U.S. baseball fans can't take more than 9 losses, study finds

Being a baseball fan isn’t always a home run. Emotions can swing just as wildly as the ball itself. Phillies fans know the struggle—back in 1961, they endured 23 straight losses, the longest losing streak among current MLB teams. More recently, in 2024, the Chicago White Sox suffered 21 defeats in a row. But how much heartbreak can the average baseball fan handle? In other words, after how many losses in a row does their confidence in the team start to shake? With a new MLB season starting, sports platform PromoGuy surveyed 2,000 baseball fans across the country to find out. The results?

• American baseball fans start to lose faith in their team after an average of 9 straight losses.
• Baseball fans in Iowa lose faith the fastest, throwing in the towel after 4 losses in a row. Meanwhile, supporters in Utah and Kansas are the most resilient, only starting to lose confidence after 15 straight defeats.
• Among all MLB fanbases, Athletics fans lose faith the quickest—on average, after 5 losses in a row. On the other hand, Rays fans stay the most patient, only starting to worry after 13 defeats.

You win some, you lose some. But how many losses does it actually take for baseball fans to start losing faith in their team? The answer is 9 straight losses on average, our study reveals. With over 160 games per team this MLB season, fans don’t have much tolerance for a losing streak.

Baseball fans in Iowa lose faith the fastest

That said, there are some big differences across the country. Fans in Iowa lose hope the quickest, with their confidence dropping after 4 straight losses. Nevada, Mississippi, and Idaho aren’t far behind, each averaging 6 losses before fans start to lose faith. On the other side, fans in Utah and Kansas are much more forgiving—faith doesn’t start to shake until after 15 losses in a row. Oklahoma isn’t far behind, averaging 14 losses before fans start to get worried, followed by South Dakota, where the average is 13.

Which MLB fanbases give up the quickest?

We also took a deep dive into the resilience of every MLB fanbase. The Athletics fans top the charts on the Fan-Faith-Fade-O-Meter. It only takes 5 straight losses before their confidence takes a hit, the lowest number of any fanbase. With a 20-game losing streak in the history books (though that was way back in 1916), it looks like it’s going to be a nail-biting season for A’s fans.

That tension seems to be way less intense for Tampa Bay Rays supporters. On average, Rays fans don’t start losing faith until after 13 losses. That makes them the most resilient fanbase of them all. That’s just shy of the Rays’ own losing record: back in 2002, they had a 15-game losing streak.

Methodology

In February 2025, sports platform PromoGuy.us commissioned an independent survey of 2,000 baseball fans nationwide. Respondents were asked about their state of residence, their favorite MLB team, and how many consecutive losses it typically takes before they start losing faith in their team. Of the respondents, 59% were male, 40% female, and 1% non-binary. The average age was 43.9 years. The following states were excluded due to insufficient data: Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.