What I did not look at was the percentage of each teams' fans among baseball fans in respect to the distance from each stadium. Since not all zip codes have the same population, it is erroneous to use the total amount of fans to judge the impact of the team's location on the fanbase.
(Note: this entire post assumes baseball fans are 50% of the population. For example, if 50% of those fans are Rays fans, then 25% of the total population are Rays fans.)
A better measure is the percentage of population claiming to be fans of the respective team in that zip code.
Let's look first at the percentage of Yankees fans among baseball fans per zip code compared to proximity to Steinbrenner Field.
Again, most Yankees fans are within 30 miles of Steinbrenner Field. But there does not seem to be any correlation between proximity to Steinbrenner Field and Yankees fandom in the Tampa Bay area.
The two zip codes with the highest percentage of Yankees fans (21% of baseball fans) are 33615, 6.4 miles to Steinbrenner Field, and 34667, which is 40.7 miles from Steinbrenner Field.
Now let's look at the percentage of Rays fans by zip code.
While in most zip codes in Tampa Bay 45% or more of baseball fans are Rays fans, the only zip codes where close to or above 60% of baseball fans are Rays are within 10 miles of Tropicana Field.
That the three zip codes closest to Tropicana Field have the highest percentage of Rays fans is interesting. As I continue with zip code analyses, I am curious whether other zip codes in Pinellas County share a high percentage of Rays fans.
I wonder if most of Pinellas is near 60% and most of Hillsborough County is closer to 50% Rays fans among baseball fans.
Also interesting is that the three zip codes closest to the Trop (33702, 33712, 33710) have very low percentage of Yankees fans (6%, 9%, 8%, respectively).
There is still a lot of work to be done in regards to zip code analysis. Initial analysis however proves a link between closeness to the Rays stadium and a higher percentage of Rays fans and a lower percentage of Yankees fans.
Initial analysis also shows that proximity to Steinbrenner Field is not a strong factor in Yankee fandom in Tampa Bay. As I have mentioned before, the Yankees are a global brand and are popular everywhere.