Anecdotal Chicago Fan Totals

#1      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
For several years now, I've been very interested in "market share" for college sports fans in various metros, specifically battlegrounds that relate to Illinois (i.e., Chicago and St. Louis). Consequently, I have counted college apparel sightings every trip I've made to Chicago for the last four or five years. Here are my tallied results:

26% Illinois - 87
9% Notre Dame - 30
2% Northwestern - 6
32% Other B1G - 109
5% Other IL - 16
27% Other - 88

Total: 336

Any surprises??
 
#2      

IlliniinIowa

I
IlliniinIowa
I'm surprised we're that high of a percentage in Chicago given the last decade...

PS - I'm from Iowa City myself. City High grad.
 
#4      

GForce

GForce
GForce
Interesting. I'm always surprised out how much Illini gear I see out here in the Bay Area. While not a ton (Cal and Stanford dominate obviously), there's way more than any other big ten team. Michigan is second, and the only others I've spotted are Purdue and Iowa.
 
#5      

jmilt7

J
Waukegan
jmilt7
Hmm, times have changed apparently. When I was at UI (and afterwards) it was not cool to wear your own school's apparel. We always wore other schools' (the few times we wore school apparel, that is) and the more obscure the better. Harvey Mudd College anyone? And if we made road trips to other colleges/universities that would be where we saw people wearing Illinois apparel.
 
#6      

SwarminOrange

S
SwarminOrange
I see a decent amount of Wisconsin gear in the northern suburbs. Bucky Badger is one of those mascots that has a bit of a cool factor IMO.
 
#7      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
IlliniinIowa said:
I'm surprised we're that high of a percentage in Chicago given the last decade...

PS - I'm from Iowa City myself. City High grad.
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Yeah, we are kind of the definition of the silent [plurality]. And nice!! West High grad, myself. :D Actually an Iowa grad, as well, but I've always viewed the Illini more like I view the Cubs: a sports team that I grew up living and dying with, and I could never imagine cheering for anyone else, regardless of where I had to go sit in class. :cool:


FiveStar said:
Would have really assumed UND to be higher
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I think it's a pretty classic example of louder =/= more numerous, in my experiences. Most polls the Tribune has done (IIRC) have always shown Illini fans being a fairly comfortable plurality in the area ... we just don't have much to cheer about. :( When the Illini are good (2005 FF, 2007 Rose Bowl), the support in the city is rather obvious, though.
 
#8      

CoolPapaDels

C
CoolPapaDels
Were these trips to Chicago in the downtown/loop area?

I think the Notre Dame support tends to be strongly concentrated on the south side of Chicago and south suburbs. But that is completely personal observation, nothing really to back it up.
 
#9      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
CoolPapaDels said:
Were these trips to Chicago in the downtown/loop area?

I think the Notre Dame support tends to be strongly concentrated on the south side of Chicago and south suburbs. But that is completely personal observation, nothing really to back it up.
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Mostly Loop and River North, yes. Often up by Wrigleyville and Lincoln Park, too, though. Occasionally South Loop (where some good friends live), where you'd think you'd stat picking up the Notre Dame shirts.
 
#10      

ILL in IA

ILL in IA
Iowa City
ILL in IA
IlliniinIowa said:
I'm surprised we're that high of a percentage in Chicago given the last decade...

PS - I'm from Iowa City myself. City High grad.
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Iowa City with a strong showing in this thread. The Illini gear always seems to sell out at Scheels in the mall. Its not just us 3.
 
#11      

Illwinsagain

Illwinsagain
Cary, IL
Illwinsagain
Somewhat related, I went on a college trip with my daughter Friday to Madison. One dad was wearing his 80's orange and blue rugby shirt to the admission information session.

ps - after 15 minutes, my daughter told me that she isn't going to UW. So, after the presentation, we blew off the tour, we walked the campus ourselves, got some ice cream and sat by the lake. And, we actually talked!
 
#12      

Ransom Stoddard

Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
Ransom Stoddard
Illwinsagain said:
Somewhat related, I went on a college trip with my daughter Friday to Madison. One dad was wearing his 80's orange and blue rugby shirt to the admission information session.

ps - after 15 minutes, my daughter told me that she isn't going to UW. So, after the presentation, we blew off the tour, we walked the campus ourselves, got some ice cream and sat by the lake. And, we actually talked!
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My daughter is heading to UW this fall for a post-bac program. That's my second favorite college campus that I've ever been on.
 
#14      

BananaShampoo

B
Captain 'Paign
Phoenix, AZ
BananaShampoo
Illwinsagain said:
Somewhat related, I went on a college trip with my daughter Friday to Madison. One dad was wearing his 80's orange and blue rugby shirt to the admission information session.

ps - after 15 minutes, my daughter told me that she isn't going to UW. So, after the presentation, we blew off the tour, we walked the campus ourselves, got some ice cream and sat by the lake. And, we actually talked!
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Wow! What about it turned her off?
 
#15      

Illwinsagain

Illwinsagain
Cary, IL
Illwinsagain
BananaShampoo said:
Wow! What about it turned her off?
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"The Wisconsin Way", serving the people of Wisconsin, then the country, then the globe.

Also, the presentation really did not match up with scUM (don't tell her I called it that). Even I wanted to go back to school after visiting Ann Arbor.
 
#16      

BananaShampoo

B
Captain 'Paign
Phoenix, AZ
BananaShampoo
Illwinsagain said:
"The Wisconsin Way", serving the people of Wisconsin, then the country, then the globe.

Also, the presentation really did not match up with scUM (don't tell her I called it that). Even I wanted to go back to school after visiting Ann Arbor.
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Interesting. Hadn't heard of the Wisconsin Way. I could see how it might turn people off, especially those who are not from there.

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