How popular are the Stars in Dallas?

[NyQuil]

I can appreciate the college sports phenomenon even if I only follow it peripherally through shows like PTI or Around the Horn.

Roster turnover means that every season is a new experience and seeing talent emerge before they make the big leagues is sort of novel as well.

I liken it a bit to Junior hockey (some prefer it to NHL hockey, even in NHL cities) where it can be a bit more sloppy and entertaining even if the overall quality is lesser.

I tune into the WJCs every year for similar reasons as I assume people watch Bowl games.

 

[PuckG]

In December 2019, right before COVID hit, I did a sports weekend in Dallas catching the Heat vs Mavs, Cowboys vs Rams, and Oilers vs Stars all in the same weekend. The difference in crowd/hype/fans between the three was distinct with football obviously taking the #1 spot and hockey being a far away third.

With that being said, the talk/banter with the Stars fans was some of the most fun I’ve had at a game.

 

[Terry Yake]

im guessing less popular than the cowboys, mavs, rangers, and longhorns and more popular than fc dallas

hell, you could probably rank some high school football teams up there too

 

[chirrrs]

Also, the popularity of a given sport versus a particular team is a totally different question. While the Stars may be more popular than FC Dallas, I would bet money that more people in Dallas and Texas in general are into soccer than hockey. Unlike hockey, high school and collegiate soccer do exist everywhere here. Most high schools and colleges have soccer teams. Very few have hockey teams. There's also obviously a larger percentage of the population in Dallas and Texas that is Hispanic versus most other major cities and states. Depending on which data you use, it seems that the Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White populations here are about equal now. I can guarantee you that there are more Hispanic soccer fans than White hockey fans here.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

College sports are huge all across the US and probably ahead of the NHL in all cities.

This is not even close to being true outside of PARTS of the South.

No one in Chicago, NYC, th Bay Area, Boston, LA, Philly, DC, or Seattle gives one single shit about college football.

 

[Power Surge]

No one in Chicago, NYC, Boston, LA, Philly, DC, or Seattle gives one single shit about college football.

I wasn't 100% sure but I stand corrected.

 

[Terry Yake]

This is not even close to being true outside of PARTS of the South.

No one in Chicago, NYC, th Bay Area, Boston, LA, Philly, DC, or Seattle gives one single shit about college football.

USC football draws very well when they're good

 

[93LEAFS]

Can't speak for other states, but Penn State football is likely a bigger deal (or, at one point was) than the Flyers and Penguins combined. It's the lone sports team with fans in every town across this big 300 mile rectangle.

Statewide I don't doubt people cheer more for Penn State than the Flyers. In Philadelphia and surrounding CMA I think is likely a different question. While I'm sure there are tons of Penn St. alum in Philly, Philadelphia as a whole is loaded with college teams especially for basketball with Nova, Temple, and St. Joes all having various strong runs as programs plus other elite academic institutions close by (Penn and Princeton), and Pitt still has Pittsburgh football which has had various strong runs over the years.

 

[93LEAFS]

ND does have a bit of a following in the NYC area, but not as much as the NHL. College sports as a whole are popular here, but moreso among the transplants than the natives. I have friends who follow college sports closer than the pros, but they do not necessarily follow a specific school. For those who do, it varies. I have one friend who is a die-hard Michigan fan and he is not an alumni. Another who is a die-hard FSU fan. If you walk around Manhattan on a saturday afternoon in October you will see many bars hosting watch parties. Of the places I frequent before/after Rangers games, one is a place for Washington Huskies games, another is a place for WVU. Rutgers does not have a significant following off their campus. St Johns BBall at one time under Carneseca did, but that has faded.

Pretty much what I expected. I follow college sports too, as a Canadian, so you just pick your teams based on who you liked watching. I landed on Texas due to loving the 2004 and 2005 teams with Vince Young and Duke for basketball because of Jay Williams. I know people here who aren't alums of schools but cheer for certain teams. But, it's way more scattered. Similar to the NFL in Toronto, the NFL might be more popular than the NHL in Toronto, but no one team is more popular than the Leafs. I'd expect the same thing with college football in the NYC area, especially since you get transplants from all over the country.

NYC is absolutely a basketball city, and schools like St. Johns, Syracuse and UConn absolutely built their programs at points due to being able to walk into the Bronx, Coney Island or Lower Manhatten and pick whichever stud kid was showing off for the Gauchos in AAU. As recruiting got more national that has changed a bit.

 

[93LEAFS]

USC football draws very well when they're good

Stanford and Washington also tend to draw pretty well in Football. It's really only the North East that is fairly indifferent to college football supporting local teams.

Chicago doesn't have a major team in market depending on what people think of Northwestern as a program. But, I'm sure ND is pretty big deal and it's only a 2 hour drive, plus, they likely have alum from all over the Big 10 who are passionate about their teams as Chicago is the major city of the Mid-west.

 

[Dr Pepper]

USC football draws very well when they're good

Shots like this just blow my mind......college sports never really took off in Canada the way they clearly did in the US.

We don't even have any stadiums in the entire country that are as big as this one, except for Alberta's Commonwealth Stadium):

.......meanwhile, the US probably has multiple venues just like that, in every single state, packed to capacity. For televised college football.

 

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaa]

I've always seen Americans loving their colleges in a cult like way.
Here in Canada, it's just another school for us lol

In terms of fans, true, but not for players.

I coached track and field athletes, and some of them are now in USport schools, and most of them had the option of going to the US, often with much better scholarship deals. The American political situation and concerns about crime kept them in western Canada. They saw Canada as a first option.

My kid is just barely in the top ten in her event in Canada right now (track athlete), and she would have set the school record in her rookie year at the Division II school that was really wanting her to come there, so the level of talent is also higher than most people think. I have been to a number of Usport competitions (not just track but also football, hockey, wrestling and volleyball) and the athletes are every bit as passionate, as are the crowds (albeit smaller in number, of course).

In short, as Canadians we should not look down at our USport athletes, who are much better than most people think.

 

[Oneiro]

Never really understood the college pride thing, think it's one of the silliest aspects of being American. Also hate college sports too, would much prefer regional D-leagues and stop the facade of "education" and fiscal waste at those institutions. But it's never going to change until college evolves to become something else.

 

[Troy McClure]

This is not even close to being true outside of PARTS of the South.

No one in Chicago, NYC, th Bay Area, Boston, LA, Philly, DC, or Seattle gives one single shit about college football.

I don't doubt places without high-level college football problems don't give those programs a lot of support. But there is more of the country where college football is ahead of pro sports than you think. Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana are all college football crazy. Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Michigan football are all massively popular.

 

[Elysian]

Winter Classic had a ton of hype here

 

[Jack Be Quick]

I don't doubt places without high-level college football problems don't give those programs a lot of support. But there is more of the country where college football is ahead of pro sports than you think. Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana are all college football crazy. Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Michigan football are all massively popular.

Indiana doesn't have a hockey team, Ohio State take precedence over every team in every sport in that state, and I'd bet the Red Wings are more popular than the Wolverines, or at least it's very close.

But yes, there are probably a few exceptions I didn't think of.

Conversely It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the Lightning are more popular in the Tampa metro area that the Gators or Seminoles and I'm pretty sure the Predators draw way more eyes in Nashville than the Vols do. I would think Duke and UNC have fewer football fans than the Canes do but their basketball programs more than likely make up for that.

I'll add Denver and Vegas to the list of towns that prefer hockey.

 

[AintLifeGrand]

NCAA is more popular than the professional leagye is some states, right?

yes , but really only college football in the South and college basketball in North Carolina and some mid western states

You cant really equate college sports to pro sports


For most of the south College football games and even just college football saturdays are cultural/ social events that transcends the sport alltogether

Indiana doesn't have a hockey team, Ohio State take precedence over every team in every sport in that state, and I'd bet the Red Wings are more popular than the Wolverines, or at least it's very close.

But yes, there are probably a few exceptions I didn't think of.

Conversely It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the Lightning are more popular in the Tampa metro area that the Gators or Seminoles and I'm pretty sure the Predators draw way more eyes in Nashville than the Vols do. I would think Duke and UNC have fewer football fans than the Canes do but their basketball programs more than likely make up for that.

I'll add Denver and Vegas to the list of towns that prefer hockey.

Not even close, The preds are a distant 3rd of 4th in Nashville behind SEC football, The Titans, and Braves/Cardinals

While Nashville has a great fanbase most of them are casual/ uneducated hockey fans that are into the team more from a civic pride perspective than being “hockey people”

 

[AintLifeGrand]

This is not even close to being true outside of PARTS of the South.

No one in Chicago, NYC, th Bay Area, Boston, LA, Philly, DC, or Seattle gives one single shit about college football.

lol maybe you should leave the Borough once in awhile before making baseless claims ; LA, Philly , and DC are all big college football cities

 

[Rich Nixon]

Statewide I don't doubt people cheer more for Penn State than the Flyers. In Philadelphia and surrounding CMA I think is likely a different question. While I'm sure there are tons of Penn St. alum in Philly, Philadelphia as a whole is loaded with college teams especially for basketball with Nova, Temple, and St. Joes all having various strong runs as programs plus other elite academic institutions close by (Penn and Princeton), and Pitt still has Pittsburgh football which has had various strong runs over the years.

Philly does have its old college basketball culture, but I feel like it's waned a little bit in the last 15 years for various reasons. As for Pitt football...lol no one cares. There are more PSU fans in the Pittsburgh area than Pitt ones.

Source: from Philly burbs, went to Pitt.

 

[93LEAFS]

Philly does have its old college basketball culture, but I feel like it's waned a little bit in the last 15 years for various reasons. As for Pitt football...lol no one cares. There are more PSU fans in the Pittsburgh area than Pitt ones.

Source: from Philly burbs, went to Pitt.

So, in Philadelphia/surrounding area exclusively (not talking the rest of the state), who is more popular the Flyers or PSU? I'd say the competitiveness has gone down among the big Philly teams, but Nova has been dominant this decade.

 

[AintLifeGrand]

Makes sense i guess. I mentioned Texas Tech, among others...forgot about Baylor too, which seems to have a pretty dedicated following, but pretty specific to certain types of people?

But it makes sense that they'd be more the "rural" sort of team. Dallas Fort Worth as a city area has different rooting interests i guess?


Anyway. Boomer Sooner is a GOAT fight song. So i can understand being a fan even if you're in Texas.



I guess that makes sense. Dallas certainly seems like a bit of a "magnet" for grads and stuff. In a way that none of the cities in Oklahoma really are.

Youre also forgetting

TCU

Oklahoma State, Alabama, UGA, Ole Miss all with tens of thousands of grads/ fans in the metroplex

 

[VivaLasVegas]

What is it specifically about the Sooners tho?

Dallas being the closest mega-metropolis to Oklahoma, lots of Oklahomans move to Dallas for jobs, particularly post-college techies and other professionals.

 

[93LEAFS]

I'd say OU is only popular in Texas in the DFW area. Outside of that MOST people hate them.

Witchia Falls?

 

[Jack Be Quick]

lol maybe you should leave the Borough once in awhile before making baseless claims ; LA, Philly , and DC are all big college football cities

That's funny. I've been to 38 states, and 30+ countries across 4 continents. Unlike most states we actually have passports up here.

If sec football is more popular in Nashville proper then so be it. Not going to argue about that one since I've only spent a week there, the town was painted yellow, and it wasn't during the playoffs, but that was the impression I got.

You're out of your mind if you think Philadelphia doesn't bleed orange. It might be the only city in which the NHL is more popular than the NBA.

DC is half transient transplants so maybe, technically, there are more college football fans inside the beltway, but who exactly is huge amongst the locals? Maryland? VA Tech? UVA? That's just silly given the support the caps have. Or maybe you were talking about Georgetown, lol.

USC vs the Kings might be an interesting one if they're ever any good for a sustained period again, but I'd still take the Kings overall all day. Not to mention you talk about the passive preds fans when more than half the coliseum is full of coeds who are there exclusively to get drunk and will never watch a game again post graduation.

Have you ever been to the last 3 cities I mentioned? I'd guess I have at least two dozen times between them off the top of my head.

Maybe you should hop over the Mason Dixon or go west of the Mississippi sometime.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Youre also forgetting

TCU

Oklahoma State, Alabama, UGA, Ole Miss all with tens of thousands of grads/ fans in the metroplex

Even SMU probably attracts more fans to football and basketball than the Stars to any hockey game. Truth is, hockey is just a niche sport in all but a few NHL cities, and Dallas is no different in this regard. Doesn't mean hockey is bad, but it doesn't come close to dominating fan bases. Dallas could get to the WCF and probably less than 0.1% of the population would care. Contrast Canadian cities.