Most Popular Sports Teams in Your Area

[Illiniwek]

So growing up and currently living in the western suburbs of Chicago, this is what I have perceived.

MLB: 50% Cubs; 40% White Sox; 10% Other
NFL: 70% Bears; 20% Packers; 10% Other (but basically all of my close friends like other teams (Broncos, Titans, Lions, Patriots))
NCAA: Equal parts which make up like 85%: Illinois, Michigan, ohio State, Wisconsin, Notre Dame; 15% other

I got the feeling Illinois is like everyone's second favorite school around here, but few are super passionate about it, which makes sense because we have sucked lately.

[Illiniwek]

I also really like sports geography, so I am going to do multiple areas that I have lived.

Currently living in Chicago's LakeView neighborhood.

The Bears have slipped a bit as they have been so bad and so many transplants cheer for other teams. A common theme with out-of-staters (LakeView has quite a few of them) is that they'll cheer for the Chicago team when they are playing well but will "reconnect" with the team from their home state/city when the Chicago team is struggling. Very annoying.

Obviously, LakeView is not just on the north side but is also home to the Cubs and Wrigley. The Cubs are king here.

LakeView has high rates of college education and therefore you have a lot of alums from a range of Big Ten schools. NCAA is pretty mixed, which is unfortunate. Locals and grads of smaller schools cheer for the Illini/Notre Dame/Northwestern (the local schools) when they're good, but that is obviously not the case right now for any of them.

My estimates below.

NFL: 75% Bears, 5% Packers, 20% Other
MLB: 90% Cubs, 5% White Sox, 5% Other
NBA: 85% Bulls, 15% Other
NHL: 90% Blackhawks, 10% Other
NCAA: 15% Illinois, 15% Michigan, 15% Michigan State, 15% Wisconsin, 10% Notre Dame, 10% Iowa, 20% Other

Where I grew up in the northern Chicago suburbs (Lake County) is below.

The Bears ruled the area, though we were very close to the WI border and the Packers have obviously had the Bears' number over the last several decades, so you get a handful of Packer bandwagoners.

Being the northern burbs, the Cubs ruled. A contingent of White Sox fans exists, though.

The Blackhawks are big-time in white Chicago suburbs. Definitely the consensus team across all sports as evidenced by my ratings below.

For NCAA, the area has fewer transplants, so you get a little bump in the Illinois/Notre Dame crowd that cheers local. Still, you've got a mix of Big Ten grads just like in LakeView.

NFL: 80% Bears, 15% Packers, 5% Other
MLB: 80% Cubs, 15% White Sox, 5% Other
NBA: 85% Bulls, 15% Other
NHL: 95% Blackhawks, 5% Other
NCAA: 20% Illinois, 20% Notre Dame, 15% Wisconsin, 15% Northwestern, 10% Michigan, 20% Other

Where I went to school in Champaign, IL ranked below. Rating on the towns, which I spent plenty of time in and around, rather than the campus.

Champaign is, of course, downstate, so you have a bit of the Chicago vs St Louis clash. Plenty of angsty downstaters looking to cheer against Chicago.

I found, however, that the clash really only existed in baseball. See below that the Rams and Blues had small groups of fans, but it was pretty negligible. The real divide is in baseball. Champaign is north of the "line," so it is about 60/30 Cubs. The rest of the sports are pretty much dominated by Chicago teams.

Obviously, everyone cheers for the Illini.

NFL: 75% Bears, 10% Rams, 15% Other
MLB: 60% Cubs, 30% Cardinals, 10% Other
NBA: 70% Bulls, 20% Other
NHL: 75% Blackhawks, 15% Blues, 10% Other
NCAA: 100% Illinois

Thank you Mr. Illini! This analysis is awesome!