How many Orioles fans are left in the world?

[Tbone83]

I wonder what the average age is for an Orioles fan? I know MLB fans in general are older, but I'd guess the Orioles in particular have an older fan base left from the glory years of the 60s-early 80s. I'm sure the 2012 to 2016 run brought in a few new younger fans. 

I'm saying this as someone from outside the Maryland area who became an O's fan because they were relevant and had respectable players in the early 80s, Ripken and Murray in particular. They were also nationally televised a lot back in the days where who was on "the game of the week" made a big impact on who you became a fan of. A lot of that doesn't matter now, but they are going to need a decade stretch at some point where they are relevant in the standings consistently before some kid (and kids who watch baseball are in short supply as it is) decides to become an Orioles fan. 

[bobmc]

3 minutes ago, NashLumber said:

If it's 50 to 75K per the original post, for about 26K to show up for Hawaiian t-shirt night (and then crawl back under a rock the next game) this year was a herculean feat. 

 

I think it's far more than that. There's probably a complicated MLB merchandising formula that is pretty good at estimating what the actual number is. 

Perhaps a baseball economics song is in the works rivaling "Take Me Out to the Ballllllllllgame"?  

[NashLumber]

 

7 minutes ago, NashLumber said:

If it's 50 to 75K per the original post, for about 26K to show up for Hawaiian t-shirt night (and then crawl back under a rock the next game) this year was a herculean feat. 

I think it's far more than that. There's probably a complicated MLB merchandising formula that is pretty good at estimating what the actual number is. 

1 minute ago, bobmc said:

Perhaps a baseball economics song is in the works rivaling "Take Me Out to the Ballllllllllgame"?  

 

I did write a tongue in cheek one a few years back called Take Me Out Of The Ballgame. 

[Sanfran327]

I'd wager that there are at least about 500k people in the world that consider the O's to be their primary MLB team.

[baloriole4]

On 7/12/2021 at 1:06 PM, interloper said:

Literally millions. 

1.2 followers million on Facebook. 

786k on Twitter.

 

These numbers might be high (alot of baseball fans/media not necessarily fans of the Orioles follow the team on social media).... or they might be low (not everyone that is a 'fan' is going to follow them on FB, but when these high/low even out, its probably not too far off, so I really doubt its "millions".  If you somewhat 'care' about the Orioles, you're probably going to click the old 'like' on FB

[Camden_yardbird]

There were a few articles earlier this year about how popular they are in England.  Evidently a bunch of English boy scouts were in OPACY on a day Santander went off and became huge fans.  They took it back to England and it has spread.

[SouthRider]

I was in San Francisco about five years ago when I spotted a young kid, about 12 or so, walking in Golden Gate Park with his family.  He was wearing the current O's home baseball cap, as was I.  I ran up to him and in my most exaggerated Bal'mer-ease said, "Go O's.  It's good to spot another fan out here."   The kid just looked up at me in horror without saying anything.  His dad then chimed in, "He just liked the hat."  

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

5 hours ago, Camden_yardbird said:

There were a few articles earlier this year about how popular they are in England.  Evidently a bunch of English boy scouts were in OPACY on a day Santander went off and became huge fans.  They took it back to England and it has spread.

They even have a Twitter account. Not sure if this is the same group, but they are based out of England. 

 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Just now, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

They even have a Twitter account. Not sure if this is the same group, but they are based out of England. 

 

And apparently Santander is the David Hasselhoff of England. 

This Oriole is absolutely beloved in the UK

Quote

Who is the biggest baseball star in Britain? Survey the country’s growing fanbase and you’ll hear the usual names, superstars like Mike Trout and Aaron Judge who maintain their American popularity across the pond. But you’ll also hear another name you might not expect, and pretty often: Anthony Santander.

Almost two years ago, the Orioles’ switch-hitting outfielder became an overnight sensation in the United Kingdom. It’s true.

Quote

The day was Aug. 4, 2019. The Orioles were entering the dog days of a difficult 108-loss campaign, still in the early stages of their much-publicized rebuild. Santander started in left field for what was an eventual 6-5 win over the Blue Jaysand … didn’t do much out of the ordinary. He had three at-bats and singled. He walked. He scored a run. In the outfield, he made a routine play on Brandon

Drury’s fourth-inning fly ball -- and received a partial standing ovation.

The next batter, Danny Jansen, flew out to Santander as well. Santander made the play to thunderous applause.

“That’s when I started hearing the roar of the fans,” Santander said, through team translator Ramón Alarcón. “I have no idea why. It just happened.”

The source? More than 4,000 U.K. Scouts clustered in the left-field stands, many of whom were attending their first baseball game. Sporting red, white and blue scarves, the scouts were in Baltimore after attending the 24th World Scout Jamboree in West Virginia the week before. The group, a mixture of youth Scouts and adult volunteers, were a vocal minority, comprising nearly one-quarter of the 18,837 announced crowd that afternoon at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. (The U.K. Scout Association is a gender-inclusive youth organization similar to the Boy Scouts of America).

 

[NCRaven]

On 7/11/2021 at 9:39 PM, Newguyry said:

Serious question, after this rebuild and the problems in the city, how many of us are left out there in the wild? By my best guess I’d say 50–75k

The answer is 4.  Seriously.

[HowAboutThat]

1 hour ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

And apparently Santander is the David Hasselhoff of England. 

This Oriole is absolutely beloved in the UK

 

Shall we trade him to Manchester United?

[DrinkinWithFermi]

10 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

And apparently Santander is the David Hasselhoff of England. 

This Oriole is absolutely beloved in the UK

 

That's awesome and I love it, but it also kind of illustrates how fickle and random sports allegiances can be. The Orioles are my favorite sports team, period, because I was born in Baltimore to Orioles fan parents during the legendary career of hometown HOFer, Cal Ripken Jr., but I also follow and root for the Colorado Rockies, who play in a state I have never even been to. Why? Because when I played little league as a kid in the 90s, I just happened to end up on the Overlea-Fullerton Rockies 2 years in a row. Voila, a Rox fan was born.

Thank God it wasn't the Overlea-Fullerton Blue Jays 

[Ohfan67]

On 7/11/2021 at 8:39 PM, Newguyry said:

Serious question, after this rebuild and the problems in the city, how many of us are left out there in the wild? By my best guess I’d say 50–75k

I think the real question is what did we do in this or a past life to deserve to be Orioles fans? I'm thinking something pretty bad. 

[jdwilde1]

On 7/12/2021 at 12:50 PM, DrungoHazewood said:

Can name all 26 players currently on the roster... two dozen?

Are you including Scott Garceau in the two dozen?  

[jdwilde1]

On 7/13/2021 at 2:36 PM, baloriole4 said:

On 7/12/2021 at 1:06 PM, interloper said:

Literally millions. 

1.2 followers million on Facebook. 

786k on Twitter.

 

These numbers might be high (alot of baseball fans/media not necessarily fans of the Orioles follow the team on social media).... or they might be low (not everyone that is a 'fan' is going to follow them on FB, but when these high/low even out, its probably not too far off, so I really doubt its "millions".  If you somewhat 'care' about the Orioles, you're probably going to click the old 'like' on FB

I don’t know.  I am a huge fan, as are many of my friends.  Most of us haven’t hit the like button for the O’s or anything else.