It’s hard to root for a team that isn’t “local.” I grew up rooting for the New York Giants and Yankees. Fortunately for me, I live in New Jersey so I can watch every one of their games. But recently I got into basketball, and rather than pick the Knicks I chose to root for the up and coming Oklahoma City Thunder. Not exactly a local team, but I made my choice. And with that, over the past few years, I’ve found out just how hard it is to be a fan of a non-local team.

Out of 82 games of the season, I get to watch maybe 10 or 15. That number would probably be even smaller if the team was bad, but because they are good they get some extra national coverage. So, I do the best thing I can and keep up with the team on Twitter and various sports apps. But that doesn’t satisfy the need I have to watch my team play. At the moment, the only option is to pay a pretty decent fee to get the games. Then I often wonder why it is that we are stuck with only local games. I get that there is a territorial right for the networks that broadcast the games, but it’s a raw deal for the fans.

Yes, most people from an area root for the local team, but not all. I have many friends that root for a variety of different teams. And for years I never knew the disappointment that they did. Why can’t I just watch my team play?

Why can’t I pick at least one team from each sport regardless of geographic location, and have that channel be my designated sports network without having to pay extra? I would absolutely trade in the Knicks if I could watch the Thunder.

I can only imagine what it must be like for states without a team, and there are a lot of them. You figure there are around 30 teams in each respective sports league. Couple that with the fact that major markets like California, New York, and Texas have anywhere from two to four teams in those leagues and you’re looking at more than half the states are teamless. I would have to guess that people in a state with no team are more inclined to root for random teams. So what do they do? They are stuck like me watching teams they don’t like, unless they are willing to pay.