An Emory business professor done fucked up in the eyes of everyone from the state of Missouri by releasing a scientific analysis determining the a definitive ranking of NFL fandom in America.
Dr. Mike Lewis’ analysis, which is grounded in economic and marketing theory, approached the controversial subject this way:
My approach to evaluating fan bases uses data on attendance, revenues, social media following and road attendance to develop statistical models of fan interest (more details here). The key is that the models are used to determine which city’s fans are more willing to spend or follow their teams after controlling for factors like market size and short-term changes in winning and losing.
Similar to past years, I use three measures of fan engagement: Fan Equity, Social Equity and Road Equity. Fan Equity focuses on home box office revenues (support via opening the wallet). Social Media Equity focuses on fan willingness to engage as part of a team’s community (support exhibited by joining social media communities). Road Equity focuses on how teams draw on the road after adjusting for team performance. These metrics provide a balanced analyses of fandom – a measure of willingness to spend, a measure unconstrained by stadium size and a measure of national appeal.
Lewis found that the five franchises with the strongest “Brand Equity Factor” are as follows.
The Winners:
- Dallas Cowboys 2. New England Patriots 3. Philadelphia Eagles 4. New York Giants 5. Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Losers:
Here is the study broken down into four segments: Overall Rank, Fan Equity, Social Equity, Road Equity.
Patrick Mahomes caught wind of the study and ain’t having it.
Sorry Chiefs fans…
[h/t For The Win, Emory Scholar Blogs]