Cardinal Nation

Cardinal Nation, or Redbird Nation, is a term sometimes used to describe, in aggregate, the fans of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball franchise. Cardinal Nation encompasses not just the area around St. Louis, but also a large portion of the Midwest and South. The team is traditionally popular in these regions and Cardinals games are broadcast on radio and television affiliates in ten states: Oklahoma, southern and central Illinois, southwest Indiana, Iowa, western Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, west Tennessee and parts of northern Mississippi and Alabama.

In addition, the team is also popular in other major league markets, most notably in Colorado, where the Cardinals were the team of choice until the creation of the Rockies franchise in 1993. To this day, the Cardinals have many fans in attendance at games on the road in Denver, as well as every other major league venue.

Major League Baseball experienced a half-century of stability from 1902 through 1952, during which no franchises moved and none were established or closed. During this time, The St. Louis Cardinals were the westernmost and southernmost major league franchise, and so geographically closest to anyone living southwest of a line stretching approximately from Savannah, Georgia through midstate Illinois into the Dakotas, which area encompasses much the greater portion of the United States. (The Cardinals shared this distinction with the St. Louis Browns, but the Browns were generally less successful and less popular.)

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