Cartwright

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8...&photo=8464402

Jacksonville #1. Look who is number 4. The comments below are also interesting.

Mogamedogz

It's true. We probably have the second largest group of bandwagon fans in the league (behind Dallas).

signbabybrady

I dont remember where it was but I recall a poll that said just the opposite not to long ago.

Not denying that there are probably a ton of Bandwagon jumpers but don't you think alot of this has to do with marketing too. Kraft is obviously hands down leap years ahead of the guys in the past as far as this is concernened. And how bout the fact that the season ticket holder number leaped in 93-94 before we even went to the 1st Kraft SB.

This is a baseball town and Kraft was able to break thru that and to say it was only due to winning would be inaccurate. I think a lot of people jumped on when they realized it might be gone and was saved and I think the winning ensured everyone stuck on.

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WhiZa

Jacksonville has fans?

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Pat the Pats Fan

New England (region) was just looking for a winner. Look at the competing franchises; Celtics with all their banners, Bruins with their loyal fan base, RedSox nation is a dominant fanbase that monopolizes talk radio regardless of the season.

2 things helped crystalize the fans around the Pats.
1. Orthwein and naming Parcells head coach gave instant credibility to the Patriots. The day after the naming of Parcells, there was a huge jump in season ticket sales.
2. Kraft acquiring the team from Orthwein and providing a vision for the organization that is still materializing today.

I became a fan in 1991, when I moved to New Hampshire, despite the team sucking. Been one ever since, despite moving several times....

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A sarcastic Bill Belichick on Tom Brady's finger injury, "It's not life threatening."

primetime

I agree with this. Maybe not on this message board, but most "Patriots fans" are in fact fans of winning franchises. Boston is a bandwagon town. The Sox will always be number 1, followed by whatever team is winning. The Celtics are winning? Good, they're our new favorite team. The Bruins are mediocre? Well screw them. Attendance at games won't dip, but people who attend games make up a very small percentage of the fanbase, and hardcores like us make up an even smaller percentage (in the Bruins' case, the two are usually one and the same). When the team starts slipping back to mediocrity, expect less coverage in the media and less people talking about the Patriots on the street or caring much at all.

I'm relatively young, but I attended games when Marc Wilson was throwing to Hart Lee Dykes. Most "Patriots fans", especially in my age group, would have no idea who those guys are.

Icculus

This is just a joke...The guy did absolutely no research. If you look at it, once Kraft came in and decided to make the franchise legit for once, the fans came in and pack the stands. From his biography on Patriots.com..."The year he bought the team, season ticket sales soared to new heights, eclipsing 40,000 for the first time in franchise history.By the start of his first season, every game was sold out, a feat that had not been accomplished in the franchise's previous 34 seasons."

So obviously, NE was just waiting for an owner that took the Pats seriously.

nashvillepatsfan

I cant disagree with his comments. I remember awhile back I made a comment about Sam Bam Cunningham, and people had no idea who he was. Now just so we understand each other, I was about 8 when he was playing. It was my dad who educated me on the teams history. I may have seen those guys play when I was young, but I had no idea what I was seeing.lol. Anyway, even if someone became a fan in 2001, they could atleast learn the history of the team. If you don't know who Babe Parilli is, then yes, you are a bandwagoner, and you should leave Patsnation.

primetime

Game attendance can be an indicator of the fanbase (as with Jacksonville, who fails to sell out), but it isn't necessarily. At most, you're still only selling to 70,000 people. The Patriots' fanbase is significantly larger than that, and a great deal of those people only care because they are a winning franchise. They have no idea about the history of the team before 2001. Oh, maybe they watched in 1985 and 1996. But they lost then and the Celtics and Bruins were good so whatever.

Unfortunately, these rubes also tend to be the most vocal and obnoxious of the team's fans, too. So the media and general public see the bandwagoners and not the old faithfuls.

BradyManny

The New England Patriots are the first fanbase in the history of sports to see an influx in its popularity when it became a more successful team. This disgusting and indefensible phenomenon has never happened before in sports and, god willing, will never happen again.