Forbes Lists Giants Fans Among Best In Baseball; Team Doubles In Value To $2 Billion
(CBS SF) -- A report rating the best fans in Major League Baseball has found the San Francisco Giants, fresh off their third World Series title in five years, tied for fifth in the league.
The analysis by Forbes also found the Giants increased in value last year more than any other team in the league.
The Forbes report based the best fans criteria on hometown crowd reach (percentage of the metro area residents that watched, attended, and/or listened to a game in the last year), television ratings, stadium attendance based on capacity reached, merchandise sales, and social media reach.
The team with the best fans in baseball, according to the analysis, was the St. Louis Cardinals. Three out of every four people in St. Louis tuned in or attended a Cardinals game last year, with 3.54 million fans flocking to Busch Stadium, according to the report - the second-highest attendance in franchise history.
Meanwhile, the Giants have been second or third in attendance for the last four years while playing to over 99% capacity. Giants merchandise has been among the league's best sellers.
Forbes's Top Ten Best MLB Fans:
1. St. Louis Cardinals
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Cincinnati Reds
5. (tie) Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants
7. Pittsburgh Pirates
8. Philadelphia Phillies
9. New York Yankees
10. Baltimore Orioles
Forbes' annual analysis on the business of baseball also found the Giants doubling in value over the past year to $2 billion, now ranking number four on the list of most valuable teams, behind the Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox.
The Oakland A's value ranked 27th in the 30-team league at $725 million, which was still a 46% increase over last year's valuation.
