Media coverage used to be far more important than it is these days. Print media, in particular, is in serious decline, and folks these days tend to rely more on the electronic media for their daily news. A newspaper like the London Free Press, isn't even printed locally anymore, and their subscriber numbers have dwindled over the past decade. Smaller communities have "weeklies" as opposed to "dailies", so game-day coverage can be stale news by the time the paper is delivered. That said however, smaller communities do tend to support a team if it's the biggest show in town. With the cable outlets providing local coverage, most communities aren't so reliant on "main stream media coverage" as they once were.
A new team entering into a smaller community will be BIG NEWS within that community, initially. They'll also have the advantage, of not having to compete as hard for that community's entertainment dollars. They'll become the biggest frog in that small pond. That situation is ripe for growing a fiercely loyal fan base.
