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Josh Green

The 9 WORST fanbases in the NFL

Being an NFL fan is not easy, but some fanbases do it better than others. So here are the 9 worst NFL fanbases in 2024:


9. 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. 



Colts' fans cheer on their team.


8. 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. 



7. 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. 



Texans fans cheer on their team.


6. 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. 


5. 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. 



5. 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.  



Cardinals fans cheer on their


4. 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. 



3. 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.



Bucs fans cheer on their team.


2. 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.



1. 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.

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