In a column about the Rays' "bandwagon fans", King Kaufman checks in with two thoughtful bits:

"The Giants drew so poorly for so long they didn't look like a viable business. On two separate occasions they were all but gone, once to Toronto and once to -- get this -- St. Petersburg.

Unthinkable now, with fans packing the Dialtone year in and year out, even with the Giants fielding crappy teams lately. Gee, the lousy baseball fans of San Francisco sure became die-hards, didn't they?"

(snip)

There are a small number of hardcore baseball fans in any city. I'd say 10,000 is a pretty good guess. Everyone else is a customer. If the product is good and the price is right, they'll buy in. It's not a measure of character to root for a baseball team or buy tickets to its games.

There's no such thing as a bandwagon. There's just people deciding that the product has become good enough to invest their time and money in.