Males and marriages: two important components from the Scarborough Study:

According to the Scarborough Study, major league baseball fans tend to be male (63%) and married (58%).  I have created a map for each of these statistics.  The males to females ratio map of the upper midwest does not present convincing evidence, but a relatively large male population surrounds the city.  The married persons map of the upper midwest provides greater support for the Scarborough Study, as a relatively high married population is clustered in around the greater Minneapolis area.   Yet, this may be skewed by the high populations in those areas.

Aside from the study, I thought of some other important demographics that I believe Major League Baseball should consider in the location of baseball teams.

18-29 year olds:

The 18-29 year old map in the upper midwest reveals that Minneapolis does indeed have a high population.  Another map of the upper midwest shows the concentration of 18-29 year olds in the Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Chicago areas .  As you can see, Minneapolis may have a higher cluster of 18-29 year olds than Milwaukee, especially if you consider that the Chicago area supports two baseball franchises.  18-29 year olds are a cherished population among marketers, and I believe Major League Baseball needs to give greater attention to this group.  The Scarborough study points out that baseball is currently most popular among 35-54 year olds (40%).  If baseball wishes to compete more effectively with the other major sports, especially basketball and football, it needs to try to appeal to a younger audience. 

Hispanics

Current and desired demographics may include Hispanics.  Although I have not observed any evidence concerning the level of baseball fandom for Hispanics, due to the high percentage of Hispanic players in Major League Baseball, I believe their demongraphics should be considered when analyzing the validity of a franchise.  Here is a map that shows the Hispanic population in the upper midwest .  Notice how the Minneapolis area has a relatively small population when compared to the Milwaukee and especially Chicago area.  This map would probably not help the Twins in their fight against contraction.  

Asians

Due to the recent influx of Japanese baseball players, I believe Asian demographics should be considered when determining the vitality of a major league baseball franchise.  As you can see from this map of the continental United States , Asians are most predominant on the west coast.  In looking at the Asian population in the upper midwest , it appears that Minneapolis has a fairly high representation.  Higher than that of Milwaukee, but, as one might expect, lower than the Chicago area.  Unlike the Hispanic map, I believe this relatively high Asian population would serve to support the Twins and work against the idea of contracting the franchise.  

Blacks:

Despite the past interest in Jackie Robinson and the popularity of the Negro Leagues, I believe many African-American sports fans have shifted their attention to basketball and football (although I do not have the statistics to prove this statement.  Since basketball, in particular, consists primarily of African-American players, I believe most African-American sports fans are more interested in this sports as opposed to baseball, where the percentage of African-American players is not nearly as high.  Here is a map that shows the dispersal of the black pop in the upper midwest.  Yet, when the black classification is normalized by the all-important 18-29 year old demographic , we see that Minneapolis greatly lacks this population, which is primarily located in the southeatern part of the continental United States.