem of greedy fans that only expect the best.
Now that the Braves are not guaranteed a playoff spot, will fans stop showing up? The question is up in the air, as the Braves average only a 59-percent capacity rate at home games thus far this season.
3. Philadelphia Fans
No doubt about it, Philly sports fans are very loyal to their teams; it's the way they act at the events that gets them on this list.
Cheering for opposing team player injuries, shouting obscenities at players and other negative items are just some of the attributes that Philly fans are known by. Its one thing to cheer for an opposing player who gets up after being injured, it's another to cheer when the player gets hurt.
One memory that comes to mind is when Michael Irvin hurt his neck at the old Eagles stadium, Philly fans stood up and cheered the injury. This might've been because it was the Cowboys the Eagles were playing, but either way its wrong.
For such great and loyal sports fans the respect of Philly fans goes down for many because of their behavior at games, not because of their loyalty to their teams.
2. New York Fans
Many fans in New York are seen as bandwagon fans; I find it hard to believe that you could honestly be a fan of both the Yankees and Mets or the Giants and Jets, but many New Yorkers pull this off.
Many New Yorkers are accused of being bandwagon fans, and those could be rightful statements, especially when a Mets fan may jump from the their team to the Yankees when the playoffs come around and their team may not be in it anymore, but another New York team is.
Not many places can say they house so many sports teams, but New York does; it's a shame because there are many great fans in New York, they just get accused of cheering for the wrong reasons.
If the Yankees weren't good, would fans still show up to their games? New York fans much like Atlanta Braves fans expect too much from their teams when in reality their teams aren't the best at any of the sports.
The Knicks haven't won in decades, yet there is such a demand to win now. Now with the Giants winning the Super Bowl, how many Jets fans do you think were cheering for the Giants because it was New York? I am sure quite a few were.
Don't get me wrong, many New York Fans are great, but they can't cross over from team to team because to me, as a New Yorker, I dislike the Mets and the Jets and I could never cheer for either of those teams should the Yankees or the Giants not be in the playoffs when the other two teams are.
1. Los Angeles Fans
I guess the term "come early and stay late" doesn't apply to L.A. fans, as many come late and leave early. In one of the most famous video footage in sports history, Kirk Gibson hobbling around the bases after hiting that pinch-hit homer in the 1988 World Series, the fact it is still talked about how you could see cars leaving the ballpark rather than the homer is very embarrassing.
L.A. fans can be very loyal, but how loyal can you be when many of your fans are Hollywood-ites just looking for a photo op. or there for a night out on the town?
When one team averages a larger home attendance than another team in the same sport that plays in the same arena, there could be a sense of being a bandwagon.
For a city that desperately wants a football team back, fans in LA are going to have to show more loyalty to their teams than just showing up whenever and leaving early to make sure they beat the parking lot traffic.
Sports are great, but it's a shame when fans become bandwagon fans or don't appreciate the sport in general, because at any time the team and the sport could be pulled from your city and shipped somewhere else, just like that.
Just ask the fans of the Seattle Sonics, or even the Montreal Expos.
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