Fan Loyalty Ratings

[QuiGon]

That is horribly innacurate.

Sold out since 1993 season. Didn't win our first championship still 2001.

Apparently you aren't aware of the fact they made the playoffs in 1994-95 and went to the Super Bowl in 1996-97. Not exactly "the worst of times". They followed that Super Bowl season with 2 playoff seasons and 2 non-playoff seasons prior to their first Super Bowl title.

So there really hasn't been anything even remotely resembling a prolonged period of mediocrity in New England over that timespan.

I love the Patriots, Bruins and Red Sox, and I respect loyal fans and proudly consider myself one of them. Obviously, we have some loyal fans. But, overall, New Englanders are a bunch of front runners. And I say that as someone who's lived in New England for almost pretty much my whole life. Sorry, but it's true.

 

[PatsWorldChamps]

this is a poor study... obviously, our attendance variation will be high (dee-dee-dee) we had two different size stadiums... as far as the sellouts, it looks like they used actual attendance, not paid attendance (eg. that game when the stadium was only half full due to the snow in most seats).

 

[milwaukeebeers44]

Another thing. . .it has the Steelers towards the bottom. I may not LIKE the Steelers, but they do have one of the biggest fanbases and some of the most loyal fans in the game.

 

[Murphys95]

Another thing. . .it has the Steelers towards the bottom. I may not LIKE the Steelers, but they do have one of the biggest fanbases and some of the most loyal fans in the game.

I agree that Pittsburgh has one of the biggest followings - but the cynic in me says a lot of that has to do with them being successful (on a fairly consistent basis) since the mid-70's. In other words - it's easy to root for a winning franchise, and a lot of them have been "casual" followers since the 70's who jump out of the word-work when the Steelers make a run for the Super Bowl.

Another thing that bothered me last season was the networks' infatuation with showing Steelers fans at away games, insinuating they are the only fans which travel. If anything coverage like that skews the perspective. Funny, I don't recall a single mention of how broad the Pittsburgh fan-base was in 2003. Oh, that's right, the Steelers were 6-10 that year.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Sure I can quibble with a few of the teams ahead of the Pats, but overall it's no big deal to be listed in the middle of the pack. The NFL is king and there are a lot of teams that get great support, most of them being ahead of the Pats on this list. Having lived on the west coast for almost 15yrs and watching the Pats most of the time from a barstool, I've met plenty of great and loyal fans for other teams (and much fewer Pats fans). As for transplanted Pats fans, they DON'T represent like transplanted Sox fans do (I was at the Tuesday A's/Sox game and it's huge throng of Sox fans). The Sox are a religion to those fans, while the Pats are secondary. When the Pats become a religion to those Sox fans like the Packers are to the majority of their fans or the Browns are to the majority of their fans, then the Pats will move up the list.

Edit to add: The ratings hit the nail on the head with the Raiders, appropriately in last place. Although the Chargers could have contended for the last spot, and Arizona too. If those teams made the top half, the list would have been a total piece of trash.

Regards,
Chris

 

[meangreenfan]

Being from Dallas I can tell you that the Cowboys fan loyalty is falling the longer Jerry Jones owns the team. I can't tell you how many fans down here stopped caring about the Cowboys when Jones brought in TO. The Cowboys used to project a team image. Championships were never about one player. If Landry or even Jimmy Johnson was still here a player like TO would have never been allowed to play for the Cowboys.

On a different note. If Cobbs makes y'alls team you will have a new fan in Dallas that used to be a Cowboys fan.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

We like Cobbs. If he doessn't play for us he'll play for somebody in the NFL. Smart, hard working kid.