Everybody thinks their NFL team has the best fans. Nielsen decided to actually put that claim to the test, and some of the results are pretty surprising.
The Nielsen Scarborough NFL Fandom Index compared markets using eight different measurements, ranging from attendance and merchandise purchases to TV viewing, streaming, radio and social media engagement. A score of 100 represents the average NFL market.
10. Cleveland Browns
You can’t accuse Browns fans of only showing up when things are good. They’d have disappeared decades ago.
Cleveland scored 134 and grabbed the final spot in the top 10, with radio listening among its strongest areas. Whatever the Browns have put their fans through, it hasn’t been enough to make Cleveland stop paying attention.
T-8. New Orleans Saints
New Orleans and Detroit tied at 141.
The Drew Brees years are over and New Orleans hasn’t exactly replaced them with another golden era. The city hasn’t checked out. The Saints remain woven into New Orleans in a way that goes well beyond wins and losses.
T-8. Detroit Lions
Nobody gets to call Detroit a bandwagon fan base.
Lions fans spent years watching some truly awful football before the franchise finally turned itself around. Now they have a contender and Nielsen has Detroit tied for eighth.
They’ve earned the fun part.
7. Baltimore Ravens
Here’s something easy to overlook: The Ravens have only existed since 1996.
In roughly three decades, Baltimore has built enough of a following to finish seventh in Nielsen’s entire index. Two championships and a consistently competitive franchise certainly help, but 144 still puts Baltimore ahead of several cities with much longer NFL histories.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers
Apparently, mediocre Januarys haven’t scared anybody away.
The Steelers are one of the NFL’s signature franchises, and Nielsen found Pittsburgh particularly strong in radio and traditional television consumption. That’s happening even though the team’s last playoff victory came following the 2016 season.
5. Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia at No. 5 will surprise absolutely nobody who has spent five minutes around Eagles fans.
What’s interesting is how Philadelphia got there. It ranked among the top five in five of Nielsen’s eight categories rather than riding one enormous number.
Eagles fans don’t just watch. They consume the team basically everywhere.
4. Cincinnati Bengals
Now here’s a surprise.
Cincinnati finished ahead of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with a score of 160. It also gives the AFC North four teams in the top 10.
Think about that. Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cleveland all made it.
Nobody in that division is allowed to enjoy a quiet Sunday.
3. Green Bay Packers
Green Bay finishing this high feels almost inevitable.
The Packers play in the smallest market in major American professional sports, yet Green Bay scored 172. Nielsen found especially strong engagement through TV, radio and attendance.
There aren’t many places where an NFL franchise and the community around it are more closely connected.
2. Kansas City Chiefs
Yes, winning helps.
Patrick Mahomes and a run of championships have made Chiefs gear considerably easier to find around the country. But Kansas City’s local numbers are on another level, too.
Its 194 score nearly doubled the NFL market average and left it 22 points ahead of Green Bay.
Only one city beat it.
1. Buffalo Bills
Buffalo didn’t sneak into first place. It crushed everybody.
A 208 score means Buffalo registered at more than twice the average level of NFL fandom measured by Nielsen. Kansas City was excellent at 194, but even the Chiefs couldn’t catch the Bills.
Buffalo has the NFL’s most passionate local fan base and its not even close