What major-league baseball teams can you watch in states that don't have them?

[KCRoadFan]

Here's something I was thinking about today: as far as major-league baseball teams go, what teams would be the "local team" or "home team" in states that don't have teams of their own? (That is, if you were to walk into a sports bar in that state on any given summer night, what game would you see on the TV's there, carrying the local channels? What teams do baseball fans in the state tend to cheer for?)

Anyway, here's my best guess at it:

Alabama: Braves
Alaska: Mariners
Arkansas: Cardinals (also Royals and Rangers in the western part)
Connecticut: Yankees/Mets south and west of Hartford; Red Sox to the north and east
Delaware: Phillies, Orioles, Nationals
Hawaii: if any teams are on, probably the Southern California ones (Dodgers, Angels, Padres)
Idaho: Rockies, Mariners
Indiana: Cubs/White Sox in the north; Cardinals and Reds in the south; maybe Tigers in the northeast part as well?
Iowa: Cubs, White Sox, Royals, Cardinals, Twins
Kansas: Royals (also Rockies in the west, perhaps)
Kentucky: Reds (probably also Cardinals in the west)
Louisiana: Astros, Braves
Maine: Red Sox
Mississippi: Braves
Montana: Rockies (maybe also Mariners in the west)
Nebraska: Royals in the east; Rockies in the west
Nevada: California teams (Giants and A's in Reno; Dodgers, Angels, and Padres in Vegas); also, Diamondbacks in Vegas and maybe Rockies in the northeast part?
New Hampshire: Red Sox
New Jersey: Yankees/Mets in the north; Phillies in the south
New Mexico: Diamondbacks, Rockies
North Carolina: Braves
North Dakota: Twins (also Rockies in the west)
Oklahoma: Royals, Rangers; maybe also Cardinals in the east?
Oregon: Mariners; also, perhaps Giants and A's in the southwest part near the California border
Rhode Island: Red Sox
South Carolina: Braves
South Dakota: Twins (also Rockies in the west)
Tennessee: Braves (also Cardinals in the west and maybe Reds in the northeastern mountain region)
Utah: Rockies
Vermont: Red Sox, Blue Jays
Virginia: Nationals/Orioles in the part by DC; Braves in Hampton Roads/Tidewater/Southside area; possibly Reds in the western mountain region
West Virginia: Reds in most of the state; Nationals/Orioles in the Eastern Panhandle area; Pirates in the Northern Panhandle area and around Morgantown
Wyoming: Rockies

Do those all seem right? Also, I'm wondering about regions of states that are distant from that state's teams, such as - for example - Upstate New York. (I believe most, if not all, of the state gets the Mets and Yankees, but I'm pretty sure the Southern Tier gets the Pirates, the area along the Canadian border gets the Blue Jays, and Buffalo and western NY can probably pick up the Blue Jays, Pirates, and Indians.) In addition, while Illinois has the Chicago teams, I believe all of the state south of, let's say, Bloomington is Cardinal country.

Anyway, what do you all think?

[TheHighwayMan3561]

https://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1133/baseballterritorialmap.jpg

And as you might expect, it is a gigantic mess when it comes to getting teams on TV in said territories, idiotic claims by teams that they shouldn't have that shut out teams that should be there, and more.

[KCRoadFan]

https://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1133/baseballterritorialmap.jpg

And as you might expect, it is a gigantic mess [...] idiotic claims by teams that they shouldn't have that shut out teams that should be there, and more.

What are some examples of such teams, in your opinion? I'm curious to know.

[gonealookin]

https://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1133/baseballterritorialmap.jpg

And as you might expect, it is a gigantic mess [...] idiotic claims by teams that they shouldn't have that shut out teams that should be there, and more.

What are some examples of such teams, in your opinion? I'm curious to know.

Iowa is a commonly-cited example.  Say you're a Milwaukee Brewers fan living in Council Bluffs, 500 miles from Milwaukee.  That's still Brewers television territory, so Brewers games are blacked out on either MLB.tv (streaming) or MLB Extra Innings (cable/satellite), and the only way to watch a Brewers game is if your cable, satellite or streaming provider carries "Bally Sports Wisconsin", the RSN which carries the Brewers games.  But if you hop over the river to Omaha, that's out of the Brewers television territory, so you're good to go for Brewers games with either MLB.tv or MLB Extra Innings.

[NWI_Irish96]

https://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1133/baseballterritorialmap.jpg

And as you might expect, it is a gigantic mess when it comes to getting teams on TV in said territories, idiotic claims by teams that they shouldn't have that shut out teams that should be there, and more.

To explain this map a bit further. For areas where a team is listed, that is part of the team's "home territory" and you can ONLY watch the team through the Regional Sports Network (RSN) that broadcasts their games, and if you pay for MLB.tv and/or MLB Extra Innings, the game will be blacked out.

For any areas where a team is NOT listed, you can ONLY watch the team through MLB.tv and/or MLB Extra Innings, and if you happen to subscribe to that teams RSN the games will be blacked out.

The biggest problem is that there are areas that are part of a team's "home territory" that don't carry that team's RSN, so they can't watch the team via either method. For the Chicago teams, there are significant chunks of IL, IN and IA that don't carry the Chicago RSNs (Sox and Cubs are on separate ones), but because they are part of the "home territory" you also can't get the games on MLB EI or MLB.tv

[jp the roadgeek]

I pretty much know the Northeast by heart

ME, NH, VT, and RI: Red Sox
CT: Yankees/Mets entire state, Red Sox all but Fairfield County
NJ: Yankees/Mets northern half, Phillies southern half.  One county (either Somerset or Mercer) has all 3
DE: Phillies, O's, Nats throughout
VA: O's/Nats
WV: Pirates most of the State, Indians and Reds about half of the state, O's/Nats in the panhandle. 

Some of the states that actually have teams are interesting as well:

NY: Yankees and Mets get the whole state.  Indians and Pirates get the Buffalo area

PA: Pirates get the whole state except the Philly DMA, Phillies only get the Philly, most of Scranton, and Harrisburg DMA's.  The O's/Nats get the Harrisburg DMA and a couple counties that are part of the DC market.  The Yankees/Mets get the Scranton DMA and Pike County (part of NYC market).  The  Indians get the Erie area.  The crazy thing is that Matamoras in Pike County is closer to Boston and Baltimore than Pittsburgh, but is still considered part of the Pirates market.

The Reds have a crazy market, which even includes part of NC (who knew there were Reds fans in NC?)

[kevinb1994]

I pretty much know the Northeast by heart

ME, NH, VT, and RI: Red Sox
CT: Yankees/Mets entire state, Red Sox all but Fairfield County
NJ: Yankees/Mets northern half, Phillies southern half.  One county (either Somerset or Mercer) has all 3
DE: Phillies, O's, Nats throughout
VA: O's/Nats
WV: Pirates most of the State, Indians and Reds about half of the state, O's/Nats in the panhandle. 

Some of the states that actually have teams are interesting as well:

NY: Yankees and Mets get the whole state.  Indians and Pirates get the Buffalo area

PA: Pirates get the whole state except the Philly DMA, Phillies only get the Philly, most of Scranton, and Harrisburg DMA's.  The O's/Nats get the Harrisburg DMA and a couple counties that are part of the DC market.  The Yankees/Mets get the Scranton DMA and Pike County (part of NYC market).  The  Indians get the Erie area.  The crazy thing is that Matamoras in Pike County is closer to Boston and Baltimore than Pittsburgh, but is still considered part of the Pirates market.

The Reds have a crazy market, which even includes part of NC (who knew there were Reds fans in NC?)

I grew up in Somerset County (Franklin Township), but we never really got anything from Philly except for the CW/Fox stations. It must be Mercer County that gets the notable coverage from the two major cities in the area.

Maybe that's why the Somerset Patriots are now the Yanks' AA affiliate instead of the Trenton Thunder.

[hbelkins]

Reds for most of the state, Cards (and to a lesser extent, Cubs) in the western part. And the Braves, owing to (as I have previously noted) the pervasive presence of WTBS Channel 17 on cable systems in the late 70s-early 80s.

[Flint1979]

I don't see where Vermont would have any ties to the Blue Jays. It's a New England state I would think the Red Sox dominate it.

[Roadgeekteen]

I don't see where Vermont would have any ties to the Blue Jays. It's a New England state I would think the Red Sox dominate it.

Maybe the Expos had a following when they were still around.

[Big John]

I don't see where Vermont would have any ties to the Blue Jays. It's a New England state I would think the Red Sox dominate it.

Maybe the Expos had a following when they were still around.

Their following dwindled in the latter years in Montreal.

[Roadgeekteen]

I don't see where Vermont would have any ties to the Blue Jays. It's a New England state I would think the Red Sox dominate it.

Maybe the Expos had a following when they were still around.

Their following dwindled in the latter years in Montreal.

Probably, the 1994 strike, unfortunately, did not do the team any favors.

[jp the roadgeek]

I don't see where Vermont would have any ties to the Blue Jays. It's a New England state I would think the Red Sox dominate it.

Maybe the Expos had a following when they were still around.

Canadian fandom tends to end at the border.  Blue Jays games are not available in any part of the US (unless Rogers SportsNet is on any cable system in Western NY)  However, there is a strong contingent of Sox fans in the Maritimes from when TV-38 showed games (its available on most cable systems).  Only Expos contingent may have been in the Champlain Valley, but they certainly didn't become Nats fans after they moved.

[Flint1979]

I don't see where Vermont would have any ties to the Blue Jays. It's a New England state I would think the Red Sox dominate it.

Maybe the Expos had a following when they were still around.

Maybe a few but the Expos really didn't have that many fans.

[Roadgeekteen]

I don't see where Vermont would have any ties to the Blue Jays. It's a New England state I would think the Red Sox dominate it.

Maybe the Expos had a following when they were still around.

Canadian fandom tends to end at the border.  Blue Jays games are not available in any part of the US (unless Rogers SportsNet is on any cable system in Western NY)  However, there is a strong contingent of Sox fans in the Maritimes from when TV-38 showed games (its available on most cable systems).  Only Expos contingent may have been in the Champlain Valley, but they certainly didn't become Nats fans after they moved.

I think that the Canadiens have somewhat of a following in Northern New England.

[Alps]

I don't see where Vermont would have any ties to the Blue Jays. It's a New England state I would think the Red Sox dominate it.

Yankees used to dominate it, maybe because most of the population is on the NY side of the mountains. I think at this point it's more Boston.

[Flint1979]

I have an Uncle that lives in Vermont I'll have to ask him what MLB team Vermont supports. I'm sure he's going to say Boston.

[Flint1979]

I don't see where Vermont would have any ties to the Blue Jays. It's a New England state I would think the Red Sox dominate it.

Yankees used to dominate it, maybe because most of the population is on the NY side of the mountains. I think at this point it's more Boston.

The Yankees have fans all over the place so it doesn't really surprise me. As a White Sox fan I always find it amusing to find another White Sox fan in Michigan.

[Roadgeekteen]

I once saw an MLB fan map which had Louisiana, Utah, and parts of Flordia as Yankees territory.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I've heard Boston teams dominate pro sports fandom in the Maritime provinces. Probably some Penguins fans have taken hold as well since Crosby is from NS.

[SP Cook]

I pretty much know the Northeast by heart


VA: O's/Nats

Baseball, correct, pretty much; geography incorrect.  Virginia is in the "northeast"? 

While support for the Redskins extends all the way to Lee County, baseball is a little different.  Historically, folks in southwestern Virginia were split between the Senators and the Reds.  The Senators moving and an inept Reds TV deal allowed the area to really become a Braves area.

WV: Pirates most of the State, Indians and Reds about half of the state, O's/Nats in the panhandle. 

As far a the claims map, the Pirates claim the ENTIRE state, which is ridiculous.  Pirates fandom is limited to the northern panhandle and the Fairmont-Clarksburg-Morgantown area.  Zero legitimacy to the Pirate claim south of about MP 100 of I-79, or east of the eastern continental divide.

The Orioles/Nationals correctly claim the eastern panhandle, which gets DC TV stations and the populated part of it is a DC exurb. 

The Reds claim main body of the state: the coalfields, the Huntington-Charleston I-64 urban corridor, Parkersburg, etc.  Actually a bit of an underclaim, as they don't claim the Greenbrier Valley.  The Indians just overlap the Reds claims, which they also do in eastern Kentucky, which is among the most ridiculous claims on the entire map.  There is zero Indians fandom in WV or KY.     

Some of the states that actually have teams are interesting as well:

NY: Yankees and Mets get the whole state.  Indians and Pirates get the Buffalo area

Another example of the vast overclaims by Pittsburgh and Cleveland.  Pittsburgh also claims Columbus, which is probably 75/25 Reds/Indians, depending on who is good at a particular time.

The Reds have a crazy market, which even includes part of NC (who knew there were Reds fans in NC?)

Some of this dates from the days of WLW and KMOX, when Cincinnati and St. Louis were as far south and west as the leagues went.  The Reds even claim a part of northern Mississippi, which is dumb.  As to NC, the east, particularly the northeast, is more Orioles/Nationals than anything.  The main populated parts of the state, the Piedmont, is all over the place, but more Braves than anything. 

[OCGuy81]

Nevada will probably fall off your list eventually. I think the A's grow tired of the "ought to be condemned"  Oakland Coliseum and yet another Oakland franchise is poached by Las Vegas.

[SectorZ]

I don't see where Vermont would have any ties to the Blue Jays. It's a New England state I would think the Red Sox dominate it.

Maybe the Expos had a following when they were still around.

Canadian fandom tends to end at the border.  Blue Jays games are not available in any part of the US (unless Rogers SportsNet is on any cable system in Western NY)  However, there is a strong contingent of Sox fans in the Maritimes from when TV-38 showed games (its available on most cable systems).  Only Expos contingent may have been in the Champlain Valley, but they certainly didn't become Nats fans after they moved.

Boston TV is oddly quite available in Nova Scotia. I stayed in Halifax in 2018, my hotel had all the local affiliates that were part of a network, NESN, and NBC Sports Boston.

With the Expos and Vermont, there was a minor league team in Winooski, but it really didn't draw additional interest in the mother team. Just like no one cares about the Blue Jays in Manchester NH.

[1995hoo]

Regarding Virginia, Richmond has a strong (and largely obnoxious in terms of trying to make sure everyone knows they're there) contingent of Atlanta fans because the city was home to their AAA affiliate for about 40 years (the Richmond Braves). The team moved to Georgia in 2009.

[Flint1979]

The reasons why the Reds and Cardinals have such a big following is because of their 50,000 watt flagship stations. WLW in Cincinnati and KMOX in St. Louis. Before 2000 the Tigers were on WJR but now you can't pickup their flagship station outside of the metro area.