Ranking NFL team fans from BEST to WORST
For the third year in a row, Emory University has taken a close look at supporters of the NFL’s 32 teams and ranked those fanbases from best…to worst.
A quick warning to members of the Dawg Pound…prepare yourselves.
The stated goal of the survey is to identify the “most avid, engaged, passionate and supportive fans.” In putting their list together, Emory looked at a number of factors. They considered 15 years worth of historical data on team performances, market populations, median incomes, won-loss records, ticket prices and box office revenue.
For our purposes, let’s examine Cleveland.
Looking at the Browns’ performance and win/loss records for the last 15 seasons, let’s be honest, it’s not a pretty picture. In terms of market population and median income, there are clearly much larger cities in the league with much more wealth. But it was ticket prices and box office revenues that likely sealed Cleveland’s fate here. Even having raised prices last year, the Browns’ average ticket cost $54.20 last season, the lowest in the league. When your ticket prices are that low, the money that you’re collecting at the gate is not at all what it could be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making an argument that admission prices should go through the roof. But even team administrators acknowledge that many of their tickets are selling at double their face value on sites like Craigslist and StubHub.
With all of that taken into consideration, the Cleveland Browns finished next to last on the list, edging out only fans of the Miami Dolphins. (The Bengals came in at #24.) The Browns’ finish was one spot lower than last season. This is probably disappointing to many, but as all Cleveland fans like to note…there’s always next year.
Here’s a look at the full list of the “best” fanbases in the NFL:
- Cowboys
- Patriots
- Giants
- Ravens
- Jets
- Bears
- Packers
- Saints
- Colts
- 49ers
- Eagles
- Texans
- Broncos
- Steelers
- Redskins
- Titans
- Chargers
- Vikings
- Cardinals
- Falcons
- Buccaneers
- Panthers
- Rams
- Bengals
- Lions
- Seahawks
- Chiefs
- Bills
- Jaguars
- Raiders
- Browns
- Dolphins
(jj)
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