7/29/2019 WHO DO WE LIKE?
1/1
By Mark Hale
ITS NO secret Yankees fans out-number Mets fans in our
back-yard. But the size of the disparity
may surprise you: Its more than3-to-1.
The surprising findings comefrom Ben Blatt of the HarvardSports
Analysis Collective, whomined likes on Facebook tomeasure
allegiance to the localsports teams among fans inNew York City,
Westchester,
Long Island and northernNew Jersey. The data coversa
representative sample of6 million Facebook users.
The Yankees popularitydominance over the Mets
is one of the most strikingtakeaways from the numbers.
The Bombers no shock were the mostsupported New York sports
team, tallying1,096,400 likes. The next most popular, theGiants,
had more than 36 percent fewer at694,280. The Knicks were third at
670,880.
The Jets are next, though theres a big dropto 425,740. Then come
the Mets at 353,580 less than a third of the Yankees total.
The Yankees garnered the majority of the
support over the Mets in every town, coun-ty and zip code
analyzed on a more microscale. The Amazins had the most traction
inFloral Park, at 41.6 percent of the likes for alocal baseball
team. The strongest pro-Yan-kees area was Morris County (N.J.),
where87 percent of the breakdown had a pinstripepattern.
Other conclusions from Blatts research:lIn just a few months in
Brooklyn, there
is evidence the Nets already have grabbed aslice of the Knicks
five-borough fan base.
New York City data collected in Novem-ber was measured against
data collectedthis month. Forty-two of the 43 neighbor-hood
divisions of NYC showed an increasein Nets fans, with only the
subsection ofGreenwich Village and SoHo holding strongfor the
blue-and-orange.
In November, the biggest Knicks-Nets fansupport gap was a 91-9
split in NortheastQueens, the smallest at 62-38 percent inCentral
Brooklyn, which happens to be thesite of Barclays Center. When
another pollwas pulled this month, that was down to ahigh of 83-17
(Central Queens) and a low of54-46 (Central Brooklyn).
That indicated to Blatt there could be a50-50 split in some
pockets before long ifthe Nets popularity continues to trend.
lThe Giants-Jets divide is the closest
among the four major sports, with Gang Greennarrowly tracking
behind Big Blue in NassauCounty (51.5 percent to 48.5). If you zoom
inon the map, the Jets are more liked in severalNassau
municipalities the high is 56.1 per-cent in Great Neck. In every
other pocket ofthe Big Apple, Westchester, North Jersey andSuffolk,
the Giants never dip below 52 percent.lDont tell Brooklyn the
Islanders are mov-
ing in two years from Uniondale to AtlanticAvenue: the Rangers
received an 88.9 percentshare of the likes in Kings County, not
count-ing the Newark-based Devils. There is evenless love for the
Isles in Staten Island (93.5percent Rangers) and The Bronx (89
percentRangers, with a high of 95 percent, in the areadefined as
High Bridge and Morrisania).
FACEBOOK DATA REVEALS N.Y. FAN HIERARCHY
WHO DO WE LIKE?BRONX
Yankees rule, Blue over Green & Nets on rise among area
fans
STATENISLAND
UNDERSTANDING THE RESULTS:
Raw data is the sort provided byFacebook to advertisers
targetinginterested customers in a givenarea, based on the likes
function,rounded to the nearest 20. Data forall New York City zip
codes wascollected in November (again inFebruary for Knicks and
Nets) andfor all surrounding areas in February.
1. Yankees 111,560
2. Giants 65,9003. Knicks 52,7804. Jets 40,500
5. Mets 33,1006. Rangers 24,3207. Nets 18,9808. Islanders
4,840
TOTAL LIKES
The neighborhood with the mostNew York sports fans on Facebookin
the city, the UppER EAST SIDEis home to the largest totalnumber of
Yankees fans in thecity, according to the data.
The closest battlebetween the Giantsand Jets in the citytakes
place inSOUTH SHOREStaten Island, withthe Giants holdinga slim
55-percent
majority overGang Green fans. Its a tight
battle throughout StatenIsland, with narrow BigBlue majorities
in PortRichmond (61%),
Stapleton and St.George (58%) andMid-Island (59%).
1. Knicks 6,3002. Yankees 6,2803. Giants 3,7004. Jets 3,0405.
Rangers 2,6806. Mets 2,6407. Nets 2,5408. Islanders 160
TOTAL LIKES
The Knicks areEAST HARLEMsteam, and even theNets have morelikes
there than theYankees.
1. Knicks 21,8802. Nets 11,8203. Yankees 7,2004. Giants 4,0605.
Jets 2,6406. Mets 1,8207. Rangers 1,1608. Islanders 200
TOTAL LIKES
InWESTQUEENS,home of theMets, theAmazins arethe fourth-most
popularteam andarent eventhe mostpopularbaseball team
Yankees fanson Facebookare doublingup Mets fansthroughoutthe
borough.
1. Yankees 9,200T2. Giants 5,040T2. Knicks 5,0404. Rangers
3,8005. Jets 2,9006. Mets 2,5407. Nets 1,4408. Islanders 340
TOTAL LIKESThe Rangers fare bestin GREENWICHVILLAGE AND
SOHO,where they rank fourth the Blueshirtshighest ranking in anyof
New York Citysmajor neighborhoods.
MANHATTAN
WHO GOT THE THUMBS UP?New Yorks eight major rofessional sorts
teams always are cometing against each other on and off the field.
In New York City, Westchester, North Jersey, Nassau and Suffolk,
the
Yankees are No. 1, according to a study of Facebook likes by the
Harvard Sorts AnalysisCollective. Heres a look at how the teams
stack u with each other:
NO. 1 WITHA BULLET:Derek Jeterand theYankeesare the mostpopular
team by far among NewYork fans.
1. Knicks 14,9402. Nets 12,760
3. Yankees 12,5804. Giants 8,980
5. Jets 5,5006. Mets 3,8607. Rangers 1,9808. Islanders 280
TOTAL LIKES
Ground Zero for the Knicks-Netsrivalry is in CENTRAL
BROOKLYN,where despite the Nets playingnearby in Barclays Center,
Knicksfans still outnumber them though the margin is quite
small.
YANKEES: 1,096,400 LIKES IN METROPOLITAN AREA
KNICKS: 670,880
GIANTS: 694,280
JETS: 425,740
METS: 353,580
NETS: 290,250
RANGERS: 236,260
ISLANDERS: 53,240
BROOKLYN
N.Y.Post: Charles Wenzelberg Neil Miller
N.Y.Post: Charles Wenzelberg
METROPOLITAN AR Westchester North
Jersey
Knicks 78.4% 62.5% Nets 21.6% 37.5%
Yankees 84.1% 81.9% Mets 15.9% 18.1%
Giants 64.4% 70.6% Jets 35.6% 29.4%
Rangers 92.7% 35.7% Islanders 7.3% 2.2% Devils 62.0%
Anthony J.Causi SOURCE: Harva
