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Would You Still Root for the Jets if They Moved?

Nick Laham

Would you continue to support the Jets if they moved somewhere else? I am interested to hear what people have to say. Usually when a team moves to a new city, the original fans give up. In today's day and age, it is very possible to support a team from a distance with out of market television packages and local coverage available on the internet. Most teams do now have a lot of out of market fans.

I do support a few out of market teams in other sports, but I think I would probably stop following them if they moved. I might not have big ties to the areas where they play, but that area where they play is a huge part of their identity. It just would not feel like the same team if something that big changed. That goes even more for the Jets, who are from the area where I grew up. Even if I move from the area, I still will view them as a tie to my home. I am a fan of the New York Jets, not a team from another city.

What do you say? Would you continue to support the Jets if they left New York? If you stopped rooting for them, would you start rooting for the Giants? Would you pick another team? Would you stop watching the NFL? I'm interested to find out whether the local fans and the out of market fans answer this one differently.

*This is a purely hypothetical question. There is no chance the Jets are going to move out of the New York area. Normally you will see me hedge my bets with a proclamation by saying "small chance" or "minuscule chance." Not here. The odds of the Jets moving are zero. A ton of the franchise's value is tied to being in the biggest city in the United States. Woody Johnson would devalue his own product by moving somewhere smaller. Even if there was a hypothetical alternative like Los Angeles that could come close to replicating what New York can do, Woody has a ton of money tied up in the new stadium. He isn't going to ruin himself financially and devalue his investment by moving the team.