Sports Franchises: The Demographic Dimension
A professional sport in the United States is a multibillion-dollar business, and like any successful business, it follows demographic trends. In the 1959-1960 season, there were 42 teams in the four major sport organizations: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football Association (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL). All but two were located within U.S. borders, and 80 percent were in the Northeast and Midwest. In the fall of 2000, 59 of the 110 U.S.-based teams in the four major sports organizations were in the South and West: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL). There also were 10 Canadian-based teams playing in the four leagues (actually in three of the four leagues, as there has never been a Canadian-based NFL team).
- Sports Teams 1959
- Sports Teams 2000
While some of the shift to the Sunbelt areas resulted from team relocations (for example, baseball's Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta after the 1965 season), expansions account for the vast majority. The NBA has had one of the most dramatic changes. Since 1960, it has tripled the number of clubs and open franchises in the South and West.
Like many businesses, professional sports are attracted to rapidly growing metropolitan areas. Atlanta, Charlotte, and Phoenix, for example, each more than tripled in population between 1960 and 1995, and during that time managed to attract (and keep) a combined total of 10 pro sports teams. On the other hand, slower growing metro areas in the Northeast and Midwest have either kept the same number or lost teams to other areas.
Of course, demographics alone do not determine where teams will locate (or relocate). Fan support, stadium amenities, and franchise operating expenses also play significant roles in the decisionmaking process. In their search for revenues and profits, team owners increasingly are attracted to localities willing and able to provide modern stadium facilities and other financial incentives. Such considerations were partly responsible for the 1995 loss of Los Angeles' two NFL teams to Oakland and St. Louis. While bottom-line factors will never be ignored, teams need fans, so population trends will always be part of the decisionmaking equation.
Lesson Plan
Introduction: Until 1958, almost all baseball teams were located in the Northeast or Midwest. Washington, D.C., and Baltimore were the sole exceptions. As the population shifted to the West Coast and the Sunbelt states, professional sport teams followed. By the mid-1990s, 12 of the 28 major league baseball teams were in the South or West. Like many businesses, professional sports are attracted to the rapidly growing metropolitan areas. Large populations are able to provide fans and economic resources. In this lesson, students will examine how U.S. population patterns have changed over time. Using the growth of major league baseball to illustrate these patterns, students will create maps, examine regional migration patterns, and make predictions for the future.
Grade Level: 4-12
Time Required: 2-3 class periods
Standards Addressed: The geographically informed person knows and understands how to use maps to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective; the characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations; how to apply geography to interpret the past; and how to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.
Skills and Objectives:
- ask geographic questions about the distribution and migration of U.S. populations organize geographic information by creating maps
- analyze geographic information about US population patterns in 1950 and today
- answer geographic questions about the relationship between US population patterns and professional baseball team locations.
Vocabulary: data, distribution, migration, Sunbelt.
Materials Needed:
The Learning Activity
Background: Depending on the students' skill level, you may have students search for the list of metropolitan areas in 1950 and 2000. Review with students how to use an atlas and the location of major cities in the United States.
Introducing the Activity: Begin the lesson by asking students to name major league baseball teams with which they are familiar. Ask students to identify the location of these teams. Explain to students that in this lesson they will be mapping the location of current baseball teams, as well as those that existed in 1950.
Executing the Activity:
- Divide the class into groups. Have one group identify the location of the top 15 metropolitan areas in 1950. Using an atlas as a guide, place a small ball of "Play-Doh" on each location on one of the large maps.
- Have another group identify the location of the top 30 metropolitan areas in 2000, in the same manner.
- After each map is completed, have students flag the teams that existed in 1950 on the 1950 map and flag the current teams on the 1999 map. Using the handouts on baseball teams for 1950 and 2000, cut out the flags, leaving extra room to attach them to the toothpicks.
- Discuss the relationship between the metro areas marked and the teams flagged. Why do sport teams choose large cities? (large population means fans and economic resources for stadiums and vendors) Why were some teams in 1950 able to support more than one team? Identify the changes and growth 1950 and 1999. Why did some cities lose teams? What cities did teams move to? Or move from? Why are cities in the south and west able to support teams now, but not in 1950?
Concluding the Activity: Have students make predictions about possible future locations for new teams. Have students identify new locations and speculate on areas that might lose teams.
Evaluating the Activity: Students can be evaluated on the accuracy of their map and their participation in the discussion of the map. Students can also be asked to do a writing assignment.
Extensions and Variations: Using the same maps, have students stack poker chips to represent the size of cities in 1950 and 2000. Each chip equals 1 million. Analyze the patterns of urban growth.
Information came from U.S. Census Bureau: www.census.org and from SportServer: www.sportserver.com/baseball/mlb/index.html.