So I’m a Rams fan from not from LA or California so I’m not really sure too much on LA sports culture outside of majority of sports fans love the Lakers and the Dodgers. So I was curious on actual residents of LA on their thoughts of this video I just watched with how it seems people in LA pick their sports teams.
As well as which sports team y’all support as Rams fans I know there’s a lot of memes of Rams fans being Dodgers fans but I’m curious on the other sports as well to see if it likes up with general things, something out of the norm or if there’s sports teams outside of LA some of y’all are fans of.
22 comments
For me it’s always been Rams, Dodgers, Lakers, UCLA.. Growing up in the eighties in L.A. most folks were Raiders, Dodgers, Lakers, USC
20 years of no NFL means most LA people just pick pretigious legacy franchises. The NFL teams I see the most by far are Raiders, 49ers, Cowboys, Packers, and Steelers. Also a shit ton of Eagles fans for some reason and many of them I talked to said it’s mostly cause of Donovan McNabb back then.
As for me I’m from Orange County so I was a Lakers, Angels, and Ducks fan. However I honestly like the Dodgers too and I don’t see the problem being both an Angels and Dodgers fan. Ohtani is on the Dodgers, I still root for LA teams in general, and the Dodgers are in the NL while the Angels are in the AL. I don’t think it’s any different from NFL fans having a NFC team and a AFC team.
However as a Ducks fan I can not like the Kings lol and I had bad experience with Kings fans when I went to a Ducks vs Kings game at Crypto.com Arena
I’m a fan of USC football because I was raised, figuratively, in their backyard.
I’m fan of the Lakers because I was a kid in the 80s and discovered sports then.
I’m a fan of the Rams because they came back; I didn’t watch NFL pre-2016.
I’m a fan of LAFC because I found myself naturally cheering for them. Didn’t watch MLS pre-2018.
I’m a Man City fan because of all of my favorite Manc bands.
I’m torn between Cruz Azul and Pumas because of my favorite Mexican roqueros, Caifanes.
Rams, Lakers, Kings, Angels, USC for me. LAFC if you twisted my arm about soccer.
Rams are also doing great job at youth outreach. They’ve put on events at a number of local schools around me
The only schisms that actually matter in L.A. are UCLA/USC and Galaxy/LAFC.
Everything else is either not a rivalry or people generally don’t care (hockey).
I think the most unique thing about LA sports is that there is no unified fan set.
For example I have a friend who is also a Rams fan but he is a Clipper fan while I’m a Laker fan.
Generally I think it is age that defines a fan and their selection.
My combo is Rams/Lakers/Dodgers/Kings/Galaxy. This is because I had seen these teams first by the time I arrived here in 2011 and by 2014 I had fully established this area as home.
Rams cuz my dad was a bandwagon way long ago, Cleveland Cavaliers because lived in Ohio and my dad is, Golden knights because a teacher I didn’t like had LA Kings posters and I saw a cool logo on tv, and unfortunately Angels because I was born in OC. The most insufferable kids in my classes were also dodger fans. I don’t like the MLS but if I had to then Galaxy but I much prefer USL and OCSC.
Been saying, will keep saying.
If you’re a Latino from the hood or you fancy yourself to be a LA hood Latino and you’re middle aged, you got a Raiders, Cowboys, and 49ers jersey in your closet. You know, the teams that were hood cool in the 90’s.
So many of the “faithful” in LA are just former Raider fans who couldn’t the abuse anymore, and they brought that delusional Raider fan energy to Niners fandom.
Now these days it seems like you’ll be mocked for rooting Galaxy even though they were here first and have the most championships.
There are more Clippers fans these days since this generation has no memory of the trash 90’s Sports Arena Clippers. If you were born after 2000, the Clippers have actually been petty good most of your life.
The Rams are the most popular team in LA. Thats already been proven by an actual scientific poll published in the LA Times.
The Chargers would have to go on a ridiculous Bellichik/Brady Super Bowl run to unseat the Rams
It’s a fairly accurate assessment and is pretty applicable to most of SoCal aside from SD county and Orange County
Rams, Dodgers, Kings, Lakers are generally the “default” LA teams in my experience. USC and UCLA probably have a bigger split, leaning towards USC given they’ve been a better college football team. Especially since UCLA basketball has really dropped off.
I moved from overseas as a preteen in the late 90’s so learning about North American sports, Dodgers, Kings, and Lakers were the obvious choices since I could go to those games. I actually picked the Rams at random to learn about football (I literally selected random team on Madden franchise and it was the Rams) without knowing their history at the time, so I suppose it was fated to be.
USC was pretty dominant at the time, so a lot of my friends were USC fans, so I sort of defaulted there at the time, but the fandom wasn’t very strong. UCLA is my alma mater so the switch over was pretty easy once I accepted the offer to attend.
I spent most of my childhood (ages 0-12) in coastal Orange County, so I followed whoever was closest to us — same as my dad and grandpa. I walked on the Angels field for little league day, and worshiped dudes like Chili Davis, Wally Joyner, Chuck Finley, and the 1-handed Jim Abbott. I went to a couple Kings games when I was younger, but I loved the Mighty Ducks movies and I immediately shifted to the Ducks when they moved into Anaheim. [ETA] The Lakeshow was just too incredible to ignore, even though they weren’t *super* local. You couldn’t pick up a basketball on the playground without trying to do some crazy Magic Johnson behind-the-back pass to your buddy.
The Rams are the anomaly here, for me. Yeah, they were the local team and playing just up the 22 freeway from us; but also, my grandad and dad were both Rams fans, and I remember sitting on my grandparents’ floor while the games were on. I remember asking about the rules and what was happening, like, as my very first moments interested in the sport. After my grandparents passed, we were cleaning out the house and found a bunch of cool, vintage Rams memorabilia. One of my favorites is a matchbook in the shape of a Rams helmet, from a local restaurant, with the 1981 schedule inside the cover. My uncle scored the 70s era wine glasses with the helmet logo.
Rams – rooted for them cause they were the first LA team in 2016
Lakers – dad was a fan so I grew up into it
UCLA – went there
Angels – grew up much closer to Anaheim than DTLA and always remembered driving past Angel Stadium on the 5. Never even saw Dodger Stadium til I was in my 20s
Kings – family always had Kings stickers on old furniture so I felt more associated with them and jumped on the 2012 bandwagon
LAFC – don’t actually care for MLS but if I had to pick, I guess cause they’re more central? Branding also seems cooler than Galaxy
the obvious ones are Dodgers/Angels and Kings/Ducks. The former are if you are from LA county, the latter if you are from Orange County. Not sure how you would pick if you were from Riverside or something, but I’d lean Dodgers/Kings.
I will say for the Rams sake its lucky the Raiders have been ass for so long that they grab the new generation. My parents are Raiders fans, but combined with how they were awful my entire childhood, and they played up in Oakland, I never became a fan.
I think the video is correct in that there’s almost no rhyme or reason other than having some kind of emotional tie to a franchise. It stands to reason: LA is more like a bunch of small cities/towns/suburbs. I think the geographical aspect only comes into play when it comes to the Orange County teams.
I’m glad he commented on the fact that the Rams have struggled to gain a Dodgers or Lakers type following because they were in St. Lous for 21 years and people chose other teams to root for. No one in the media ever talks about this.
The Dodgers are absolutely king (no pun intended) and truly LA’s team. When they are in the playoffs it just feels different around the city. I went to the 2024 WS parade. Holy cow this city loves the Dodgers.
The Lakers are also beloved but I’ve come across a lot of Laker hater locals in my life. Anyone I’ve come across that hates the Dodgers is from somewhere else.
Just my two cents as a local.
With all the community and child outreach the rams do. They’ll be a surge of young adult fans within 5 to 10 years so I’m not too concerned with the home game situation right now
Dodgers, Lakers, Kings I inherited from my dad. UCLA because my uncle went a there (he passed before I was born). Rams when they came back since my dad gave up on them in STL. And Galaxy because I knew MLS actually existed here before LAFC showed up
I am a fan of the Angels because I started following baseball in high school (1999) and the Angels were the better team
I am a Ducks fan because they are across from the Angels and easier to get to due to where I live
I am a Rams fan because I had no NFL team until they came back
I am a USC fan because we had no football for a long time
I am a Lakers fan because Kobe. I was in junior high when he started his career so most of my memories of basketball involve him
I am a Galaxy fan because we only had one team for so long
Haven’t watched the video, but from personal experience it’s definitely mis-matched. I’m personally Rams/Lakers/Dodgers/Ducks/Galaxy/USC, but I’ve seen all sorts of combos over the years. Just so many teams and so many people from all over the country.
Rams/Lakers/Dodgers/Kings/Galaxy/UCLA