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Forbes Study: Top NFL fan bases (last 3 years)

kelsto811 : 8/21/2014 9:28 pm
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A combination of hometown crowd reach, three years of television ratings, three years of home game attendance (percentage of capacity reached), three years of merchandise sales and social media reach all combined to make the final rankings.


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Rounding out the top five in order were fan bases of the Denver Broncos, New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens.

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The Packers absolutely do have a great fan base.  
Big Blue Blogger : 8/22/2014 7:04 am : link
That said, the methodology seems pretty skewed against big markets - especially big markets with lots of entertainment options, and most of all against the one big market with two teams. The Giants and Jets are both actually hated by a big portion of the football fans in their own natural market, so you wouldn't expect them to do well on per capita metrics.

The most impressive entries on the list, to me, are Baltimore and New Orleans. Very few adults grew up Raven fans - the team hasn't been there long enough. And very few adults grew up proud to be Saints fans, not to mention what the city of New Orleans has been through.
The social media data probably reflect the team's commitment...  
Big Blue Blogger : 8/22/2014 7:20 am : link
...more than the fans'. Some teams were early adopters. Others (like the Giants) have been later to the game. I follow Connor on Twitter. It wouldn't occur to me to follow Pat Hanlon, because if he tweets anything notable the beat reporters will pick it up right away. As for Facebook, it's just one of many social media options.
IMV,  
Big Blue '56 : 8/22/2014 8:02 am : link
all but Broncos fans(of the top 5) will stay with their team through thick and thin..Let's see what happens when Brady and Brees hang them up
Worded wrong.  
Big Blue '56 : 8/22/2014 8:03 am : link
Should have read ONLY Broncos fans
Nah, Pats fans are very loyal.  
yatqb : 8/22/2014 8:33 am : link
Boston is a sports town and they love all their teams. Heck, they stuck with the Bruins when they and the Rangers were perpetual also-rans in the NHL, and with the Celts and Sox when those teams stunk.
Not so sure about Pats fans..Thry weren't all that attentive  
Big Blue '56 : 8/22/2014 8:47 am : link
pre-Parcells imv..Sox fans definitely..Bruins fans definitely..Celts fans? Not so certain..After Cowens left and before Bird, not so great..After Bird left until contenders again, meh..
The thing about Pats fans  
pjcas18 : 8/22/2014 8:51 am : link
is they're a relatively new (sports new) thing.

In the early 90's my college roommate was one of the few season ticket holders (at the old stadium) and he'd beg me when they had home games to drive him and go with him to the game. He'd start with giving me the ticket, then buying my beer, eventually add in some food and I'd usually give in.

The place was regularly a ghost town, we practically each have our own row (it had benches not seats) and many times I'd lay down.

Parcells and Bledsoe changed a lot, but much of that goodwill was swept away by pete carroll. Since the Brady Belichick era they have what one losing season?

I agree with those who say wait for brady and belichick to hang them u and evaluate that franchise.

Just like fans have abandoned the Sox this year, just like they abandoned the Bruins int he mid 2000's they could very well jettison the Pats in tje end of the this decade.
As a life long resident  
RIGiantFan : 8/22/2014 10:18 am : link
of New England, I'd say there is a distinct difference between Pats fans and those of the actual Boston teams. When any team is bad, attendance drops, that's a given and no team is immune. However, when the 3 Boston teams (Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics) go through bad stretches you still see team hats, shirts, bumper stickers, etc. Those three teams have solid and historic fan bases due to the ages of the teams and successes during the early part of each sports rise in popularity. The Pats pre-Parcells were an afterthought to say the least in New England going back to the start of their existence for the most part. I knew one person in my HS graduating class who was a pats fan, but at reunions now if you ask, I'll bet that's up to 75%. Pre-Parcells, you could go months walking around NE and not see anything Pats related - that would never happen with the 3 Boston teams. It's why, living here, they've vaulted into the number one spot on my hated teams list (yes, easily above even the Canadiens, Lakers, and Yankees) and the same can be said for many people in New England who have remained loyal to the NFL team they liked growing up rather than switching to the pats once they "won" a few SBs.
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