BREAKING: Washington D.C. is not all about the Nationals.  Shocking, I know, but it turns out the city isn’t nuts about baseball.  Well, more specifically, the city isn’t nuts about NATS baseball.  As we mentioned in a piece earlier this spring, DC is a transient city. Most who live here are from somewhere else. So naturally, the relatively new Nats aren’t high on the list.

What is odd, however, is just how few in the DC area consider the Nats their favorite baseball team. In a poll done by the Washington Post, just 36% of DC area sports fans named the Nationals as their favorite MLB team.  The votes were divied up like so:

Favorite MLB Team of Washington-area Baseball Fans

Washington Nationals: 36 percent

Baltimore Orioles: 15 percent

Boston Red Sox: 8 percent

New York Yankees: 8 percent

Other: 23 percent

None: 10 percent

The 36% home team rooting rate was ahead of just the Washington Wizards in the four major sports, who came in as 29% of the population’s favorite NBA team.  The 23% for “other” was highest of the four pro leagues as well, showing fans’ loyalty to their home towns.

What is most interesting is that 31% of the people polled voted for either the Yankees, Red Sox, or Orioles.  The Orioles support is understandable, for a long time D.C. residents had no other convenient MLB choices and have chosen to remain loyal despite the arrival of the Nats.  The rest just proves that the Yankees and Red Sox rule the baseball world, and that likely isn’t changing anytime soon.

Still, all the Nats have to do is win.  When they win, people will care.  This team has too many great personalities to not get fans, but they have to win first.  When they go from being the lovable losers to the lovable winners, that number will change.