New England Sports Survey on fans' favorite team in 2024

[Fenway]

I can't argue with the numbers - I would like to know what fans selected for the second choice

People forget that basketball is very popular in Maine.

The Red Sox have done little right since 2018 both on and off the field. They never should have left Rhode Island for Worcester and you can see the anger in Providence radio ratings where Yankees games have more listeners than Boston. They also could have saved the Lowell Spinners but chose not to.

Bruins fans have been ridiculed for decades. Clark Booth tried to explain it over 40 years ago.

Red Sox were New England’s clear 2nd-favorite team. Now it’s a tie, fan survey says.

The pecking order of sports fandom appears to be changing.

www.masslive.com

Here are the full results from the New England Sports Survey, which asked fans “Which of the following is your favorite sports team?”

	Patriots	Red Sox	Celtics	Bruins	Revs
2023/2024	45%	19%	19%	14%	3%
2022	50%	19%	18%	11%	2%
2021	48%	21%	13%	16%	2%
2020	45%	22%	16%	15%	2%
2019	50%	26%	10%	11%	3%
2018	47%	30%	14%	8%	1%
2017	51%	24%	10%	13%	2%
2016	49%	26%	8%	16%	1%
2015	45%	24%	6%	23%	2%
2014	42%	30%	6%	21%	1%
2013	44%	33%	7%	14%	11%
2012	42%	32%	10%	11%	5%

Click to read more...

 

[KrugAvoy]

Interesting results. I wonder what the MA specific results would be. The vast majority of times I'm out and see people in team attire in general places itsnalmost always Pats and Bruins

 

[Ratty]

For me it will always be Bruins first, then the Red Sox. However, in light of recent Sox management statements that the team was going “full throttle” without doing anything and it’s commitment to “the fan experience” over winning, I’m adjusting my loyalties to the other franchises, though the football team is closer to Rhode Island.

As for the minor league realignment, I see that as a Lucchino money grab. You could hardly expect Rhode Island to cough up lots of money to keep the team in Pawtucket after the Shilling fiasco. I also wish that the Sox should have kept a team in Lowell if not for the MLB “realignment” Miss the AHL Lowell teams as well.

 

[Fenway]

Interesting results. I wonder what the MA specific results would be. The vast majority of times I'm out and see people in team attire in general places itsnalmost always Pats and Bruins

Boston was late to the NFL curve but then Tom Brady showed up. Top to bottom Boston/New England might be the best market for sports in the US.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Great video. Couple of interesting observations from it:

- the very pro-hockey guy who still says that '15% of the fans are screwballs'

- the fact that this video is over 40 years old and even then people were talking about how much of a place physicality, violence and fighting have in the sport. The debate never ends.

- the closing comment that 'the wait for the next Orr will be a long one'. Ray Bourque was already on the team! I mean there's only one Bobby, but Ray wasn't far off.

 

[Fenway]

For me it will always be Bruins first, then the Red Sox. However, in light of recent Sox management statements that the team was going “full throttle” without doing anything and it’s commitment to “the fan experience” over winning, I’m adjusting my loyalties to the other franchises, though the football team is closer to Rhode Island.

As for the minor league realignment, I see that as a Lucchino money grab. You could hardly expect Rhode Island to cough up lots of money to keep the team in Pawtucket after the Shilling fiasco. I also wish that the Sox should have kept a team in Lowell if not for the MLB “realignment” Miss the AHL Lowell teams as well.

@Ratty I was good friends with Art Martone who we lost 2 years ago. Spent many nights with Art and Jim Martin at McCoy.

A goodbye to Art Martone, longtime Journal sports editor who left us too soon

Arthur Martone left us too soon this week at age 66, almost 40 years at The Journal and 10 more with NBC Sports Boston.

www.providencejournal.com

Lucchino strongarmed Ben Mondor's widow to sell with the threat of taking the Red Sox affiliation away. Queen Linda wanted Larry and Doctor C gone and Pawtucket became their Elba.

The fact that nobody went to jail over the 38 Studios fiasco boggles my mind.

Lowell could have been saved as well with one phone call.

 

[Fenway]

Great video. Couple of interesting observations from it:

- the very pro-hockey guy who still says that '15% of the fans are screwballs'

- the fact that this video is over 40 years old and even then people were talking about how much of a place physicality, violence and fighting have in the sport. The debate never ends.

- the closing comment that 'the wait for the next Orr will be a long one'. Ray Bourque was already on the team! I mean there's only one Bobby, but Ray wasn't far off.

@Aussie Bruin We lost Clark 5 1/2 years ago

Longtime TV journalist Clark Booth dies at 79

Booth worked at WCVB-TV for 25 years. He had also worked at WBZ-TV.

www.boston.com

I wish he had lived to be part of the 100th.

 

[bruins309]

I am shocked that the Patriots number is HIGHER now than it was for a bunch of the years when Brady was here. Gotta think that number will slide with a few more non-competitive seasons.

 

[DKH]

Great video. Couple of interesting observations from it:

- the very pro-hockey guy who still says that '15% of the fans are screwballs'

- the fact that this video is over 40 years old and even then people were talking about how much of a place physicality, violence and fighting have in the sport. The debate never ends.

- the closing comment that 'the wait for the next Orr will be a long one'. Ray Bourque was already on the team! I mean there's only one Bobby, but Ray wasn't far off.

I was very judgemental of Bourque when he came along because he was not Orr but overtime I realized his greatness

Bourque is since 1966-67 the most complete defenseman I ever seen

 

[Raleighfern]

For me it's the Bruins, by a mile, followed by the Sox. when i was a kid the pats played in Harvard stadium and nobody cared about them. john hannah was amazing to watch, get the butter and VT maple syrup the pancakes were coming. the celtics won every year but its wasnt hockey. Yaz was briefly my 1st sports hero but then bobby orr came along and i was done. all points leading to the b's.

bruins, sox, celts, pats in that order.

 

[smithformeragent]

NFL is king.

I know some casual sports fans who are exclusively NFL fans and couldn’t care less about any of the other sports.

That Bruins number are the die hards. Even if things went back to the dark days of the 90s and post lockout, they’ll still watch and buy tickets.

You do get some bandwagoners and given how expensive the tickets have become, it’s clear that they’re continuing to ride high in terms of popularity.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the Sox over the next few seasons. There’s lots of vitriol towards ownership, but there’s also a lot of indifference.

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

I am probably Sox #1 now. Regular season hockey just does not do it for me anymore.

I like football on Sundays but the rest of the time or when it's not Patriots? Nope. Too much analysis for not much playing.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

@Ratty I was good friends with Art Martone who we lost 2 years ago. Spent many nights with Art and Jim Martin at McCoy.

A goodbye to Art Martone, longtime Journal sports editor who left us too soon

Arthur Martone left us too soon this week at age 66, almost 40 years at The Journal and 10 more with NBC Sports Boston.

www.providencejournal.com

Lucchino strongarmed Ben Mondor's widow to sell with the threat of taking the Red Sox affiliation away. Queen Linda wanted Larry and Doctor C gone and Pawtucket became their Elba.

The fact that nobody went to jail over the 38 Studios fiasco boggles my mind.

Lowell could have been saved as well with one phone call.

They'll always be dead to me for the giant s*** they took on Mondor's grave.

Also because what the Paw Sox were. They were one of the last places where baseball was still pure and not about money. 30+ years with no ticket increases, dirt cheap concessions, and all about getting kids and families into the park to watch a game. Just a pure baseball experience run by a man who loved the game as much as life itself and wanted everyone else to love it too

 

[Babajingo]

The funny thing is if they had this survey in the 80s/90s, the Pats would be competing with the Revs and the Sox would be around 50%

 

[rfournier103]

1. Patriots
2. Bruins

3. Red Sox

4. Celtics













5. Revs

 

[smithformeragent]

I am probably Sox #1 now. Regular season hockey just does not do it for me anymore.

I like football on Sundays but the rest of the time or when it's not Patriots? Nope. Too much analysis for not much playing.

It's definitely tougher to get invested in regular season Bruins these days.
You get a handful of very entertaining games, but also lots of very boring ones.
The balanced schedule where they play everyone a minimum of twice has really put a damper on the rivalries.
Add to that a lack of physical play and intensity and it's pretty underwhelming for a decent percentage of the season.

Baseball, with the pitch clock and banning the shift has led to a better product.

NFL has sort of jumped the shark for me.
We reached the point of oversaturation. It's just too much of a good thing and the product takes a hit as a result.
Add in a down season for the Pats and some relative mediocrity post Brady, and it explains a lot.

I always say I'm going to try to watch more Celtics, but the NBA is just a horrible product (for my tastes).

 

[Babajingo]

They'll always be dead to me for the giant s*** they took on Mondor's grave.

Also because what the Paw Sox were. They were one of the last places where baseball was still pure and not about money. 30+ years with no ticket increases, dirt cheap concessions, and all about getting kids and families into the park to watch a game. Just a pure baseball experience run by a man who loved the game as much as life itself and wanted everyone else to love it too

Totally agree. Great place to see a game. Fans were as loyal as you could get. Overall a great experience. Now it's just corporate greed. What else is new.

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

It's definitely tougher to get invested in regular season Bruins these days.
You get a handful of very entertaining games, but also lots of very boring ones.
The balanced schedule where they play everyone a minimum of twice has really put a damper on the rivalries.
Add to that a lack of physical play and intensity and it's pretty underwhelming for a decent percentage of the season.

Baseball, with the pitch clock and banning the shift has led to a better product.

NFL has sort of jumped the shark for me.
We reached the point of oversaturation. It's just too much of a good thing and the product takes a hit as a result.
Add in a down season for the Pats and some relative mediocrity post Brady, and it explains a lot.

I always say I'm going to try to watch more Celtics, but the NBA is just a horrible product (for my tastes).

Agreed, I was a STH from 2009-2015. My peak was 2011 when I went to 90% of home games.

It just isnt the same. I was in Quebec city in November and went out to watch the game vs Montreal thinking it would be entertaining. Then I realized I didnt know anyone on the Habs.

For baseball, its just easy to have it on the radio while doing things with the kids. Plus both play baseball/softball now so its fun to watch with them. No playing hockey for us, too much of a time commitment. I missed out on so much in life growing up playing hockey.

 

[TD Charlie]

Bruins, then very very casually the Celtics. I couldn't name more than a player or two on the Sox/Patriots these days. I regret nothing

 

[rfournier103]

I am shocked that the Patriots number is HIGHER now than it was for a bunch of the years when Brady was here. Gotta think that number will slide with a few more non-competitive seasons.

The poll is New Englanders’ “favorite” team. For the Patriots’ numbers to slide, they have to be replaced by someone else. So… who?

The Red Sox? You want to talk about non-competitive?

The Bruins? We all know that NHL hockey is a niche sport in the US. Even in New England.

The Celtics? Maybe if they win a championship their number will go up, but until they win their next NBA championship, they’re the team that can’t get over the hump.

The Revs? Ha.

Go ahead and laugh at me if you want, but if the Celtics can’t win the championship this year, i think the next team to win a championship here will be the Patriots.

(I’m optimistic about the Patriots)

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

-Bruins
-Patriots
-
-
-Red Sox
-Celtics.

For me anyway. Large gap between the 2 groups.

 

[DarrenBanks56]

its always bruins first by me by s wide margin.
then maybe i root for the sox in the playoffs

 

[KrugAvoy]

1. Bruins


2. Red Sox
3. Patriots

I couldn't care less about Celtics or Revs