It's an age-old question that's divided sports fans for decades: which city or team has the most passionate fanbases?
There are several obvious contenders, cities that have the reputation for caring "more" about their team than others. Particularly in the NFL. The Philadelphia Eagles come to mind, with that city's fans infamous for maybe caring a bit, too, much. New York and Boston too, with the East Coast mindset and dedication to sports.
Then there is Chicago Bears fans, who pack the old, outdated Soldier Field, even in frigid temperatures, to watch a their team, despite years of futility. Then there's the South, particularly Texas, where football reaches extreme levels of importance and high school teams have 20,000+ seat stadiums.
Well, Nielsen, the company mostly known for measuring television ratings, attempted to answer this question once and for all. The company released a new "Local NFL fandom index" report on Monday, tracking all 30 NFL markets by eight key metrics to determine which are the most invested in their teams.
Those metrics include "apparel purchases, general interest levels, live event attendance, betting intent, social media engagement, radio listenership, streaming habits, and linear TV viewership." What "general interest levels" measure is not clear, nor is how they weighted those metrics to calculate their rankings.
But what is clear is that the smaller- or mid-market teams enjoy the highest level of fan engagement and interest, which isn't too surprising given some obvious advantages they have over larger cities. Here's how Nielsen ranked the 30 markets and the "average index" based on their chosen factors.
There are several interesting data points here, and Nielsen did provide a bit of background data that demonstrates how factors can influence the rankings.
First, the small markets dominate in part because there's less competition. Fewer entertainment options, particularly in fall and winter in the upper Midwest, lead to more focused interest on the local NFL team. Nielsen, in its report, says cities like Cincinnati, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland achieved their scores thanks to the number of fans listening on local radio, watching on television, or attending games, relative to the size of their markets.
Local television viewership in Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, as well as Green Bay, Buffalo, and Kansas City, is unsurprisingly higher than in the larger markets. They also called out Detroit and Green Bay for both ranking in the top five in merchandise purchases. No doubt helped by the Lions recent success, and Green Bay's consistent track record.
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On the other hand, larger markets, or those with a substantial transplant population, do not fare nearly as well. NFL teams in Miami, LA, San Francisco, Tampa, and New York have stiff competition for outside entertainment, have large communities from other parts of the country, and are loaded with teams in other sports.
For all the , often deservedly, negative aspects of their reputation, kudos to Philadelphia Eagles fans. Even with the distractions that come in a large market, Philly ranks among the top five fanbases. Nielsen reported that it does not lead "a single metric outright," but landed in the top five in "five of the eight questions the index tracks."
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What is also interesting is the importance of winning. Boston would probably rank lower, if the Patriots weren't as good. Similarly, Kansas City outpaces other similar markets because the Chiefs are Super Bowl contenders every year, thanks to Patrick Mahomes. Buffalo too, obviously has a passionate fanbase, but tops the list likely thanks to their run of playoff appearances with Josh Allen.
And thanks to this ranking, they may not have Super Bowl-winning bragging rights, but the Bills Mafia can now at least say they're the best fans in the NFL and bring some data to back it up.
