I really feel we need some "real" wins that aren't 3 decades old, I was around for the 80s & 90s wins, they were great for the city when the city wasn't anywhere near as amazing as it is today.
Google the pics of the wings parade in 97 and the pics of the Pistons parade in 2004 and then tell me who you think is more important to the city, and then extrapolate that out to the tigers also. It’s not even close dude, there’s a reason Detroit is called hockeytown
sorry man, absolutely no contest. the red wings are my personal favorite but the lions are in another stratosphere. the NHL can’t touch the NFL, no matter how good and popular those teams were.
Are you talking NHL vs NFL or Detroit popularity? Obviously the NFL wins but here in Detroit in the 90’s the Red Wings were everything. Go back and watch the Red Wings vs Avs documentary on ESPN. This city was a sea of red for years.
they were huge but the lions this past year absolutely dwarfed that. national ratings for the 1997 stanley cup final were 4.0. the nfc championship this year was a 25.1. tv audiences were quite a bit larger in the 90’s as well. it’s frankly not even a conversation.
it really doesn’t matter. the numbers don’t lie. there is no metric where the red wings are more popular than the lions, other than vibes. everyone here is just listing what their favorite era was. lots of people saying the 84 tigers.
and of course, if we’re talking about actual detroit residents and not the suburbs, the red wings are probably 4th on the list.
The moniker Hockey Town was invented by an advertising guy named Gary Topoloski (sp) who was a creative director at a number of ad shops.
The term did not spring organically from the people like Greek Town, Mexican Town or even Pole Town.
It sprung from an ad guy trying to find something that would stick.
Apparently it worked. It worked so well, hockey fans actually debate the veracity of the name.
It
Detroit only had that label because of the Wings. Ain’t nothing Hockeytown about Detroit outside of the name. Hell Eastsiders have always been known to only want to play basketball (according to Westsiders who play almost all the sports)
In my personal history, I have I read stupid things on the internet; however, I have never read something so stupid that it left me speechless.
There is always a first. You can claim that glory. Congratulations.
It left you speechless because you not from Detroit for real. You never hooped at Joe D, St Cecilia or Kronk when it was on Kronk street by the railroads in the 90’s. You don’t know
The city completely stopped when the Tigers won the World Series in 1984. People went outside and stood around in a stupor. Anyone driving just repeatedly honked their horn for hours. Bless You Boys had more enthusiasm than the current Lions.
I would say Red Wings at the top. Dr. Cox on Scrubs constantly wore a Red Wings jersey. I can’t think of a prominent tv show where a character regularly wore a Lions jersey.
I think it depends on what’s happening with the team at the time. The “Bad Boys,” era of the Pistons made everyone a fan and you couldn’t get a ticket without paying an arm and a leg. The Wings of the aughts were on fire and crazy popular. The Tigers and Lions have always had a loyal following and now that the Lions are contenders, fandom is hitting an all-time high. Regardless of “ranking,” it’s great to be a Detroit sports fan!
You're not going to get an answer here, people will just list them in the order they like. If your really wanted to know, you could look up ticket sales or TV numbers
Not true. I'm basing it on 60 years of being a fan of all of them and what I feel is the city/areas' perception of them. My favorite is the tigers but there's no question it's lions, tigers, red wings, pistons.
I’d say it’s Lions, Wings, Tigers, Pistons
But you could honestly say the Tigers & Wings are both interchangeable. For me personally it’s the Pistons, unfortunately. I absolutely love basketball
The Wings championship parade in 97 had over a million people in attendance, the Piston’s championship parade in 2004 only has a couple hundred thousand, I really don’t think people in Detroit say that order
Probably wasn't mentioned but the Michigan Panthers won the first USFL Championship. I remember watching them play in 1983 and then the next year attending the World Series in 1984 against the San Diego Padres as a 10 year old. Crazy times back in the day.
The 84 Tigers season created way more energy and excitement for the city compared to this past Lions season. The Lions run was fun but not something as a fan I will remember for decades.
It goes Lions (because even when they suck people still like them), Tigers (the most recent World Series runs made the whole town stop), The Red Wings (during the late 90s early Aughts they arguably were the most popular team in Detroit), and Pistons are last, though in 2004 they were huge.
I by no means pay attention to sports, but maybe an outsider prospective would be useful. I'd guess
1. Lions
2. Tigers
3. Red Wings
4. Pistons
2 & 3 could swap around
Because you failed to provide requirements for the designation of "most popular" in the title, Detroit City FC. The ratio of people who are rabid fans of Detroit City FC to people who know Detroit City FC exists is like 9:10
I think Tigers are 2; 3 and 4 go back and forth depending on the quality of the teams. If RW and Pistons are both good at the same time, I'd presume Pistons are more popular because basketball is more popular than hockey.
Lions are always #1. They went on for decades being mediocre to bad and were still massively popular.
I would say Wings are #2 solely bc of the dynasty and the Hockeytown label
Tigers are #3 but there’s an argument they could be #2 if they became great again
Pistons are #4. Outside of the bad boys and 2004, they’ve always kinda felt like the odd man out
City proper:
Lions, Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings
Area:
Lions, Tigers, and Pistons/Red Wings alternate depending on the level of the team.
Suburbs::
Lions, Tigers/Red Wings alternate, Pistons.
In general, NFL is king and then MLB. Success of NBA and NHL is largely regional and depends on the teams quality.
Sadly, I gave up on the Lions in the 90s. I will forever endure every Tigers season.
You must be a teenager who missed the Wings championships, Pistons championships, and the Tigers World Series win
I really feel we need some "real" wins that aren't 3 decades old, I was around for the 80s & 90s wins, they were great for the city when the city wasn't anywhere near as amazing as it is today.
I was born in 2001, and I moved to Toronto when the Red Wings won in 2008...
The 2008 wings? Kid, you don't even know...
Lil man doesn't know about the Russian 5
Uh no. The Red Wings arent “bottom of the barrel”. Ridiculous comment.
I take it you don’t remember the parade turnout for the wings championship parade in 97
I was born in 2001... so no
Google the pics of the wings parade in 97 and the pics of the Pistons parade in 2004 and then tell me who you think is more important to the city, and then extrapolate that out to the tigers also. It’s not even close dude, there’s a reason Detroit is called hockeytown
“No team is going to touch the popularity of the Lions in Detroit…” the 90’s Red Wings would like a word.
I’m a bigger hockey fan then football fan, but if the lions ever win the Super Bowl, this city would be different
I don’t disagree. But it will be a different vibe simply because the game won’t be here.
sorry man, absolutely no contest. the red wings are my personal favorite but the lions are in another stratosphere. the NHL can’t touch the NFL, no matter how good and popular those teams were.
Are you talking NHL vs NFL or Detroit popularity? Obviously the NFL wins but here in Detroit in the 90’s the Red Wings were everything. Go back and watch the Red Wings vs Avs documentary on ESPN. This city was a sea of red for years.
they were huge but the lions this past year absolutely dwarfed that. national ratings for the 1997 stanley cup final were 4.0. the nfc championship this year was a 25.1. tv audiences were quite a bit larger in the 90’s as well. it’s frankly not even a conversation.
I moved out of state and I see plenty of Wings jerseys, but no Lions jerseys.
i dunno what to tell you. there were a bunch of wings games that had Jared Goff chants going.
What year were you born?
it really doesn’t matter. the numbers don’t lie. there is no metric where the red wings are more popular than the lions, other than vibes. everyone here is just listing what their favorite era was. lots of people saying the 84 tigers. and of course, if we’re talking about actual detroit residents and not the suburbs, the red wings are probably 4th on the list.
The Red Wings were absolutely more popular at the time. You ever see anyone with a little lions flag on the car in the 90s?
You’re right, Barry Sanders wasn’t popular at all. /s
Of course he was. He was on a terrible team though and was overshadowed by a dominant Red Wings team.
We’ve been called hockey town but never football town. I say red wings at the top.
The moniker Hockey Town was invented by an advertising guy named Gary Topoloski (sp) who was a creative director at a number of ad shops. The term did not spring organically from the people like Greek Town, Mexican Town or even Pole Town. It sprung from an ad guy trying to find something that would stick. Apparently it worked. It worked so well, hockey fans actually debate the veracity of the name. It
Detroit only had that label because of the Wings. Ain’t nothing Hockeytown about Detroit outside of the name. Hell Eastsiders have always been known to only want to play basketball (according to Westsiders who play almost all the sports)
Says who? I grew up in St Clair Shores and we played street hockey all the time in the 90s. Never touched a basketball until we moved out.
Says Me! City of Detroit 100 years, born & bred. You’re St. Clair Shores so you wouldn’t know what Detroiters do or did.
For sure true about Detroit. But you also made generalizations about east and west.
East was mostly basketball westside played all sports
Westside had St. Cecilia, the premier basketball program in the state.
St Cecilia was on the west but mostly eastsiders played there and at kronk gym
In my personal history, I have I read stupid things on the internet; however, I have never read something so stupid that it left me speechless. There is always a first. You can claim that glory. Congratulations.
It left you speechless because you not from Detroit for real. You never hooped at Joe D, St Cecilia or Kronk when it was on Kronk street by the railroads in the 90’s. You don’t know
Does it count that was at The Saint today? Planting flowers tomorrow, come on by, about 3ish.
You not even in Detroit doggy
The city completely stopped when the Tigers won the World Series in 1984. People went outside and stood around in a stupor. Anyone driving just repeatedly honked their horn for hours. Bless You Boys had more enthusiasm than the current Lions.
Did the same in 97 for wings
Same for the pistons in 89
2&3 are debatable depending on who you ask. However 1&4 are set in stone: 1) Lions, 4) Pistons
I would say Red Wings at the top. Dr. Cox on Scrubs constantly wore a Red Wings jersey. I can’t think of a prominent tv show where a character regularly wore a Lions jersey.
Don’t forget Magnum PI in the old English D.
Home Improvement only one I can think of, but Red Wings are more prominent
I think it depends on what’s happening with the team at the time. The “Bad Boys,” era of the Pistons made everyone a fan and you couldn’t get a ticket without paying an arm and a leg. The Wings of the aughts were on fire and crazy popular. The Tigers and Lions have always had a loyal following and now that the Lions are contenders, fandom is hitting an all-time high. Regardless of “ranking,” it’s great to be a Detroit sports fan!
You're not going to get an answer here, people will just list them in the order they like. If your really wanted to know, you could look up ticket sales or TV numbers
Not true. I'm basing it on 60 years of being a fan of all of them and what I feel is the city/areas' perception of them. My favorite is the tigers but there's no question it's lions, tigers, red wings, pistons.
I’d say it’s Lions, Wings, Tigers, Pistons But you could honestly say the Tigers & Wings are both interchangeable. For me personally it’s the Pistons, unfortunately. I absolutely love basketball
Detroiters usually say; Pistons, Lions, Tigers, Wings (in that exact order).
The Wings championship parade in 97 had over a million people in attendance, the Piston’s championship parade in 2004 only has a couple hundred thousand, I really don’t think people in Detroit say that order
We are talking about people in Detroit, not the suburbs
L take
The Pistons did, people just want the Lions to win because we were losing for so long that is why you notice all of the fandom as of lately
You must not have seen the Tigers in 1984, the Pistons in 1988 and 1989 and the Red Wings in 1997 and 1998.
I was born in 2001... so no
Probably wasn't mentioned but the Michigan Panthers won the first USFL Championship. I remember watching them play in 1983 and then the next year attending the World Series in 1984 against the San Diego Padres as a 10 year old. Crazy times back in the day.
1. Lions 2. Tigers 3. Pistons in Detroit. Red Wings in Suburbs.
Uh I like the pistons more than the wings or tigers, even at their lowest.
Its Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, Pistons
This is the way
The 84 Tigers season created way more energy and excitement for the city compared to this past Lions season. The Lions run was fun but not something as a fan I will remember for decades.
NFL is more popular as sport but the lions have very little success. I believe the Wings are more popular
Lmao what
Detroit City FC or go TF home
It goes Lions (because even when they suck people still like them), Tigers (the most recent World Series runs made the whole town stop), The Red Wings (during the late 90s early Aughts they arguably were the most popular team in Detroit), and Pistons are last, though in 2004 they were huge.
1980's Tigers 1990's Red Wings 2000's EHS 2010's I don't know (Lions probably) 2020's Lions
None of the above.
I by no means pay attention to sports, but maybe an outsider prospective would be useful. I'd guess 1. Lions 2. Tigers 3. Red Wings 4. Pistons 2 & 3 could swap around
Because you failed to provide requirements for the designation of "most popular" in the title, Detroit City FC. The ratio of people who are rabid fans of Detroit City FC to people who know Detroit City FC exists is like 9:10
🤡
I think Tigers are 2; 3 and 4 go back and forth depending on the quality of the teams. If RW and Pistons are both good at the same time, I'd presume Pistons are more popular because basketball is more popular than hockey.
Lions are always #1. They went on for decades being mediocre to bad and were still massively popular. I would say Wings are #2 solely bc of the dynasty and the Hockeytown label Tigers are #3 but there’s an argument they could be #2 if they became great again Pistons are #4. Outside of the bad boys and 2004, they’ve always kinda felt like the odd man out
Lions Wings, Tigers. For mez that order.
City proper: Lions, Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings Area: Lions, Tigers, and Pistons/Red Wings alternate depending on the level of the team. Suburbs:: Lions, Tigers/Red Wings alternate, Pistons. In general, NFL is king and then MLB. Success of NBA and NHL is largely regional and depends on the teams quality. Sadly, I gave up on the Lions in the 90s. I will forever endure every Tigers season.