Would You Support Your Team If They Relocated?

A purely hypothetical question here but one that intrigued me:

If your team's owners decided to up sticks and relocate the team (God forbid), would you still follow that ballclub, even if they stripped their previous identity and started anew? And which other current MLB team/s would you support instead, if the worst happened and your old ballclub was dismantled?

For example, if the Indians' owners were fed up with the poor attendance in Cleveland and decided to move the team to Oklahoma, and then dropped the Indians name altogether to become the Oklahoma Bears or something, I'd be pretty devastated (I couldn't imagine how fans who actually live in Cleveland would feel...)

If the Indians failed to exist, I think I would have to turn to one of these teams: Seattle, Chicago Cubs or Boston. I like to keep an eye on those teams and would probably become a fulltime fan if the worst happened and there were no Indians anymore. If I had to choose, I'd probably go Red Sox; I just love their history and Fenway of course. But if the Indians name still existed, albeit in a different city, I'd probably try and still support them, even though it'd be difficult.

This thought just came to me the other day and I found it kind of interesting. What did Expos fans do when they left Montreal? Did they decide to root for the Nationals who took their place (I think thats right) or did they decide to pick a new random team to support, or a club they admired before the Expos left?

Share what you would do

Fortunately, the Yankees are probably one of those teams that it would never happen to (and I mean in the future, because it has happened before).

If they were to move, then it would depend on whether or not they kept their history. Let's just say for arguments sake they moved to Las Vegas, and they were to form a brand new team, not carry over any of the history, and were to start the club's history from the day of movement, then no, I wouldn't support them. I'd start supporting the Mets instead.

However, if they were to move to Vegas and the only thing different about them was the location, but the history and most of the club was still the same, then I would continue to be a Yankees fan. I wouldn't be happy about the move, but I'd bear it for my team.

I don't think I'd have any issues with it but that's probably due to the fact Atlanta doesn't really mean anything to me, it's the Braves I like. Those who attend games etc and lived in the states probably have more robust feelings on it.

Pretty much hit the nail on the head there.

I'd be a little annoyed if the club moved, but if the history was still there then I could deal with it. I suppose it's not going to make much of a difference for me because I'm not from New York, but I could see how some of the local fans would feel betrayed and wouldn't want to support the team.

For example, when the Dodgers and Giants moved out West, I've read that many of their fans in New York chose not to follow them and, as a result, didn't have a team for a while until the Mets came along. Whether they couldn't bring themselves to follow the Yankees, or simply felt that it wasn't their team anymore, I don't know.

I don't think I'd be happy with a new name and rebranding of the franchise if they were to move, though. If that were to happen I dare say I would be without a team.

If the Red Sox left Boston - which was muted before FSG took over - it wouldn't really be the 'Boston' red sox.

So much of it (for me)is about the town/atmosphere/history - so maybe not - depends where they go and if they were replaced.

I think if I had been a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, I'd now be a Mets fan (or someone else) rather than an LA fan, even though I live in England.

If the Jays were to move away from Toronto and change the name/logo/style etc. then I'd be following the Mets more than I currently do!!

Unfortunately it may not be a moot point for much longer. With a move to Sn José looking less and less likely and that [multiple expletives deleted] Selig almost telling Wolff to move the tea, somewhere else and change their identity I really could be facing this dilemma soon.

If they keep the identity then depending on where they moved to I might keep the faith, but if the identity gets binned I doubt I'll bother. After 40 years of following the A's I don't know that I could follow another team; certainly not one in the AL. Maybe the Dodgers just so I could hate on the Giants more easily. It's getting to the point with that lot that I'd almost rather the Yankees win the WS than them!

Thankfully I don't have to deal with this threat anymore but it was a real issue about 4-5 years back for me as a Marlin fan when it looked like a move away was more likely then getting a stadium.

i had always in my head decided I would continue to support the team wherever they went but it wouldn't be the same as all my teams are in the Miami area and supporting a team in Portland (which was the most favored it seems with meetings having taken place between team officials and the people in Portland) just would be strange.

Our history isn't that huge though having only been around 20 years, I'd imagine for a longer running franchise I might have had different feelings about supporting a move away from 100 years of history.

Whilst we're talking about relocation in baseball, I would advise a film called 'Sonicsgate' which is about the relocation of the NBA's Seattle Supersonics from Seattle to Oklahoma City (now known as the Thunder) after 40 years of being in the city. It's a fans reaction, and it fits in really well with this topic. It's a great documentary, and it really does make you feel for the people and city of Seattle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9Dp20ydm1E

If the Angels moved within the Southern California area and kept the Angels identity then I wouldn’t have any problem continuing to support them. If they moved to a different state but kept the identity then I would probably still support them.

If the team moved and completely lost any identity or links with the Angels then I would try but probably struggle to follow them. I put a lot of time and miss out on a lot of sleep following the Angels and it just wouldn’t be the same.

I’m not sure I would manage to follow another team. It wouldn’t be the same and certain teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, A’s, Rangers and Dodgers would be completely out of the running. I suppose maybe a team in one of the Central divisions but I’m not really sure who.

In reality I don’t see it happening to the Angels at any point soon. We are in a big market and are one of only 2 teams to draw 3 million or more fans every year since 2003. If it did happen and we moved to Vegas then we would probably just become the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Las Vegas.

wow this is a good question but a tough one as well.

I root for the Mets because they are from NYC. As a kid i was always drawn by New York. If they left and kept the Mets name- i dont really know if i would follow them- if they dropped the Mets name then i probably would not follow them anymore. I have second team now (the Tigers) so they would become my no 1.

if i didn't have the Tigers god knows who i would adopt, certainly not the Yanks, Braves . Phils or Dodgers. The Giants maybe (an ex NY team!!) ???

We dont really have franchises as such over here - i wonder how many Wimbledon fans became MK Dons fans??

In the 30+ years i have followed North American sports several teams have relocated. I can only imagine how fans of those teams felt. Sometimes it was because teams were struggling at the box office but other times it was owners holding cities to ransom to finance new stadiuns and arenas- Greed is the common factor. i recall in the 80's there was strong talk about the White Sox leaving Chicago and the Giants leaving SF- i think it was when St Pete was rying to get a team before the expansion Devil Rays so its not always the 'small' teams at risk

Ironically a number of the cities have acquired new teams (sometimes expansion teams but also steeling teams from other cities- you wonder having been on the receiving end
how fans could put other fans through it.

i dont like relocated teams on the whole for this reson - i am a traditionalist- and often root against them. If the Mets left and NY knicked some one else that would really put me in a quandry.

teams that have moved since 1980:

MLB:
Montreal Expos to Washington Nats

NFL
Oakland Raiders to LA Raiders(but Oakland took them back a decade later)
Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis Colts
Cleveland Browns to Baltimore Ravens (Cleveland were granted an expansion team 4 years later- you have to wonder why Cleveland didnt stay there and Baltimore wait a couole of years for an expansion team all rather messy)
St Louis Cardinals to Phoenix Cardinals only for 1 year later
LA Rams to St Louis
Houston Oilers to Tennessee Titans - Houston would later get the expansion Texans

NBA
Charlotte Hornets to New Orleans Hornets- Charlotte soon got the expansion Bobcats
Seattle Sonics to OKC Thunder
Vancouver Grizzlies to Memphis Grizzlies
and of course next year the Nets leave New Jersey and head across the Hudson River to Brooklyn.

NHL
Atlanta Flames to Calgary Flames
Colorado Rockies to New Jersey Devils
Minnesota North Stars to Dallas Stars ( the twin cities later got the expansion Wild)
Quebec Nordiques to Colorado Avs
Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix Coyotes
Hartford Whalers to Carolina Hurricanes
Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg Jets


all a bit of a merry go round really but its the fans who suffer.

As I don't have a team yet I can't really answer the question, but I would follow the same team if they kept they're identity albeit in a different location...but if the identity went eg Expos -> Nationals or Pilots -> Brewers I'd start following my favourite team from the opposite league as I couldn't support one of my teams old rivals.

Well I decided to stick with the Nationals when the Expos crossed borders, though I totally agree with David Lendel's opinion that Montreal could've supported an MLB team if Selig, (cough) Loria and co had demonstrated similar determination to get a new stadium for the Expos as they did for Miami.

It wasn't too difficult a decision really, as the only other team I had time for back then was the Twins, who weren't pulling up trees either in 2003.

God only knows I've had plenty of reasons to curse my choice over the last few years, though I do now sort of look forward to being called a glory hunter, having supported the Expos since the early weeks of Five's coverage from those palatial studios in Southampton, with Tommy Boyd and the Toddmeister.

I m not support if they change name, it's not good. relocating is a technical thing, but why change name?

That's pretty much how I feel. It would probably depend which city they moved to too. If it were say New Jersey, for example, I'd be more likely to follow them than if it were say Las Vegas. It's a really difficult question to answer, especially when it's hypothetical and you don't know the implications of a move. I loved going to Shea and Citi field is fun too, but I don't know if it'd be the same in another city.

I grew up in Wimbledon and I don't know a single MK Dons fan. The majority of people are Chelsea fans in the area already and the MK move coincided with Chelsea winning silverware so their fanbase just grew even more.