With four consecutive seasons under the 30-win threshold, it only makes sense that the Lakers have fallen off from their status as L.A.'s favorite professional sports team. According to a recent Loyola Marymount survey, the Dodgers have stepped up to fill this void.
Per the Los Angeles Times:
The Dodgers are more popular than the Lakers, for the first time in the four years a Loyola Marymount survey has asked Los Angeles County residents to identify their favorite pro sports team.
The Dodgers got 36% of the vote and the Lakers 35%, making each team more than four times as popular in Los Angeles as any other local team.
The Clippers got 7%, the Angels and Kings 6% each, the Galaxy and Rams 5% each and the Sparks 0.2%.
The survey, conducted in January by the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles, asked 2,400 adult residents this question: “What is your favorite professional sports team with L.A. in its name?”
This shift is not entirely surprising, regardless of the Lakers' storied history. As the Lakers have fallen off in relevance, the Dodgers have ascended in recent years -- claiming four consecutive NL West division titles and falling just two wins short of the World Series last season.