FanPost

Does Low Domestic Migration Mean a Stronger Fan Base?



The NYT came out with a pretty cool data visualization of domestic migration data (moving state to state) from 1900 to 2012 titled, "Where We Came From, State by State."

Louisiana has the least domestic migration of the 50 states, with 79% of the current residents saying they were born there. Since 1900, that has gone down only 6%.

The visualization made me think that this was definitely a factor in the formula for a rich cultural heritage, but also might be part of why the LSU fan base is so strong -- your Daddy's Daddy's Daddy was an LSU fan and everyone you know has a story about a game.

For the SEC states following Louisiana, Mississippi (72%), Alabama (70%) and Kentucky (70%) make up the first grouping; Texas (61%), Arkansas (61%), Tennessee (61%), and Georgia (55%) are the next group; and Florida (36%) bottoms out with all the snowbirds.

As Jerry Seinfeld said, "My parents didn't want to move to Florida, but they turned sixty and that's the law."

Although, for Midwestern states, Michigan (77%), Ohio (75%), Wisconsin (72%) and Iowa (71%) are up there, too, in the percentage of folks who were born and live there. While living in Chicago has exposed me to Michigan and Michigan St. fan bases, I don't know of any rich cultural heritage. But, I'm sure I'm biased.

The East Coast states that top the list are Pennsylvania (74%) and West Virginia (70%).

Thought that was interesting and worth sharing with ATVS.