A deeper analysis of the New York Times/Facebook data of fan loyalty by county indicates that there are more Indians fans than Reds backers in Ohio.
First, I downloaded the most recent population data for each county using the American Fact Finder tool at the US Census website. Then, i hovered over each county in Ohio to determine the percentage reported for each county for the four teams with significant fan loyalty in Ohio: the Indians, Reds, Tigers and Pirates. I did not include the Cubs, Yankees or Red Sox (despite these teams turning up in the top three in several counties). If fewer than three teams are listed for any county, chances are that the teams missing are one (or more) of these three teams. Keep in mind that this also means the data is somewhat incomplete, because data for each team does not exist in every county, so there are blanks.
I then created a simple spreadsheet applying the percentages (the top three were listed for each county) and the Indians topped the Reds, 35% to 27%. The Tigers and Pirates finished far behind at 3% and 2%, respectively. The Indians finished in the top 3 in 78 of 88 counties, compared to 63 of 88 for the Reds (that means there are more blanks on the chart for the Reds than the Indians, which means the margin is probably a little closer than in the results here).
Here are my findings in Excel form: Who Owns Ohio
It is also worth noting that the NYT percentages measure Facebook fans of baseball and not the entire population, so applying these numbers to the population at large is probably not strictly scientific - some areas may have a higher percentage of baseball fans relative to the population at large.
The results are below:
Geography | Population Estimate 2013 |
Indians | Reds | Tigers | Pirates | ||||
% | total | % | total | % | total | % | total | ||
Adams County, Ohio | 28,105 | 4% | 1,124 | 76% | 21,360 | 0 | 0 | ||
Allen County, Ohio | 105,298 | 20% | 21,060 | 42% | 44,225 | 7% | 7,371 | 0 | |
Ashland County, Ohio | 53,043 | 65% | 34,478 | 5% | 2,652 | 0 | 0 | ||
Ashtabula County, Ohio | 99,811 | 70% | 69,868 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Athens County, Ohio | 64,681 | 17% | 10,996 | 39% | 25,226 | 0 | 0 | ||
Auglaize County, Ohio | 45,920 | 15% | 6,888 | 52% | 23,878 | 0 | 0 | ||
Belmont County, Ohio | 69,571 | 21% | 14,610 | 0 | 0 | 35% | 24,350 | ||
Brown County, Ohio | 44,264 | 0 | 79% | 34,969 | 0 | 0 | |||
Butler County, Ohio | 371,272 | 0 | 72% | 267,316 | 0 | 0 | |||
Carroll County, Ohio | 28,275 | 54% | 15,269 | 0 | 0 | 11% | 3,110 | ||
Champaign County, Ohio | 39,455 | 10% | 3,946 | 57% | 22,489 | 0 | 0 | ||
Clark County, Ohio | 136,167 | 7% | 9,532 | 57% | 77,615 | 0 | 0 | ||
Clermont County, Ohio | 200,218 | 0 | 79% | 158,172 | 0 | 0 | |||
Clinton County, Ohio | 41,945 | 0 | 68% | 28,523 | 0 | 0 | |||
Columbiana County, Ohio | 105,893 | 45% | 47,652 | 0 | 0 | 24% | 25,414 | ||
Coshocton County, Ohio | 36,760 | 46% | 16,910 | 17% | 6,249 | 0 | 0 | ||
Crawford County, Ohio | 42,808 | 56% | 23,972 | 13% | 5,565 | 0 | 0 | ||
Cuyahoga County, Ohio | 1,263,154 | 72% | 909,471 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Darke County, Ohio | 52,376 | 61% | 31,949 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Defiance County, Ohio | 38,532 | 14% | 5,394 | 0 | 22% | 8,477 | 0 | ||
Delaware County, Ohio | 184,979 | 28% | 51,794 | 30% | 55,494 | 0 | 0 | ||
Erie County, Ohio | 76,048 | 68% | 51,713 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Fairfield County, Ohio | 148,867 | 22% | 32,751 | 37% | 55,081 | 0 | 0 | ||
Fayette County, Ohio | 28,800 | 8% | 2,304 | 62% | 17,856 | 0 | 0 | ||
Franklin County, Ohio | 1,212,263 | 26% | 315,188 | 26% | 315,188 | 0 | 0 | ||
Fulton County, Ohio | 42,488 | 10% | 4,249 | 0 | 53% | 22,519 | 0 | ||
Gallia County, Ohio | 30,621 | 0 | 52% | 15,923 | 0 | 0 | |||
Geauga County, Ohio | 93,972 | 73% | 68,600 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Greene County, Ohio | 163,204 | 0 | 61% | 99,554 | 0 | 0 | |||
Guernsey County, Ohio | 39,636 | 37% | 14,665 | 19% | 7,531 | 0 | 12% | 4,756 | |
Hamilton County, Ohio | 804,520 | 0 | 75% | 603,390 | 0 | 0 | |||
Hancock County, Ohio | 75,773 | 30% | 22,732 | 26% | 19,701 | 16% | 12,124 | 0 | |
Hardin County, Ohio | 31,641 | 26% | 8,227 | 39% | 12,340 | 0 | 0 | ||
Harrison County, Ohio | 15,622 | 31% | 4,843 | 0 | 0 | 29% | 4,530 | ||
Henry County, Ohio | 28,092 | 19% | 5,337 | 12% | 3,371 | 36% | 10,113 | 0 | |
Highland County, Ohio | 43,299 | 4% | 1,732 | 79% | 34,206 | 0 | 0 | ||
Hocking County, Ohio | 28,665 | 18% | 5,160 | 46% | 13,186 | 0 | 0 | ||
Holmes County, Ohio | 43,593 | 62% | 27,028 | 6% | 2,616 | 0 | 0 | ||
Huron County, Ohio | 58,889 | 68% | 40,045 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Jackson County, Ohio | 32,783 | 7% | 2,295 | 66% | 21,637 | 0 | 0 | ||
Jefferson County, Ohio | 67,964 | 18% | 12,234 | 0 | 0 | 44% | 29,904 | ||
Knox County, Ohio | 60,810 | 39% | 23,716 | 19% | 11,554 | 0 | 0 | ||
Lake County, Ohio | 229,857 | 72% | 165,497 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Lawrence County, Ohio | 61,917 | 0 | 58% | 35,912 | 0 | 0 | |||
Licking County, Ohio | 168,375 | 28% | 47,145 | 28% | 47,145 | 0 | 0 | ||
Logan County, Ohio | 45,481 | 16% | 7,277 | 50% | 22,741 | 0 | 0 | ||
Lorain County, Ohio | 302,827 | 72% | 218,035 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Lucas County, Ohio | 436,393 | 15% | 65,459 | 0 | 45% | 196,377 | 0 | ||
Madison County, Ohio | 43,277 | 16% | 6,924 | 43% | 18,609 | 0 | 0 | ||
Mahoning County, Ohio | 233,869 | 54% | 126,289 | 0 | 0 | 15% | 35,080 | ||
Marion County, Ohio | 65,905 | 34% | 22,408 | 30% | 19,772 | 0 | 0 | ||
Medina County, Ohio | 174,915 | 75% | 131,186 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Meigs County, Ohio | 23,496 | 14% | 3,289 | 39% | 9,163 | 0 | 0 | ||
Mercer County, Ohio | 40,784 | 9% | 3,671 | 49% | 19,984 | 0 | 0 | ||
Miami County, Ohio | 103,439 | 6% | 6,206 | 62% | 64,132 | 0 | 0 | ||
Monroe County, Ohio | 14,585 | 19% | 2,771 | 15% | 2,188 | 0 | 28% | 4,084 | |
Montgomery County, Ohio | 535,846 | 8% | 42,868 | 57% | 305,432 | 0 | 0 | ||
Morgan County, Ohio | 14,904 | 24% | 3,577 | 32% | 4,769 | 0 | 0 | ||
Morrow County, Ohio | 35,033 | 39% | 13,663 | 23% | 8,058 | 0 | 0 | ||
Muskingum County, Ohio | 85,231 | 29% | 24,717 | 30% | 25,569 | 0 | 0 | ||
Noble County, Ohio | 14,628 | 24% | 3,511 | 25% | 3,657 | 0 | 14% | 2,048 | |
Ottawa County, Ohio | 41,153 | 29% | 11,934 | 0 | 35% | 14,404 | 0 | ||
Paulding County, Ohio | 19,254 | 0 | 15% | 2,888 | 0 | 0 | |||
Perry County, Ohio | 35,997 | 24% | 8,639 | 35% | 12,599 | 0 | 0 | ||
Pickaway County, Ohio | 56,304 | 18% | 10,135 | 42% | 23,648 | 0 | 0 | ||
Pike County, Ohio | 28,367 | 8% | 2,269 | 69% | 19,573 | 0 | 0 | ||
Portage County, Ohio | 163,862 | 68% | 111,426 | 0 | 0 | 4% | 6,554 | ||
Preble County, Ohio | 41,732 | 6% | 2,504 | 59% | 24,622 | 0 | 0 | ||
Putnam County, Ohio | 34,088 | 23% | 7,840 | 32% | 10,908 | 13% | 4,431 | 0 | |
Richland County, Ohio | 121,773 | 58% | 70,628 | 9% | 10,960 | 0 | 0 | ||
Ross County, Ohio | 77,910 | 12% | 9,349 | 61% | 47,525 | 0 | 0 | ||
Sandusky County, Ohio | 60,098 | 46% | 27,645 | 8% | 4,808 | 19% | 11,419 | 0 | |
Scioto County, Ohio | 78,153 | 6% | 4,689 | 67% | 52,363 | 0 | 0 | ||
Seneca County, Ohio | 55,914 | 48% | 26,839 | 10% | 5,591 | 0 | 14% | 7,828 | |
Shelby County, Ohio | 49,192 | 7% | 3,443 | 62% | 30,499 | 0 | 0 | ||
Stark County, Ohio | 375,432 | 61% | 229,014 | 5% | 18,772 | 0 | 0 | ||
Summit County, Ohio | 541,824 | 67% | 363,022 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Trumbull County, Ohio | 206,442 | 57% | 117,672 | 0 | 0 | 10% | 20,644 | ||
Tuscarawas County, Ohio | 92,672 | 62% | 57,457 | 7% | 6,487 | 0 | 0 | ||
Union County, Ohio | 53,306 | 27% | 14,393 | 37% | 19,723 | 0 | 0 | ||
Van Wert County, Ohio | 28,459 | 13% | 3,700 | 34% | 9,676 | 0 | 0 | ||
Vinton County, Ohio | 13,276 | 15% | 1,991 | 53% | 7,036 | 0 | 0 | ||
Warren County, Ohio | 219,169 | 0 | 71% | 155,610 | 0 | 0 | |||
Washington County, Ohio | 61,310 | 22% | 13,488 | 27% | 16,554 | 0 | 12% | 7,357 | |
Wayne County, Ohio | 115,071 | 71% | 81,700 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Williams County, Ohio | 37,500 | 9% | 3,375 | 0 | 45% | 16,875 | 0 | ||
Wood County, Ohio | 129,264 | 21% | 27,145 | 0 | 39% | 50,413 | 0 | ||
Wyandot County, Ohio | 22,447 | 41% | 9,203 | 22% | 4,938 | 9% | 2,020 | 0 | |
Total | 11,570,808 | 35% | 4,031,724 | 27% | 3,078,777 | 3% | 356,542 | 2% | 175,661 |