Facebook Fandom Map Shows Giants' Popularity Surging Past Dodgers
MENLO PARK (CBS SF) -- Facebook has released its annual Major League Baseball fandom map showing the World Series champion San Francisco Giants increasing its fan base across U.S. counties, overtaking that of arch-rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
The map is color-coded based on which official Facebook team page has the most likes from people who live in each county of each state. It shows the Dodgers dominating in Southern California only, while the Giants claim a plurality of fans in Northern and Central California.
Following the Giants' third World Series title in five years, the team also increased its fan base in Oregon, Nevada, Idaho and Hawaii.
Both the Giants and World Series opponent Kansas City Royals had plenty of new members on their bandwagons, with both teams expanding their Facebook fandom territory the most over the past year.
Just as in 2014, the Oakland A's, New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays do not have a plurality of fans in any U.S. county.
As of April 1, 2015, the A's have 711,929 Facebook likes, while the Giants have 2.8 million likes. The Dodgers have 2.7 million likes.
The New York Yankees continue to be the most popular team among U.S. counties and has 8 million likes on Facebook.
