Why was Jim Rome’s audience especially loyal?

The guy built his whole thing around making his listeners feel like insiders-like they were part of some exclusive club that understood the real, unfiltered sports world while everyone else was stuck with boring play-by-play. He’d take calls, trash talk back, and create this aggressive, almost combative energy that felt raw and unpolished, which is a rare thing in a city like L.A. where so much media feels sanitized. That loyalty came from him treating his audience like equals in the debate, not just passive consumers, so they’d ride or die for him even when he got controversial.