Major League Baseball has begun another season, though it will be tough to top the one concluded in early November with the Chicago Cubs finally winning it all in a thrilling seven-game World Series.
And that Cubs victory, along with huge playoff television ratings and the success of smaller-market clubs, is being cited as why MLB recently topped the 25th annual Sports Fan Loyalty Index put out by Brand Keys. The New York consulting firm, which for decades has worked with teams, leagues and advertisers, surveyed 17,852 so-called “avid’’ sports fans in markets nationwide about loyalty to teams in the four major U.