Why are some MLB teams named after states, not cities?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Most MLB teams are named for cities. Meaning, you have the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies, etc. But there's a few teams that are named for states - the Minnesota Twins, the Florida Marlins (who will actually become the Miami Marlins after they get their new park), etc. Is there any reason for this?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Because who would watch the Arlington Rangers?

 

[Super Grover]

Or the Anaheim Angels.

 

[bigdaddy]

The better question is why are the Miami Marlins building such a tiny stadium?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Or the Anaheim Angels.

That actually sounds better than the lameass "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim".

 

[Daedalus12]

The better question is why are the Miami Marlins building such a tiny stadium?

How many real Marlins fans do you think there are in this world?

 

[Super Grover]

That's California for you.

On the football side, Who would want to watch the Irving Cowboys?

 

[Aragorn]

It's really all about marketing. The Detroit Pistons play in Auburn Hills. The New York Jets and Giants don't even play in the state of New York. The Phoenix Cardinals never played in Phoenix (they were first in Tempe) and Glendale Cardinals doesn't have much of a ring to it, so Arizona Cardinals was the way to go. Utah is shorter than Salt Lake City and I'm sure more of the "lesser intellects" out there would have a better chance of finding Utah on a map before finding Salt Lake City.

Hell, the Los Angeles Chicagoans of Canada were called the California Angels once upon a time.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The better question is why are the Miami Marlins building such a tiny stadium?

It looks better, so to speak, if you have a smaller ballpark which is constantly full to bursting, rather than one that's so big that you can't sell it out.

 

[captcalhoun]

Ummm, aren't some of the NFL teams named after states as well, like the Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans and... um, sure there's a third...

 

[Canadave]

^ Yeah, it's not unique to the MLB. The NHL has the Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild, the CFL has the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the BC Lions, the NBA the Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz, and so on...

 

[Nerroth]

MLS has the Colorado Rapids and the New England Revolution, too.

And technically, D.C. United could be named after the District of Columbia, as opposed to (or as well as) the city of Washington D.C.


And for some reason, fans of the energy drink-branded side don't like saying that they are cheering for a New Jersey team...

 

[captcalhoun]

oh, yeah, that's it. Minnesota Vikings...

for some stupid ass reason, i thought Minnesota was a city when i was typing that post...

and i forgot New England Patriots, which of course, is an area not even a state...

 

[Scout101]

Just depends on how big the fanbase you're drawing from is, I suppose. If you're in a big enough area that the city can support the team by itself, you're probably ok naming it for the city. If you're in a smaller (or less rabid) area, opening up the name to a broader area makes more people feel like it's their team, maybe?

And in some instances, just named that way because doing it the other way sounded stupid...

 

[Chaos Descending]

Ummm, aren't some of the NFL teams named after states as well, like the Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans and... um, sure there's a third...

oh, yeah, that's it. Minnesota Vikings...

for some stupid ass reason, i thought Minnesota was a city when i was typing that post...

and i forgot New England Patriots, which of course, is an area not even a state...

Arizona Cardinals

 

[Kolrad]

That idea can be carried to extremes. There was a while when it was trendy to say that teams were from "New York/New Jersey," like the Metrostars in MLS (now the New York Red Bulls) and the Hitmen in the XFL. I'm guessing that was so that a wider area would think of the team as "theirs," but if you ask me, it sounds ridiculous.

I think the strangest case in the four major sports is that of the Warriors in the NBA. Apparently not wanting to admit that they play in Oakland, California, they choose to say that they represent some nebulous, imaginary place called "Golden State." If I lived in Oakland, I'd be annoyed by that!

 

[Skywalker]

I think the strangest case in the four major sports is that of the Warriors in the NBA. Apparently not wanting to admit that they play in Oakland, California, they choose to say that they represent some nebulous, imaginary place called "Golden State." If I lived in Oakland, I'd be annoyed by that!

California's nickname is "the Golden State." I think it's kind of clever, and definitely more original (and cooler) than Oakland Warriors.

 

[Nerroth]

I'd much sooner have the MetroStars than Red Bull New York - seeing an energy drink take over a franchise like that is less than reassuring.

 

[nevermore]

And technically, D.C. United could be named after the District of Columbia, as opposed to (or as well as) the city of Washington D.C.

D.C. stands for "District of Columbia", which is comprised of the city of Washington. They're the same thing.

 

[Chaos Descending]

And technically, D.C. United could be named after the District of Columbia, as opposed to (or as well as) the city of Washington D.C.

D.C. stands for "District of Columbia", which is comprised of the city of Washington. They're the same thing.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that picked up on that!