“”Best” is a funny word that can mean a lot of things but what we are really trying to get at is what team has the most avid, engaged, passionate and supportive fans,” Emory writes in its blog. “The twist is that we are doing this using hard data, and that we are doing it in a very controlled and statistically careful fashion.”
They looked at things like attendance, prices, or revenues because while it’s easy to say “I’m a huge fan!” not everyone is willing to shell out hundreds of dollars for tickets, jerseys, etc.
It probably comes as no surprise that the Dallas Cowboys took the top spot on the list. They are “America’s Team” after all. The rest of the top five was dominated by the Northeast. Emory ranked Patriots as number 2, followed by Giants, Ravens, and Jets.
The data was collected before “deflate-gate” so it remains to be seen what, if any, impact that will have on the Pats rank.
You might be surprised the Jets landed in the top 5 at all
“The Jets position might be somewhat surprising, but this team draws well, and has great pricing power without a lot of winning on the field,” they said.
Where do your loyalties lie?
