Even though you can live as far as eight hours from a stadium and still count it as cheering for your home team, being a part of a fan base as widespread as that of the New England Patriots or the Boston Red Sox allows you to feel connected despite the distance. These two teams have some of the most spirited and dedicated fans in each of their respective sports.
With fans hailing from western Connecticut to northern Maine, the teams claim one of the widest geographic networks of home supporters. While many young New York fans will visit or at least pass by Yankee Stadium as they grow up, many die-hard Red Sox fans will go their entire lives only seeing Fenway Park on television. It takes a special team to be able to collect, and more importantly to keep, fans from cities and towns as diverse and isolated as those of the New England.
Since many New England states have more cows than people, it is understandable for professional sports leagues to overlook them when deciding where to franchise a new team. Outside of Boston, there are no cities with dense enough populations to support a team on its own. But collectively, New England fans form a pervasive and united front across state lines.
Distance proves to be no match for New England fans’ loyalty, and even when native New Englanders migrate elsewhere later in life, they often retain allegiances to their childhood teams. Perhaps this is because their new addresses, despite being outside of New England, are no further from Boston than their childhood homes used to be.
While these fans are incredibly spirited and lively at home games, New England fans also always have an abnormally high presence at away games. This is obviously an immense asset for the success of New England sports, as it seems like they have the home team advantage at stadiums across the country.
One might wonder if the substantial support base stems from New England teams’ successes, or whether the teams’ successes fuel the growth of this fan network.The New England Patriots appeared in five of the last 12 Super Bowls, more than any other team during this time period, and they won three of these match-ups.Including its current battle, the Red Sox team is tied for the most World Series appearances in the last 12 years with three, winning both of its most recent championships appearances.
These teams have proven that they are consistently some of the best in their leagues, and fans appreciate teams that are contenders. And in recent slumps, supporters have shown that they are not just fair-weather fans, as Red Sox games continued to sell out even in years when the team had no chance of making the playoffs.
Our point that New England teams attract dedicated sports’ fans despite the unusually large distance for many between home and stadium was proven last week when I, Maddie, asked one of the second graders in the classroom I intern in, “Why do you look so tired this morning?” He quickly swallowed his yawn, perked up and replied, “I stayed up watching until the end of the Red Sox game last night. It was an awesome last inning!” With no agenda in mind, I proceeded to ask, “Have you ever been to a Red Sox game or seen the stadium in real life?” and was matter-of-factly told, “Ms. Garcia, I’ve never even been to Boston!”
Yet here he was, staying up way past his elementary school-appropriate bedtime to support a team that, for him, only comes alive on ESPN.
Maybe it’s because there isn’t a lot else to do in New England on a quiet Sunday afternoon except watch the Patriots play, or because the teams provide a connection to city life that quaint New England towns lack. Whatever the reason, New Englanders are sports fanatics. Objectively, the teams are usually good, but the fans are consistently great. You certainly can’t find many other fans like a Red Sox fan, and you can almost be guaranteed to find one in almost any state without having to look very hard.
