Transparency Item: This is the opinion and perspective of the writer.
The year is 2025. The Oakland Athletics have played their final game in the city of Oakland, marking the third departure the city has seen from a professional sports team since the 2010s.
Granted, although all the Golden State Warriors really did was just move the stadium across the bridge to San Francisco, their move is a sign of a bigger narrative that’s come to play in the 21st century: teams often want a big market.
From a business perspective, it makes complete sense to move your team to a place that has more people. More people means more fans, which usually correlates to more tickets, jersey sales, etc.
But bigger markets are often missing the dedication and hardcore fandom on a widespread level when compared to smaller markets. Bigger markets invite a variety of people, often inspiring “casual” fans who like to see their team win but don’t go crazy about it.
On the other hand, small markets with a professional sports team often have only one, maybe two professional sports teams.
Due to one team being the sole focus of an entire market, when it comes to supporting the team, the fans support. They buy tickets, they wear vintage jerseys, they get loud on third down — these are the fans you want your city to have.
Of course, there are teams that have passionate fan bases that you can hear through the screen and appreciate as a sports fan, like the Philadelphia Phillies or the San Francisco 49ers.
But when there’s a team in a big market that helps form a larger group of teams that represent a city, sometimes fans just don’t mind a loss as much as other cities would.
Take Los Angeles as an example. If the Los Angeles Dodgers were to lose in the playoffs, this would obviously be a blow to fans who waited all season to see their team win it all. Fortunately for sports fans in L.A., they have other teams that could cheer them up. But what about the cities that have only one sport?
It’s almost understandable to be complacent as a fan of teams in a larger market, assuming you care about more than just one sport.
When I think about teams that are the sole representatives of a city and hence inspire a lot passion, the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers, San Diego Padres or the Oklahoma City Thunder all come to mind. Buffalo, Green Bay and Oklahoma City might be considered small markets by some, but San Diego is one of the larger cities in America.
This shows the small market versus big market debate isn’t as simple as a black and white issue — it’s about representation all across the board. It’s about representation for cities that don’t have other sports to root for.
Sports fans are all over the country, not just in big cities. While I completely understand why the owners of multiple teams would want to take their organization to a large city, it deprives sports fans of a deeper layer of fandom.
At the end of the day, I think most fans can agree that there’s no need for two teams in the same league that represent the same city, especially when there’s cities that have shown how much they appreciate and support a sport.
While this might not seem like an urgent issue, there are deeper layers able to cause long-term damage to the culture of sports. The most important thing in sports is passion; passion brings attention, creates movements, buys tickets, jerseys and everything else an owner wants.
Any team will sell out stadiums when they’re on top, but which fanbase will have the crowd rocking deep into the third during a midseason matchup?
If you want real life examples, just look into the Packers. Most Americans outside of Wisconsin couldn’t find Green Bay on a map, and yet non-native fans have made what’s recognized as a “pilgrimage” to Lambeau Field — these fans are hardcore.
Since 2021, the Padres have placed within the top five of MLB fan attendance every season, according to ESPN. As a Dodgers fan, I’m very aware of the environment to expect when we face off with our division rivals. They’re tough, passionate and ready to cheer throughout all nine innings; something you have to respect regardless of who you support.
While I only gave the example of those four professional teams, they’re not the only ones in this situation. The average fan can’t help but wonder what would happen if American sports teams were more widespread throughout the nation.
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Email Nick Charkhedian: nareg.charkhedian@pepperdine.edu
