New England Patriots fans are second to one.
A new study by Dr. Mike Lewis of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School concludes the Patriots have the second-best fan base in the NFL, behind only the Dallas Cowboys. Lewis measured factors such as social media engagement, home and road attendance and team merchandise sales to determine his fan-base rankings.
“First, Patriot fans may be bandwagon fans,” Lewis writes. “But at this point it is tough to tell. The team has been excellent and the fans have been supportive for a long time. And even when things tend to go wrong for the Patriots they come out ahead. I believe that the (Deflategate) controversy had a significant positive impact on the Patriots’ social media following.”
The Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers round out Lewis’ top five fan bases.
At the other end of his spectrum, Lewis ranks (in order) the Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs as the NFL’s worst fans. Chiefs fans being ranked last is extremely surprising, though, given their reputation for making Arrowhead Stadum a loud and difficult place for opponents to play.
h/t Yahoo! Sports
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
