RE: Most popular fan bases in your area
For Nashville — and the thoughts of a fan of the sports teams at Vanderbilt, Belmont, Tennessee State and Middle Tennessee State (and, yes, I have had a direct and personal affiliation with all four universities) ...
Power Trio
1. Titans
2A. Predators
2B. Tennessee Vol football
Tier 2 (in no particular order)
* Nashville SC (Major League Soccer)
* Vanderbilt men's basketball
* Tennessee State football
* Nashville Sounds minor league baseball
* Vanderbilt football
* Tennessee Vol men's basketball
* Vanderbilt baseball
Tier 3 (in no particular order)
* Memphis Grizzlies
* Middle Tennessee State football
* Belmont men's basketball
* Tennessee Lady Vol basketball
Tier 4 (in no particular order)
* Vanderbilt women's basketball
* Memphis Tiger men's basketball
* Atlanta Braves
* Lipscomb men's basketball
* TSU men's basketball
* Middle Tennessee State men's basketball
* Middle Tennessee State women's hoops
* Tennessee Vol baseball
Thoughts:
The Titans are at the top due to two key factors: 1. It's the NFL; and 2. the Titans fan base is far more diverse (whites, blacks, Hispanics, women, liberals, conservatives, rich, poor, middle class, women, mainstream, non-mainstream, etc.) than the fan bases of any of the others on my list.
In contrast, the Preds and UT Vol football fans bases, while large and dedicated, are noticeably white, mainstream and socio-politically right leaning. So there simply are not the sheer number of "would-be fans" for those two. There is a "cap," so to speak.
Nashville SC (our MLS franchise) has developed a large and loyal following very quickly. Lots of our immigrant population, hipsters, urbanites, etc., enjoy the club — as such demographic groups tend to like "international" things (in this case, soccer).
The Sounds (Triple-A International League) draw very well and are an underrated sports entity in Nashville. But Sounds fans likely enjoy the experience of being in the ballpark as much (if not more) as being "true" Sounds fans.
Vanderbilt men's basketball still offers a solid fan base — with a combination of "old-school, conservative, well-educated and moneyed" whites who live throughout the city's affluent urban and suburban west side and a relatively large number of "others" (more fans of color and blue-collar types than you might think, nut jobs like Uncle Dazzy, etc.)
Tennessee State football remains a rather big deal in the city's well established North Nashville black community. It receives strong local media coverage.
Like Tennessee Vol football, UT men's hoops fans in Nashville seem to be significantly white and socio-politically conservative (you rarely see a black person in this city wearing orange). I would argue that if you polled 10,000 black Nashvillians who like college basketball, far more would be fans of TSU than of UT. In fact, there might be more black Memphis Tiger hoops fans in Nashville than black UT hoops fans in the city. Having taught at TSU for five years (as an adjunct) and being a member of the Nashville media for more than 30 years ... I've picked up on this demographic dynamic.
Vanderbilt football offers a respectable number of African-American fans (probably more, per capita, than lots of "state U" football programs). But our fan base overall is small. As is the fan base for VU baseball (though it is dedicated). Sports are simply not as big a deal at Vanderbilt as they are at the large, public, mainstream universities.
Belmont men's basketball is respected in this city as a "player" to an extent. The BU facility is nice and the fan base is solid in terms of numbers and spirit. The Nashville media covers BU hoops.
The most popular women's sports program for Nashvillians is almost certainly UT Lady Vol basketball. However, the Vanderbilt women and the MTSU ladies draw some interest from some in the city (including this poster).
(This post was last modified: 06-11-2022 12:13 PM by bill dazzle.)
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