Which team has the most loyal fans?

[papasmurfbell]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/team-most-loyal-fans-science-says-dallas-cowboys-171057776.html

 

There are few things more annoying in the entire professional football universe than bandwagon fans, those star-sniffing louts who switch team jerseys as often as they do their laundry. While everybody's loving them some RG3 these days, the original, default bandwagon team has always been the Dallas Cowboys. Hell, even LeBron James is a Cowboy carpetbagger.

Yeah, bandwagon fans are the worst, and Cowboy bandwagoners are the worst of the worst. But now, science has given us a disturbing truth: those Cowboys fans are the most loyal in the NFL.

This is pretty much the worst news science has brought us since the revelation that Pluto's not really a planet, but let's press on anyway. Two Emory University professors, Mike Lewis and Manish Tripathi, have ranked the NFL's 32 teams according to a range of metrics, and the fans of the Boys in Blue come out on top.

How? HOW? According to the professors, it's not just a matter of attendance or revenue, as such factors can be skewed by both recent success and location in metropolitan areas. So here's the methodology:

"The key idea is that we look at team box office revenues relative to team on-field success, market population, stadium capacity, median income and other factors," they write. "The first step in our procedure involves the creation of a statistical model that predicts box office revenue as a function of the aforementioned variables. We then compare actual revenues to the revenues predicted by the model. Teams with relatively stronger fan support will have revenues that exceed the predicted values, and teams that under perform have relatively less supportive fan bases."

In other words, they're grading YOU, the fan, and the Cowboys have fans that step up. Again, folks, don't get mad; it's science. (The professors admit to being fans of the Steelers and the Redskins, furthering the study's validity.)

"What are keys to the Cowboys’ ability to create a passionate and supportive fan base?" the professors wrote. "We think it’s a long legacy of success, a football-mad Texas culture and a state-of-the-art stadium. Over the last three seasons (the time period used to calculate fan equity) the Cowboys have played sub-.500 football but generated above-capacity attendance (at least according to ESPN)."

Blame Texas. Fair enough. Here are the rest of the largely unsurprising top five:

1. Dallas Cowboys
2. New England Patriots
3. New York Jets
4. New Orleans Saints
5. New York Giants

So, yeah, lot of loyal NFL fans in the Northeast. And New Orleans hasn't got much else going for it but the gumbo and the Who Dats, so there you go. How about the bottom five?

28. Detroit Lions
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30. Arizona Cardinals
31. Atlanta Falcons
32. Oakland Raiders

Wow. Dead last for Oakland. That's got to be dispiriting for those loons who dress up in bondage gear, but maybe that's where all their disposable income is going. Falcons fans are as flighty as spooked pigeons; they'll watch replays of 2005 University of Georgia games before live action. Most people in Arizona are unaware that they even have a team. Tampa Bay is Florida/Florida State/Miami territory. And Detroit ... considering the fact that there may indeed be actual lions wandering the streets of that city, folks there have bigger things to worry about than the local football concern.

Anyway, if you'd like to see where your team stacks up, check the rankings. And if they're lower than you'd like, you only have yourself to blame.

Of note: Tripathi and Lewis did a similar ranking of college football fanbases, too. Now there's an argument-starter that could get you bludgeoned.

 

[thesteelhurtin]

this is dumb and wrong. Do they not remember the aints playing in half empty stadiums and bags on their heads. The steelers have sold out every game since the 70s.

[vmax]

The Browns win this title hands down.

It is excruciating torture to follow and watch them year after year....to be starting your mock drafts in October....but they actually have a fan base.

This also might be indicative of an unobserved rise in the percentage of the population who hate themselves and want to suffer.

 

The Bengals belong around #26. they can't sell out their stadium.

 

This is a real "for shit" poll.

[Robjr83]

The Browns win this title hands down.

It is excruciating torture to follow and watch them year after year....to be starting your mock drafts in October....but they actually have a fan base.

This also might be indicative of an unobserved rise in the percentage of the population who hate themselves and want to suffer.

 

The Bengals belong around #26. they can't sell out their stadium.

 

This is a real "for shit" poll.

 

 

Didn't someone last year have to buy 5k tickets to avoid a blackout.... a playoff team?

[papasmurfbell]

this is dumb and wrong. Do they not remember the aints playing in half empty stadiums and bags on their heads. The steelers have sold out every game since the 70s.

I would say there has to be some amount of statute of limitations. Before Knoll I bet Pitt wasn't the most loyal fans.

[Robjr83]

I would say there has to be some amount of statute of limitations. Before Knoll I bet Pitt wasn't the most loyal fans.

 

 

You mean the four decades or so Steeler fans never acknowledge?

[papasmurfbell]

Exactly.

[thesteelhurtin]

You mean the four decades or so Steeler fans never acknowledge?

They didn't sell out like they do now but they were still very much supported. If they weren't they would have folded due to the rooneys not having the money of other owners. I mean the saints almost got moved out of new Orleans.

[cravnravn]

this is dumb and wrong. Do they not remember the aints playing in half empty stadiums and bags on their heads. The steelers have sold out every game since the 70s.

Yinz don't EVER sell out games, that's a fact, it's just Rooney working that magic tongue, half on good ell, half on CBS,

[thesteelhurtin]

Yinz don't EVER sell out games, that's a fact, it's just Rooney working that magic tongue, half on good ell, half on CBS,

You are way off they have sold out every game since 72. They have the second longest streak behind the packers.

[cravnravn]

_{sO YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE ME CLOSE DOWN MY HORSEBETTING SITE AND LOOK FOR THE ARTICLE THAT PROVES YINZERS ONLY PACK 94.5% INTO THAT DUMP?}

[papasmurfbell]

They didn't sell out like they do now but they were still very much supported. If they weren't they would have folded due to the rooneys not having the money of other owners. I mean the saints almost got moved out of new Orleans.

That was a different time. It was far cheaper running a team then. You do realize Green Bay was able to hold it together for a long time before big tv money.

[thesteelhurtin]

That was a different time. It was far cheaper running a team then. You do realize Green Bay was able to hold it together for a long time before big tv money.

The packers are owned by green bay. Back then teams folded all the time due to not having the money to support the team. Western PA loves football it's a passion there and always has been. The first pro games ever were in Pittsburgh and some of the rooneys actually played in it. Everyone in the town goes to the local high school games tailgating included.

[papasmurfbell]

It wasn't way back in the day. I get there is no team in Canton anymore. But there was a long time when the Rooney's couldn't run anything. I would bet lower attendance for them but I see those high schools blown out.

[cravnravn]

Here you go steel, yinz don't sell out

 

http://forums.extremeravens.com/topic/10284-stadium-attendance-numbers/

[cravnravn]

Try. This link steel

http://espn.go.com/nfl/attendance/_/year/2012

[Oldschool739]

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i60/Mugsy104/poop-2.jpg

 

Nuff Said !!!!

[thesteelhurtin]

Here you go steel, yinz don't sell out

 

http://forums.extremeravens.com/topic/10284-stadium-attendance-numbers/

Attendance and tickets sold are a different story. Some people just don't want to deal with the weather we get towards the end of the year. I went to the Afcn championship game in 08 ands the -18 wind chill was miserable.

[papasmurfbell]

Would that not go towards loyalty?

[thesteelhurtin]

Would that not go towards loyalty?

yeah it does but at the same time some of the teams ahead of them shouldnt be there. The saints the pats and a some others. When the pats sucked their stadium was not full and like i said the aints almost got moved

[thesteelhurtin]

the packers at 14 are you kidding me

[papasmurfbell]

When you have a bad owner who runs a team into the ground I don't expect a fanbase to throw their money at him.

[thesteelhurtin]

When you have a bad owner who runs a team into the ground I don't expect a fanbase to throw their money at him.

The browns still fill their stadium

[papasmurfbell]

They have PSL's don't they? Basically they are forced to buy them.