In baseball, they have statistics for everything, even the fans. And those statistics have apparently revealed that fans of the Baltimore Orioles are the second-most “win-sensitive” in the entire Major League. What does that mean, exactly? Well, when the team wins a game, everyone’s happy… but when the Orioles lose, their fans get angry.
The study actually looked at game attendance and how it related to shifts in win-percentage. So a less charitable interpretation of the numbers would be that the Orioles have the country’s second most fairweather fans. Number one? Philadelphia. As Emory’s Sports Marketing Analysis blog notes, “This fits the stereotype of Philadelphia fans as aggressive, demanding fans that are willing to cheer injuries and boo Santa. The numbers say that Philadelphia fans require their team to perform or they won’t show up.” The team at the other end of the list — that is, the franchise fans will pay to see no matter whether they’re winning or losing — is, unsurprisingly, the New York Yankees.
This could all be seen as an insult to Orioles fans; after all, are you truly a fan of a team if you only cheer them on when they’re winning? But I like to think of it as an example of our high standards.
