Sportsnation

I got the ESPN the Magazine and saw that it was the annual review of sports organizations. I like it because it ranks teams across sports comparing the Spurs to the Packers, etc.. I don't like it, because most of the time the Chicago teams are ranked pretty low. I know that these rankings do not reflect the fan bases of various teams, but it feels like a slap in the face. This study looked at 1529 fans. Huh? You could find 1529 Cubs fans to take this survey. There are 70 million? people that watch the Super Bowl and you can only find 1529 people to take the survey. Whatever. I started to read through the teams and I got to this quote about the Braves, "fans pay bit more than half as much as those at Wrigley- and they're still paying in October." There are a couple of things that are assumed with this statement that are wrong. 1. The article makes it sound like the Braves sell out as much as the Cubs do, which is completely false. The Braves ranked 18th in home attendance percentage between Detroit and Florida. That's pretty poor for a playoff team. 2. The prices are low because the owners want to keep their fans happy. That's wrong too. If the Braves had the same fan base as the Cubs, they could jack up the prices just as high. And they would do it, it's all about supply and demand.

Bottom line: Don't compare the Braves and the Cubs in terms of fan bases. Leave it to championships if you want to make the Braves look good.