Though the game has changed over the years, the popularity of America’s Pastime had never waned. No other American sport has rich depth of history of Major League Baseball. FanWide’s Top 10 Sports Teams series will be highlighting the most popular teams of the MLB, the NBA, and European soccer. The Top 10 Baseball Teams are a group of teams with rich histories, recent successes, widespread relevance, and, of course, passionate fans. From the even-year magic to the breaking of curses to 27 championships to a franchise win record capped off by another World Series title, follow FanWide’s blog to find out if your team made the Top 10 Baseball Teams.
Final Top 10:
4. Chicago Cubs
Methodology: Data was compiled for all 30 teams and teams were ranked for each category. The categoric ranks were added together, and the teams with the 10 lowest totals were named the Top 10 Baseball Teams.
FanWide’s team rankings were calculated based on 9 different categories:
Fan Clubs (FanWide):
As the world’s top fan club network, the number of fan clubs FanWide has listed is an indicator of the amount of passionate, committed fans a team has.
World Series Wins (all-time):
World Series titles last forever. They increase a team’s exposure and appeal, drawing fans to a particular team. It is important to consider historical championships, as they have played a role in building the current fanbase.
Recent Playoff Series Wins (since 2000):
Recent playoff success, even if it doesn’t culminate in a championship, is still an important indicator of team success, a vital piece of team popularity. If a team played well and put together an impressive run, fans will remember them, even if the ending isn’t ideal. Teams like the Dodgers have been successful in the playoffs in recent years, with back to back World Series appearances, even though they won neither.
Wins (last 5 years):
Recent regular season success doesn’t have the same lasting impact that playoff success has, but it still is an important indicator of the current consistently best teams across the league. All fans follow regular season success; if a team does well, people will be drawn to them, and if a team does poorly, fans may be less inclined to remain interested.
Recent All-Stars (last 5 years):
Player success is closely tied to team popularity, making the number of recent All-Stars a valuable indicator of team popularity. In the MLB, with fan voting determining starters, popularity and All-Star appearances are closely linked.
National Games Televised in 2019:
National Games are determined based on team success and popularity and help give teams exposure to new audiences, making them crucial to team popularity.
Average Attendance (last 3 years):
Devoted fan bases always do their best to fill their home stadium and support their team. Attendance is an important indicator of what steps fans will take to support their team.
Forbes Value:
This value accounts for numerous key factors such as TV and media revenue, sponsorships, merchandise revenue, market size, and league revenue sharing, making it an important indicator of overall team popularity, as it accounts not only for local fans but the contributions of out-of-market fans too.
Aggregate Social Media Followers:
With the increasing prominence of social media, aggregate followers across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram represents the global popularity of fans, not just their popularity amongst local fans.
Full team rankings:
| Team | Fan Clubs Rank (FanWide) | World Series Wins since 1903 Rank | Playoff Series Wins Rank (Since 2000) | Wins Rank (last 5 years) | All Stars Rank (Last 5 years) | National Games Televised Rank (Last Year) | Attendance Rank (Average Last 3 Years) | Forbes Value Rank (in billions) | Total Followers Rank (IG+FB+Twitter) | Total | Final Rank |
| Yankees | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 1 |
| Dodgers | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 26 | 2 |
| Red Sox | 5 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 40 | 3 |
| Cubs | 2 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 42 | 4 |
| Cardinals | 14 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 54 | 5 |
| Giants | 4 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 62 | 6 |
| Astros | 11 | 21 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 11 | 12 | 91 | 7 |
| Mets | 7 | 15 | 11 | 14 | 24 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 13 | 107 | 8 |
| Blue Jays | 20 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 23 | 6 | 16 | 6 | 123 | 9 |
| Indians | 10 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 28 | 24 | 17 | 128 | 10 |
| Tigers | 16 | 9 | 8 | 23 | 17 | 21 | 13 | 19 | 7 | 133 | 11 |
| Angels | 23 | 22 | 11 | 10 | 24 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 135 | 12 |
| Royals | 22 | 15 | 8 | 14 | 3 | 23 | 14 | 27 | 15 | 141 | 13 |
| Rangers | 8 | 24 | 14 | 18 | 28 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 143 | 14 |
| Nationals | 28 | 24 | 28 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 25 | 146 | 15 |
| Braves | 26 | 10 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 5 | 21 | 12 | 8 | 152 | 16 |
| Pirates | 28 | 7 | 24 | 9 | 20 | 10 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 152 | 17 |
| Phillies | 17 | 15 | 8 | 29 | 30 | 10 | 25 | 9 | 11 | 154 | 18 |
| Mariners | 12 | 24 | 21 | 11 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 15 | 21 | 156 | 19 |
| Brewers | 15 | 24 | 21 | 13 | 15 | 7 | 15 | 25 | 23 | 158 | 20 |
| White Sox | 6 | 10 | 15 | 27 | 24 | 22 | 26 | 14 | 16 | 160 | 21 |
| Orioles | 17 | 10 | 21 | 20 | 10 | 23 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 162 | 22 |
| Rockies | 26 | 24 | 15 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 9 | 23 | 24 | 167 | 23 |
| Diamondbacks | 9 | 22 | 11 | 21 | 17 | 18 | 23 | 20 | 27 | 168 | 24 |
| Athletics | 19 | 3 | 24 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 29 | 26 | 26 | 176 | 25 |
| Reds | 23 | 7 | 28 | 30 | 10 | 23 | 24 | 28 | 19 | 192 | 26 |
| Twins | 23 | 10 | 24 | 25 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 194 | 27 |
| Rays | 12 | 24 | 15 | 18 | 24 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 28 | 211 | 28 |
| Padres | 20 | 24 | 28 | 27 | 28 | 23 | 16 | 17 | 30 | 213 | 29 |
| Marlins | 30 | 15 | 15 | 26 | 20 | 23 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 214 | 30 |
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