Imitation Game: 3 Ways the Twins Emulate the Rays

[arby58]

On 3/17/2024 at 11:19 AM, nicksaviking said:

And their market should be bigger. How do they let the Cubs, Cardinals and Royals basically get to claim Iowa? 

There are various maps of MLB influence you can find with a basic Google search. It doesn't look to me like these other teams 'basically get to claim Iowa.' It is more about geographic location - northern Iowa shows up as more aligned with the Twins, and, not surprisingly, southern Iowa is more aligned with the Royals, while eastern Iowa is likely to be with the Cubs or Cardinals (again depending on proximity). It is also notable that the Cubs AAA farm team is in Des Moines, which will create some affinity.

Besides, we're talking Iowa here - it's a state of 3.1 million population, which is hardly more than a blip on a media market map (and I live there, so I should know).