It's no secret that the Marlins aren't very popular. Have you been to a game lately? No, you probably haven't, but if you did you'd be greeted by tons of empty seats.
We've seen maps that purport to show baseball fandom by region, but using Facebook data, The New York Times' new Upshoot site has given us a more detailed view than ever before.
The Marlins, as it turns out, are at least the most popular team in Miami, but among Miamians who have "liked" an MLB team on Facebook only 33 percent of them have liked the local franchise.
"The maps were created using estimates of team support based on how many Facebook users 'liked' each team in a ZIP code," says the Upshot. "We applied an algorithm to smooth the data and fill in gaps where data was missing."
Here's what Florida looks like:
Please note that those gray areas do not represent "data unavailable." That there is Yankees country, and it's not exactly news that despite Florida having two MLB teams of its own that the Yankees are somehow the most popular team in the state. Those small blotches of red are Red Sox territory.
What's particularly interesting here is that the interactive maps estimate that only 33 percent of Miami-Dade baseball fans prefer the Marlins. Another 25 percent are Yankees fans, while 9 percent like the Red Sox.
Marlins country doesn't extend very far either. They're the favorite team of Monroe County at 27 percent. They're roughly tied in Broward County with the Yankees with 26 percent each. As you can see from the map, most of the Marlins fans in Broward come from the southern part of the county.
Palm Beachers traditionally root for the Dolphins and Heat, but they're not messing with the Fish. Just 16 percent of people in that county are Marlins fans.
In fact, the Marlins only make the top three in a few other Florida counties: Collier (7 percent), Hendry (8 percent), Martin (11 percent), St. Lucie (13 percent), Indian River (10 percent), and Okeechobee (12 percent).
Jeez, remember when this team used to be called the Florida Marlins? That was a failed marketing effort if there ever was one.
If you zoom into the map far enough, you can also view fandom by zip code. In the Marlins' home zip code, 46 percent of people are Marlins fans.
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