Interest in the Brewers

[NYChez]

I left Wisconsin in the late 1990’s. There was zero interest in the Brewers then, except from diehards.

 

Returning for a weekend to watch the Badger football game, it’s just incredible to be in Madison and witness overflow crowds in sports bars wearing Brewer gear and being glued to the set and cheering during weekday afternoon Brewer playoff games.

 

Not being emersed in the Wisconsin sports scene every day, I can’t believe how interest in this team has changed over 20 years. And I appreciate that it didn’t happen by accident. Attanasio, Melvin, and Stearns deserve as much credit as Alvarez does in Madison and Harlan/Wolf do in Green Bay.

 

It’s just so awesome to have people excited about baseball in Wisconsin.

[Pugger]

When we first moved here 13 years ago there was a store near us that sold sports memorabilia and clothing. It had stuff with the logos of all sorts of teams and sports. After searching for a while I finally asked the young man working there if they had any Brewers shirts and he didn't know what a Brewer was!!! I had to explain the Crew was a National league baseball team. That store is closed now but it it is still difficult to find anything down here. I have get my stuff when we are in Green Bay during the summer months.

[liveforoctober]

Just like anything else, people tend to flock to positivity and success. It is the easiest way to artificially stay positive in life... surrounded yourself with winning! I don't mean that to sound bad either...

 

Brewers fandom is definitely different since the Prince, Braun, Rickie introduction... but it spikes and simmers with success just like any other team. Im assuming some folks from the state who are wearing Milwaukee gear now have some Cubs gear from a few years back and have Golden State gear and Duke basketball, etc.

 

It is a different way to enjoy sports. Some people grab a team and hold on for life... others grab the ones that are generating the buzz to always be a part of the action. We currently have both types on our side during this run and it a fun spot to be in. A lot of buzz

[CheezWizHed]

Building Miller Park really helped start the draw. Being able to play baseball in bad weather made it easier to draw fans from around the state and made it a great activity on a bad weather day. Then you start putting a good product on the field and people start coming.

 

In fact, if you think about the state of Wisconsin sports in the late 80s, it was really bad. We had an exciting team in 87, but nothing to show for it. The Badgers football and basketball really didn't do much at all. The Packers were bad. The Bucks made the playoffs but lost the first round every year.

 

Then Barry Alvarez took over the football team and they have been top 25 nearly every year. The Badger basketball team had its spurts with Dick Bennett, but really took off under Bo Ryan. Ron Wolf, Mike Holmgren, and Brett Favre made the Packers a playoff regular and won the first Super Bowl in my lifetime. Building Miller Park bumped up the Brewer support and helped Melvin bring the Brewers back to the playoffs since the early 80s. Now hopefully Stearns will have us there as regulars and bring us our first World Series. The Bucks haven't been able to get over that hump to NBA championship material, but with Giannis there is some hope. At least they are exciting.

[jerichoholicninja]

In my circle of people I know or associate with, no one cared about the Brewers until 2008 and then slowly stopped caring after the 2011 playoff appearance. I see people wearing Brewer stuff all the time but I'm sure most of them aren't "fans". I don't want to call them bandwagon or fair weather fans but I don't think most of Wisconsin really cares all that much about the Brewers unless they are competitive.

[MrTPlush]

I went to a sporting goods store (Scheels) the first Saturday after we clinched the postseason spot. The amount of people buying Brewers apparel (not postseason stuff, just general gear) was pretty sad. Bandwagon is filling up.

 

That being said some extended success would sure be nice. Winning the division and likely making it to the NLCS will be so huge for this franchise. I can't imagine we don't draw 3mil next year. I wouldn't be surprised if we have the biggest yearly crowd in history.

[OldHeidelberg]

I think a portion of the bar crowds for Brewer playoff games are similar to the crowds that gather for the US in world cup matches. Just an event that doesn't come up very often so a good excuse to go out and party with friends at a time you usually wouldn't. Milwaukee is a great baseball town but baseball in general can be a front running sport, especially for small market teams that suffer more down years, attendance numbers are all you need to look at to know that.

[homer]

I go fishing way up north every August and without fail every bar we ever go in has the Brewer game on if they are playing regardless of the team's record. Been like this for 15 years.

[rickh150]

Brewers interest is at the 2008 and 2011 levels right now. I'm not sure about 82, but fans are pretty crazy now. Pushing the Cards out of the playoffs, beating the Cubs for the division, and going up 2-0 in the NLDS will do that. The best script for WI/Milwaukee has the team knocking off the Rockies, big money LA, and the hated Yankees from the AL days. It would be the 60th/61st anniversary of the Milwaukee Braves/Yanks World Series.

 

It probably won't work out this way, but it could. Crazier things have happened, this year alone.

[MrTPlush]

I go fishing way up north every August and without fail every bar we ever go in has the Brewer game on if they are playing regardless of the team's record. Been like this for 15 years.

 

The entire state of Wisconsin is pretty loyal to the Brewers and overall the interest is there regardless of record. From what I have heard there is a pretty good pull of fans from the upper peninsula and from what I have always seen Twins don't really pull from western Wisconsin at all.

 

That is one thing Wisconsin is good at...cheering for the in state teams.

[homer]

I go fishing way up north every August and without fail every bar we ever go in has the Brewer game on if they are playing regardless of the team's record. Been like this for 15 years.

 

The entire state of Wisconsin is pretty loyal to the Brewers and overall the interest is there regardless of record. From what I have heard there is a pretty good pull of fans from the upper peninsula and from what I have always seen Twins don't really pull from western Wisconsin at all.

 

That is one thing Wisconsin is good at...cheering for the in state teams.

 

I think the dome might play a part in that. More people from far away can make plans to come to a game and know that the game will be played. So bus trips and big group outings for people an hour or more away might be more popular than in the County Stadium days.

[bork]

I saw this in Yahoo sports, but I have my doubts. I don't see a lot of Cubs fans rooting for the Brewers. But I have seen a lot of Royals fans rooting for the Brewers due to Cain and Moustakas.

 

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/yankees-dodgers-red-sox-arent-americas-team-postseason-guess-232321957.html

[PeaveyFury]

I think the dome might play a part in that. More people from far away can make plans to come to a game and know that the game will be played. So bus trips and big group outings for people an hour or more away might be more popular than in the County Stadium days.

 

This is certainly true... I know there historically was a lot of griping (including here, IIRC) about the roof and how it had such an effect on the cost and feel of the park, but this team needs to be able to draw fans from the Fox Valley, Madison, etc. as it doesn't have 10 million people in the metro area for attendance. It has ended up being one of the smartest business decisions the Seligs/team/stadium district ever made.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

Is the state of Michigan that jealous of Wisconsin sports? There can't be that many Colorado transplants there.

[jjfanec]

I know people give bandwagon fans a bad rap but honestly baseball is a really long season I would say most team's fanbase consists of quite a few "bandwagon" fans. There are probably just a handful of baseball teams that are not filled with a lot of bandwagon fans. Baseball is a hard sport for many to follow throughout a year so obviously when there is sustained success more people will stay interested. It is a good time to be a Brewer fan and it shows with solid attendance.

 

Also many people here didnt grow up Brewer fans. People grew up rooting for the Twins and Cubs so the Brewers have had to build. The terrible teams of the 90s and the early 2000s made it a real challenge to build back up. Brewers will always be 3rd to Packers and Badgers but I would say it is a pretty solid group right now

[jason21nl]

I go fishing way up north every August and without fail every bar we ever go in has the Brewer game on if they are playing regardless of the team's record. Been like this for 15 years.

 

My family has a cabin in Florence and unfortunately we get Michigan programming (which makes sense) however when we go out for our Friday fish fry the vast majority are Brewers fans

[Samurai Bucky]

I go fishing way up north every August and without fail every bar we ever go in has the Brewer game on if they are playing regardless of the team's record. Been like this for 15 years.

 

My family has a cabin in Florence and unfortunately we get Michigan programming (which makes sense) however when we go out for our Friday fish fry the vast majority are Brewers fans

Our cabin is just north of Dunbar in Florence county. We can get Wausau once in a while. The stations there seem to focus more on high school sports than anything else.

[hurricanecrush]

In fact, if you think about the state of Wisconsin sports in the late 80s, it was really bad. We had an exciting team in 87... The Bucks made the playoffs but lost the first round every year.

Not to derail the thread but between 83 and 86 they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals 3 times, they could get by the Celtics or Sixers but never both in the same year. And 6 of the 7 years between 83 and 89, they won at least one series. When Herb Kohl bought the team, the Bucks had the 2nd best franchise record behind only the Celtics. He disagreed with Don Nelson about basketball decisions (which is laughable, especially in hindsight) as a result Nelson left and the team has sucked pretty much ever since.

[AKCheesehead]

Regarding that graphic, I seriously doubt the yankee push in Alaska. We transplants run the gamut of fandom but I cannot recall seeing yank swag and it’s not full of new yorkers. Lifelong Locals mostly don’t care about baseball but those that do are mostly mariners fans. I’d believe it if it had a circle with a slash through the N.Y. as in rooting for anyone but new york. There are plenty of folks wishing me well this fall with the Brewers. And i suspect we’ve got a lot of the fans across the country rooting for us too.

[coolhandluke121]

I saw this in Yahoo sports, but I have my doubts. I don't see a lot of Cubs fans rooting for the Brewers. But I have seen a lot of Royals fans rooting for the Brewers due to Cain and Moustakas.

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/yankees-dodgers-red-sox-arent-americas-team-postseason-guess-232321957.html

 

Cubs fans may not root for the Brewers, but most of them probably aren't rooting for anyone else either. Illinois is closer to Milwaukee than Cleveland or any other playoff team and it has a lot of Wisconsin transplants. White Sox fans will definitely be rooting for the Brewers too.

[young guns]

They use geotagged Twitter data to gather that data. I wonder how accurate that is. Like one Yankee guy on vacation in Alaska tweeting out go Yankees could be why Alaska is a Yankee state.

[Ennder]

I know quite a few Brewer fans who have ended up living in Chicago. I could certainly see it.

[folly412]

I think Attanasio was the biggest reason for me becoming much more invested in the team. The low payroll and feeling that ownership would never invest to win made it a struggle to support the team. Even with the really good prospects coming, the thought was that we'd trade them or lose them in free agency after a few years. Attanasio came in from day one with the promise to win, showed active interest in the team, and followed through with opening the wallet to try to field winning teams.

[dlk9s]

I would guess the ubiquity of the internet helps a lot, too, as it is so much easier to follow your team if you don't live where they are.

 

I have been a Brewers fan since I can remember (I was 6 when the Brewers went to the World Series) and Brewers players were my childhood idols. I have always loved the Brewers. But all those lean years (which are most of them) were tough. Even tougher was going away to college and not being able to follow the day-to-day all that well. I was in college right when the internet became a thing, but even then, it wasn't that widely used yet. It didn't really hit big until just after I graduated.

 

Hell, without internet, there's a chance my kids would be Atlanta fans.

[CheeseheadInQC]

Cubs fans may not root for the Brewers, but most of them probably aren't rooting for anyone else either. Illinois is closer to Milwaukee than Cleveland or any other playoff team and it has a lot of Wisconsin transplants. White Sox fans will definitely be rooting for the Brewers too.

 

There is also some anti-Chicago sentiment in certain parts of Illinois that leads some people to root for the teams' rivals, although that shows up more in Cardinals (or Packers, truthfully) fans than Brewers ones.