RICHMOND (WSLS 10 SPORTS) - Virginia sports fans' tastes seem to have flip-flopped in the last five years.
According to new numbers from PublicPolicyPolling.com, sports fans in the state of Virginia - who once preferred the Atlanta Braves when it came to MLB and Virginia Tech for overall college sports - now have loyalties to the Washington Nationals and University of Virginia sports.
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The group first polled Virginians on baseball and college sports preference in 2011 and found 19 percent were Braves fans, and 32 percent were Hokies fans.
Since then, the Nationals became a National League East power and Virginia baseball and basketball success grew substantially, while Virginia Tech football lulled. Seems fan loyalties did the same.
The newest polls show 18 percent of Virginians are now Nationals fans - with Braves fans falling to 12 percent in the Commonwealth.
And UVa. beats out Virginia Tech for college sports loyalty 34 percent to 28 percent. Four years ago it was almost reversed - 32 percent for the Hokies and 21 percent for the Hoos.
And just in case you were curious, there is a party divide with Democrats (34/23) strongly favoring University of Virginia and Republicans (36/34) narrowly supporting Virginia Tech.