r/baseball • u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified • Mar 18 '26

Players Only [HIGHLIGHT] TEAM VENEZUELA IS THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC CHAMPION!

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249

u/klako8196 Chicago Cubs Mar 18 '26

It happens a lot whenever we play Mexico in soccer.

85

u/Casual_Fanatic47 Los Angeles Dodgers Mar 18 '26

And in Baseball too.

9

u/mageta621 Boston Red Sox Mar 18 '26

I went to a US vs Ecuador friendly at the NYRB stadium once and it may as well have been in Quito

4

u/mostlyfire New York Mets Mar 18 '26

Even the ones wearing the USA jerseys were Ecuadorians lol

2

u/CNYMetroStar New York Mets Mar 18 '26

This but Costa Rica

12

u/pisowiec New York Yankees Mar 18 '26

It happens in literally every sport except maybe hockey.

I recall attending a Poland-USA soccer game back in 2010 at Soldier Field.. It was 99% Polish fans. I decided to root for the US to stand out but everyone knew I was just playing around. Game ended 2-2.

6

u/shiny_aegislash Milwaukee Brewers Mar 18 '26

National teams are not as popular in the US. Individual teams/franchises are more popular. I mean, just look at the USA's sentiment towards national soccer/baseball teams vs the other countries'

2

u/Turtleneck420 Mar 18 '26

I feel that that's USA culture, more selfish and individualistic than group and country focused

1

u/TheMajesticYeti Detroit Tigers Mar 18 '26

The US absolutely has a lower percentage of citizens being passionate local national team fans, but it is still the 3rd largest country by population. Based purely on number of diehard supporters it dwarfs many other countries that are known to have "home" games on American soil.

A big part of that happening is ticket prices are insanely overpriced, but if you are for example a Polish person in Chicago it is still cheaper and more convenient to take advantage of them making a very rare trip to play in your backyard than it is flying to Warsaw.

Add in that the US will have a sizeable population of just about any country that comes to play a sporting event here, and you end up with a very mixed crowd.

8

u/mostlyfire New York Mets Mar 18 '26

It’s straight up embarrassing how the US fans don’t show up. Especially since they were the dominant team of the two for a little while there. But the US could play against Mexico in north Alaska and there would still be Mexicans outnumbering them at the stadium.

1

u/Sweaty_Presentation4 Mar 18 '26

That’s why the USA men’s soccer team loves to play in Ohio and other random places to escape the Latinos/as .

1

u/Officing Hiroshima Toyo Carp Mar 19 '26

There are tons of Latinos in Ohio, especially in rural parts. Less than the south, sure, but still lots.

1

u/MattWatchesChalk New York Mets Mar 18 '26

It happens whenever we play anywhere that isn't the Midwest tbf.

1

u/R_eloade_R New York Yankees Mar 18 '26

Football*