Being an NFL fan is not an easy endeavor. You pour your heart and soul into a team that probably ends their season in some sort of disappointment. But some fanbases do it better than others. So here's every NFL fanbase ranked, from worst to first:
And find out where your favorite team is on the list!
32: Los Angeles Chargers
There really is no NFL fanbase quite like the Chargers, in the sense that the Chargers' fanbase is non-existent. The Chargers lost all of their loyal fans when moving from San Diego to Los Angeles, and LA sports fans already have countless other teams to root for, including the Rams, another football team. But at least the Rams have recently won a Super Bowl, unlike the Chargers, whose home games are constantly overrun by the opposing team's fans. Good luck trying to find a Chargers fan, you'll need it.
31: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Floridians are generally more interested in their college football teams rather than the NFL, partly because all three of Florida's NFL teams have shown little success during the past few decades. Especially the Buccaneers, who have been mediocre for most of the team's existence, and receive very little fan support. However, when the Bucs signed Tom Brady in 2020, thousands of bandwagon Bucs fans packed Raymond James Stadium to the brim week after week. And when Brady retired a few years later, the Bucs once again ranked near the bottom of NFL game attendance.
30: Washington Commanders
25 years ago, few could have predicted the massive depletion of a Commanders' fanbase that was once one of the league's most passionate groups of people. And while we can point much of the blame at Dan Snyder's horrendous ownership of the once proud franchise, Commanders fans obviously weren't loyal enough to keep routing for their team anyhow.
Plenty of NFL fanbases have stayed loyal despite their team's limited success, but the Commanders isn't one of them. In fact, Dan Snyder even covered up many of the upper deck seats to make the Stadium look less empty. But even with Snyder no longer owning the team, the Commanders will still have to develop a winning culture to regain their fanbase.
29: Los Angeles Rams
It's a shame that the city of Los Angeles spent $5 billion on SoFi Stadium, just so it could be overrun by opposing fans. The Rams have been more successful in their recent move to Los Angeles than the Chargers, but don't get it twisted- very few people actually root for this team. After winning Super Bowl LVI, in their own stadium no less, the Rams Super Bowl parade was a ghost town.
28: Arizona Cardinals
For most of the Cardinals' history, you could blame their lack of fan support on the team's limited success, or their inability to stay in one city. But during the past 15 years, the Cardinals have remained in Phoenix, been to nine playoff games, and were minutes away from winning Super Bowl XLIII. It's not dynasty levels of dominance, but enough success to attract some fans, right? Well, Cards fans consistently fail to fill much of State Farm Stadium every week. And don't get me wrong, they're better than Bucs fans or non-existent Chargers fans, but the Cardinals' fanbase simply doesn't care enough about their team to rank higher on this list.
27: Carolina Panthers
An entire fanbase centered around one player is destined to fail. That was the case with Panthers fans and the team's former quarterback, Cam Newton. The Panthers drew a decently sized fanbase during Newton's time in Carolina, but the 2015 MVP has been out of the league for several years, and even Panthers fans at Bank of America stadium seem rather indifferent about their team. David Tepper's atrocious ownership of the team and the Panthers' lack of success on the field in recent years certainly don't help the situation.
26: Las Vegas Raiders
Similarly to the Cardinals, teams with the inability to stay in one city are bound to have apathetic fanbases. And while Raiders fans in Oakland remained passionate after the move to and from LA, the move to Las Vegas was the final nail in the coffin. Fans still go to Raiders games in their signature decked-out clothing, but it's now merely a vocal minority, as Allegiant Stadium ranked second to last in fan attendance in 2023.
25: Houston Texans
Playing in a state where football is king allows for more potential fans, but it also means the Texans have to compete with the Cowboys, Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, UTEP, Texas State, and even some high school teams for a piece of the pie. And the Texans being the NFL's newest expansion makes them at an automatic disadvantage in getting Texas football fans outside of Houston. While C.J. Stroud's rise to prominence is bound to enlarge the Texans' fanbase, they'll always play second fiddle to other Texas football teams, even if the Texans are more successful with Stroud at the helm.
24: Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have one of the NFL's most spoiled fanbases, as Indianapolis is one of the few teams to have prolonged success throughout NFL history, even if they don't have many Lombardi Trophies to show for it. And yet the Colts' fanbase is rather modestly sized, despite the team playing in a whopping 28 playoff games over the last 25 years. But at least you don't see any Colts bandwagon fans, as opposed to other teams with perennial success.
23: Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins have done very little winning during the past couple of decades, and their fanbase has suffered. It has grown a bit during the past few years with the recent arrival of Tyreek Hill, along with other big-name free agents. But it is still one of the league's smaller fanbases, and people in Southeastern Florida just generally don't seem very interested in the Dolphins.
22: Tenessee Titans
The size and loyalty of the Titans' fanbase is surprisingly high, considering the Titans are an expansion team and a mediocre one at that. However, Nissan Stadium was overrun by Bengals fans in the 2021 Divisional Round. There's nothing that really separates Titans fans from the rest of the pack; they root for their team, and that's pretty much it. Hence, why they're lower on this list.
21: Dallas Cowboys
Hear me out here. While the Cowboys fanbase is certainly vast, many of those fans are Cowboys bandwagon fans who think this year will be different. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of legitimate and loyal Cowboys fans, but they are some of the most annoying people you will ever meet. They hype their team to death every offseason, just to disappoint come playoff time. At this point, you can't really take them seriously anymore.
20: New England Patriots
During the Tom Brady era, Patriots fans were insanely annoying, and you couldn't talk about football with them unless you were a fellow Pats fan. But nowadays, the Patriots fanbase is unsurprisingly small, especially with the team's lack of success for the past few years without Brady. But this fanbase has been able to climb in the rankings, as the Patriots many bandwagon fans left when Brady left, and only the loyal Pats fans remained.
19: Atlanta Falcons
The size of the Falcons' fanbase has often depended on the number of stars on the Falcons, with plenty of fans previously flocking to Marcedes-Benz Stadium to see Michael Vick, Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez, Julio Jones, and Matt Ryan, among others, play of the team. But nowadays, this young and mediocre Falcons team doesn't give fans much to be excited about, and attendance has dropped accordingly. Unless Atlanta signs a big-name quarterback in free agency, their spot on the ranking will stay the same.
18: Philadelphia Eagles
This is a very difficult fanbase to rank. While they are a very passionate group of people and create one of the most intimidating environments for opposing teams, Eagles fans have a reputation for being extremely obnoxious and crazy, for lack of a better word. This fanbase has done some truly preposterous acts, such as pelt Santa with snowballs, throwing batteries at players, and climbing street lights and not coming down.
If you play for the Eagles, you'd better not mess up at the wrong time, or you'd never be able to walk the streets of Philly without an adequate disguise. Eagles fans have shown us how a passionate fanbase doesn't always mean a quality one.
17: Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars' fanbase is a weird, and difficult one to rank here. A chunk of the Jags' fanbase is in another continent, and I'm still not sure why people in London like the Jaguars, or why Jags fans associate themselves with Duvall County rather than Jacksonville. But anyhow, the Jaguars' fanbase is small but loyal, and they always bring energy to TIAA Bank field, even if they don't fill much of the stadium, and their team doesn't do much winning. And their annual Sunday morning London games are basically home games.
16: Cincinnati Bengals
Having the NFL's cheapest owner, Mike Brown is an excellent recipe for a small and apathetic fanbase. However, Bengals fans have stayed loyal to their team. The Bengals fanbase has also grown thanks to the arrival of Joe Burrow and the young Bengals' corps that went to Super Bowl LVI.
15: Chicago Bears
Bears fans have certainly been loyal to their team, which has a winning percentage of .467 and only five playoff appearances since 2000. But the Bears' fanbase stays loyal partly because they hype their team to the moon every offseason, in the hopes that the Bears finally get over the hump and their quarterback purgatory will be fixed. But alas, every season the Bears find new ways to disappoint their faithful fans.
14: Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens are one of the few expansion teams to immediately gain plenty of fan support, probably because Baltimore fans had just lost their beloved Colts overnight. Ravens fans have been passionate about their team since its inception in 1995 and have embraced the idea of "Defense wins championships". The Ravens fanbase has also created one of the league's most fun rivalries with the Steelers.
13: San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have a generally passionate, and quite loyal fanbase. They aren't especially crazy or have any signature chants, but it is a sizeable fanbase with plenty of loyal fans that fill Levi's Stadium every week. The 49ers' fanbase has obviously expanded with the team's perennial regular season success for the past few years, but the 49ers still ranked high in fan attendance even when the team was terrible.
12: New York Jets
I applaud the Jets fanbase for sticking with a team that has done very little winning in their 75-year history. That being said, Jets fans are generally known for being mean; and it makes sense that they're bitter about the Jets' atrocious luck and lack of success. But despite their pessimism, Jets' fans have still stayed dedicated to their team.
11: Seattle Seahawks
Seahawks fans provide one of the NFL's greatest home-field advantages, with their roaring noise. Good luck playing in Lumen Field and not drawing a false start or delay of game penalty. The Seahawks' fanbase gained their fame during the Legion of Boom era, and they've embraced the 12th man persona every since. However, the Seahawks also attract more bandwagon fans than most teams. Their number of bandwagoners reached an all-time high during the Legion of Boom era, but the Seahawks still have plenty of bandwagon fans today.
10: New York Giants
The Giants are a spoiled fanbase in the sense that most of their Super Bowl victories and playoff success came when the Giants were underdogs, and no one expected it. Because of this, the Giants' fanbase is generally a very optimistic group of people. Even if the team is sitting at 4-8, Giants fans always have something to be optimistic about. And this makes them a lot more fun than Jets fans, but sometimes a bit delusional.
9: Pittsburgh Steelers
On one hand, the Steelers fanbase is one of the league's most populous, and even if they're playing a nearby rival, Acrisure Stadium is always decked out in yellow and black. They don't sell tickets to the other team. But on the other hand, only the Cowboys have more bandwagon fans. At every NFL game, there's always at least one Steelers fan. And the Steelers fanbase is also incredibly spoiled, as the team has been to the playoffs a whopping 33 times and won 6 Super Bowls in the NFL era. So I decided to split the difference and put them at the No.11 spot.
8: Denver Broncos
Denver is one of the toughest road atmospheres to play in, and it's not just because of the altitude. No matter if it's the AFC Championship or a meaningless week 18 game, Empower Field at Mile High is always packed, and Broncos fans will brave the frigid temperatures to cheer on their team. Nevertheless, Broncos fans can sometimes can too emotional, and similarly to Eagles fans, are not afraid to boo their own players. Russell Wilson definitely can't walk the streets of Denver anymore.
7: Detroit Lions
If I were a Lions fan, I would've jumped ship long ago, but Lions fans are extremely loyal to a team that had no playoff wins for over 30 years until just a few months ago. Lions fans embraced the persona of the lovable losers, with their "Rebuilding since 1957" jerseys. But the Lions actually won their division and made it to the NFC championship game in 2023, which has certainly grown their fanbase. And the Lions should be contending for a Super Bowl for years to come, which sounds weird, as the words Lions and Super Bowl are never used in the same sentence.
6: Cleveland Browns
Browns fans have stayed loyal to their team, despite their team giving them virtually nothing to cheer about for the past 25 years. And similarly to the Lions, I would have jumped ship long ago, especially since the Browns organization has been horrendous. But at least the Lions are turning a corner. The Browns are not. Nevertheless, Browns fans are immensely passionate about their snake-bitten franchise and deserve for the Browns to have some actual success.
5: Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings have a substantially-sized and loyal fanbase that has kept rooting for the team despite their lack of playoff victories. The Vikings have even lost more playoff games than any other team, but fans nevertheless flock to U.S. Bank Stadium every Sunday. And their pregame tradition of the Gjallarhorn induces chills in the opposing team's players. Vikings fans are also known for being some of the nicest, but I'm not sure if this stereotype is actually true. Assuming it is, let's put them at the No. 6 spot.
4: Green Bay Packers
The Packers franchise has been a model of consistency throughout NFL history, and their fans are somewhat spoiled because of this. They even threatened to burn down Lambeau Field after the Packers had back-to-back losing seasons. But this also means that they only expect the best from their team, and this certainly puts pressure on the Packers organization to field a good team. Packers fans are also one of the NFL's most passionate, and consistently rank top-five in fan attendance every year.
3: New Orleans Saints
The Big Easy fields one of the NFL's best fanbases, and one of the few rabid warm-weather fanbases. Saints fans live, eat, and breathe football, and make the Superdome one of the loudest and most intimidating stadiums to play at. Even when the Saints were awful during the team's first three decades, and were nicknamed, "The Ain'ts", their fans were still loyal and passionate about their team.
2: Kansas City Chiefs
There is no atmosphere in the NFL like Arrowhead Stadium. It is a truly intimidating road venue to play at, with the frigid temperatures, the sea of red cheering their team on, and of course, going up against one of the NFL's most dominant teams. Chiefs fans even broke the Guinness world record for most noise at an open-air stadium, reaching a deafening 137.5 decibels. Yes, there are plenty of Chiefs bandwagon fans who are very annoying. However, the Chiefs had a very dedicated and loyal fanbase for decades before Patrick Mahomes came along.
1: Buffalo Bills
There is no NFL fanbase like the Buffalo Bills. Bills fans are utterly crazy, jumping through flaming tables to express their love for the Bills. And that's just the parking lot! No matter if it's a high-stakes playoff matchup or a meaningless week 18 game, Highmark Stadium always has a sellout crowd. But unlike Eagles fans, Bills mafia isn't obnoxious or hostile to opposing teams or their own players, except maybe the Chiefs.
Commentaires