Do fans ever switch teams when relocating?

[Djp]

As I watched the Wings suck from the comfort of Georgia, I wondered if, and how often a hockey fan might change allegiance when they relocate to another NHL city? Have you ever seen it?

I've moved around a bit

I was born/ raised/college in buffalo so I'm a sabres/bills fan. NBA buffalo Braves ( now clippers) I dont hate them for leaving. I wasnt a big fan when they were in buffalo. Tif they waited about 10 years to move things might be different.
I've not been a leaf fan. I've seen some blue Jay's games in my youth but not as big fan

I lived a good chunk of my adult life around DC/Balt and SEA. I'm more s fan of the baseball teams there than Toronto.
My brother snd his wife went to grad school at s big 10 school and not live in nashvilke as professors. Both are from buffalo. His wife knows sports. She can talk intelligently about strategy.

Shr was s diehard sabres/ bills fan. My brother was more of a Bill's fan and a castle iy al ho CV jey fan. He understood the game. He was probably more of a basketball fan than hockey.

After settling in nashvilke and having kids. Both are sports fans. Preds are v li esr $1 then sabres bu tg bilks abovevtitans. My SIL not living in buffalo lost touch with the dabtes. Her and my brother are more oreds fans. If the sabres m.j sge thrvpksyoffs they wou li d watchvthr games sndvtoot. If it was cup fins were s Sabres' preds theyd toot fir preds. Bil li s- titans in playoffs they root for the bills.


They are also Nashville soccer fans. I watch the Nashville teams.

In my lifetime if Bill's or sabred left buffalo I'd prob as blu dtop me bring a fan unless they moved tu o sd omepkscr I was living at that time.

I'm a broad sport fan of hockey, football and baseball . I'm more of a college basketball fan than pro basket ball I'll watch big games and playoffs. I watched the Olympics basketbsll.

Being from buffalo/WNY I do root for area college teams if they make national final tourneys

 

[PocketNines]

You can't even pick up a second team when you relocate. I just gave up on Seattle as a second team in a flash.

The reason is more surprising than I thought, I thought it was going to be tough because of true rooting interest occludes a second team in general. But it turned out to be that the individual fans of the team are off putting, because they are people, and people are horribly enshittified. If there is a way to take a good faith situation and warp it into bad faith, people will do it, and unfortunately all hockey fans are people, so you can't escape this.

 

[DJJones]

If the Flames moved I'd likely just stop watching hockey.

 

[SweetStormRising]

As I watched the Wings suck from the comfort of Georgia, I wondered if, and how often a hockey fan might change allegiance when they relocate to another NHL city? Have you ever seen it?

I moved to North Carolina after living in Chicago and being a huge Blackhawks fan. Now I cheer for both teams but I am a season ticket holder to the Canes - so they are my first team. I've been fortunate that the 2 teams have never been good at the same time, so there has never been much conflict and even if they are both "good" at the same time - the odds that they would face each other in the Stanley Cup finals is even lower.

As a fan of both - I enjoyed the Canes winning the cup in 2006 and the Blackhawks winning championships a few years later.

 

[sabresfan65]

I grew up just south of Buffalo, I am a Sabres fan. I moved to Las Vegas about 17 years ago. I would make road trips to Phoenix, LA, Denver, Tampa, and Florida to see the Sabres play. 8 years ago the Knights were born. I have been a season ticket holder since the beginning. It helps that the Knights are in the opposite conference and a new team and not a relocated team or existing when I moved here. I am still a Sabres fan and hope they can eventually turn things around, but I am also a Knights fan.

 

[banks]

I get why some people wouldn't change or follow a new team. There's a lot of community and loyalty type stuff going on with sports fandom. So any switched or split allegiance could easily bother some people. I get it.

But why are people bothered by the alternative? Most people I know follow more than one team. I don't see why that should surprise anyone. Even if you'd never cheer for anyone but "your" team, it shouldn't be confusing that some people do. I follow 2 teams, an east and a west coast team. And I follow storylines for other teams when the playoffs come around. Fandom is fun. Why can't people enjoy more?

 

[PWiz30]

I think depends how invested you are in your team. I will be a Leafs fan for life even if I ever relocate away from Toronto. It will be impossible to develop the same connection with a new team.

This. I lived in SW Connecticut when I was a kid but have lived in the Chicago area for most of my life. I'm a Devils and Yankee fan for life but my football fandom has always been casual so I'm a Bears fan. If I moved to another market I'd probably eventually adopt the local football team, although there are a few NFL teams I'd never root for.