The Leafs, not surprisingly, are still Canada’s team*
6 years ago
*According to this Sportsnet poll, or study, or whatever it’s called, the Leafs, narrowly, are the #1 team in Canada.
1,500 Canadians were studied in a joint survey with Sportsnet and Maclean’s, in what’s described as a “representative studied.
Toronto took the survey by a slim margin, earning 27% of the fan vote, just one percentage point ahead of the Canadiens at 26%.
Vancouver followed at 10%, Edmonton then at 6%, Calgary and Ottawa tied at 5%, and the baby franchise in Winnipeg encapsulates just 3% of the NHL market in Canada. Meanwhile, 18% don’t have a favourite team or cheer for someone else.
Maybe it’s time to reclaim the lost generation?
Some other observations, directly quoted from the article:
- The Eastern Conference–finalist Ottawa Senators get less support in Ontario than the Canadiens do. (Editor’s note: LOL).
- The Maple Leafs are the favourite team of just three in five Ontarian NHL followers
- The Leafs are the most popular team from people born before 1945, tied amongst Gen X and first among millennials, while second amongst Boomers (behind the Canadiens)
- The Leafs are the most popular team among men, at 29%, while they’re second most popular with women, at 25%, behind… the Canadiens.
If you want to check social media following as a way to verify the validity of the survey, you would’ve got the exact same result.
The Leafs lead the way with 1.58 million Twitter followers, compared to 1.42m for Montreal, 935K for the Canucks, 704K for the Oilers, 534K for the Flames, 496K for the Senators, and 450K for the Jets. Bob McKenzie, for comparison, has 1.52 million followers. Maybe the Leafs really are bigger than the league?
One in four Canadians is a Leafs fan. Think about that for a second, particularly next time you hear someone complain about the amount of coverage they get.
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