Our local baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles, has finally done the right thing concerning the name on their away uniforms. For years, the Orioles have been one of the few major league teams that don’t show their city name on their away jerseys. The thinking was, so we were lead to believe, that a sizable portion of the fan base viewed the Orioles as a “regional” team and having “Baltimore” on the front of the baseball uniforms may alienate fans in the surrounding areas who don’t consider themselves from Baltimore.
The Nonsense
This was nonsense of course. A good, quality, well-marketed professional sports franchise will attract fans from hundreds of miles; regardless of the name that’s on the front. It took several years after the Nationals began playing in Washington for Orioles management to realize that they were actually alienating their core fans. In an effort to reinvigorate their once impressive attendance, the Orioles brass is now (more…)