The greater Los Angeles area is flooded with professional sports teams — more so than any other metropolitan area.
In the six major American sports leagues — the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, WNBA, and MLS — Los Angeles has 10 teams to their name, including the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Every year, Loyola Marymount University conducts a study, surveying 1,000 people in Los Angeles County and attempt to figure out the region’s favorite teams and players.
While the Lakers do not have a stronghold over this title, they did rank as the city’s most popular team in 2020, according to Bill Shaikin of Los Angeles Times:
The seventh annual survey, conducted in January and February, asked 1,000 Los Angeles County residents to pick their favorite team from the 10 major pro teams with Los Angeles in their name. The Lakers got 35% of the vote and the Dodgers 31%, with only four other teams reaching even 5%: the Rams (7.5%), Clippers (6.4%), Galaxy (6.2%) and Angels (5.3%).
While the No. 1 team usually flips between the Dodgers and Lakers, it was the purple and gold that took the cake this year. And after the two historic franchises, there is a major drop off between them and the third-place Los Angeles Rams.
The four teams to not reach five percent of the vote were the Los Angeles Kings, Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC), Los Angeles Chargers, and Los Angeles Sparks. The Chargers and Sparks ranked No. 9 and No. 10, respectively, with 1.6 and 1.1 percent of the vote.
It’s no surprise the Lakers and Dodgers dominate the market the way that they do, especially for 2020. The Lakers have their best team in nearly a decade and the Dodgers were poised for the 2020 World Series.
Other interesting results included the Clippers ranking No. 7 in Los Angeles county with just 2.7 percent of the vote, but skyrocketing to third in Los Angeles city with 11.7 percent. The Chargers, who ranked No. 9 overall, ranked dead last in the county with the Sparks taking No. 9 in that category.
On the demographics side, the Lakers were more favored by men, people under 44, English speakers, and liberals.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers were more favored by women, people over 45, Spanish speakers, and conservatives.