These are the 12 sports franchises losing the most fans.

[transplant99]

Only 1 team from the NHL...Colombus.

Dominated by MLB.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/top/news?...ng_fans_091511

[moon]

I am surprised that there are not more NBA teams as by all accounts attendence in the league is awful and may even make the NHL look good.

But I guess it could be because teams didn't have much to lose from the 2001 numbers.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Only 1 team from the NHL...Colombus.

Dominated by MLB.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/top/news?...ng_fans_091511

Id think that MLB has the biggest issues because of their playoff format. Year afyer year teams are out of it by June or July and the fans just give up after a decade of that.

[Caged Great]

Well, look at the Jays division for example. You usually have 2 of the top 3 teams in all of baseball every year in that division, and the other teams either have to get a ton of good young players to succeed for a year or two, or try to rip other teams off to get good players to try and succeed. Either way, it's pretty much impossible to compete.

That's just one division though, but when you look at small market teams like Kansas City, Oakland, Seattle, etc etc. they can't do anything to win because if they do fluke out and make the playoffs, they go up against the same 3 or 4 teams and get their butts handed to them.

They need to either expand playoffs to 8 teams per league, or a hard cap of 100 mil.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Cheese

Id think that MLB has the biggest issues because of their playoff format. Year afyer year teams are out of it by June or July and the fans just give up after a decade of that.

Yup. MLB needs a salary cap, and expanded playoffs.

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by troutman

Yup. MLB needs a salary cap, and expanded playoffs.

Or even a whole new mentality. I've never met a baseball fan who could explain why they would go watch a team doomed to lose FOREVER. With their best players to be gobbled up by teams spending 10 times as much. I assumed it was more just a hot dog, popcorn eating at the park. An outing more than actual fans of competition.

Sit in the sun, drink a few beers and maybe watch the game if something interesting happens. Kinda like cricket.

[shermanator]

I don't blame Columbus fans for staying away. The team has not won a post-season game in it's first 10 years, and should be hard pressed to make it this year as well.

[Locke]

1. Cleveland Indians
• Decrease in attendance: 56.08 percent
• 2000 W-L record: 91-71 (finished 1st in AL Central)
• 2010 W-L record: 69-93 (finished 4th in AL Central)
• League championships last decade: none

I dont think Charlie Sheen or Tom Berenger are up to anything much, maybe its time to save the Indians one more time in Major League 3: Geriatrics with Steroids and Cocaine!

[Cheese]

The Nationals/Expos havent seen the post season in 29 years,
Kansas City is 25 years
Pirates are 18 years
Blue Jays 17 years
Orioles 13 years
Mariners 9 years

The following havent seen a pennant....
Seattle 34 years
Pitts 31 years
Milwaukee 28 years
Baltimore 27 years
KC 25 years
Cincy 20 years
Minny 19 years
Toronto 17 years
Cleveland 13 years
San Diego 12 years
Atlanta 11 years

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...eason_droughts

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by moon

I am surprised that there are not more NBA teams as by all accounts attendence in the league is awful and may even make the NHL look good.

But I guess it could be because teams didn't have much to lose from the 2001 numbers.

Yeah, I think NBA attendance peaked in 2006 or so and has declined since then. So there's a bubble there that this doesn't capture. I think if you looked at attendance between 2006 and now, you'd see more NBA franchises on this list.

For that matter, a much better methodology would be to take a team's peak attendance in the last decade compared to current attendance, average it over the number of years the decline occured, and then list them in that order. That way, it would capture sudden declines more effectively.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by shermanator

I don't blame Columbus fans for staying away. The team has not won a post-season game in it's first 10 years, and should be hard pressed to make it this year as well.

That's disappointing, as I think that team gets unfairly grouped in by fans (especially Canadians itching for more teams up here) as a team in a city where no-one appreciates hockey, like Atlanta/Tampa/Miami/Phoenix, etc. But its not, its in a northern U.S. city where they can actually play outdoors in the winter. They had great fans for quite awhile, but like any fanbase, there's only so much losing they can take before interest starts to wane.

I just hate when expansion teams in cities where fans would actually care (Minny, Columbus) are horribly run and thus never compete, whereas teams in sunbelt, snow/ice-free environments are given winning clubs where no-one really cares (Tampa, Carolina, Anaheim, etc - I know they've all developed solid fanbases, but you know what I mean). Its not fair I tells ya!