Blaring a vuvuzela does not a sports fan make. Neither does showing up in the third inning and leaving during the seventh inning stretch (you know who you are). True fandom goes beyond accessories and simply showing up. It might even go beyond putting little “Johnny-Blood” in a Steelers bib and eyeblack and feeding him only baby corn and black beans. Probably not.
According to a list compiled by Forbes, sports fandom is a combination of three factors: home and nationwide drawing power, merchandise sales and in-market popularity.
It’s not as sexy as counting burning cop cars during a championship celebration, but Forbes isn’t known for being sexy. Forbes does know economic science. And the criteria here work.
The top 5 teams in the list?
1 – Boston Red Sox
2 – Pittsburgh Steelers
3 – Detroit Red Wings
4 – Indianapolis Colts
5 – New England Patriots
No big surprises here. Red Sox Nation is, well, Red Sox Nation (Though writer Monte Burke acknowledges that “Steelers Nation” was coined more than a decade before). Perhaps fittingly, the wavers of the Terrible Towel, the most intimidating fan symbol in professional sports, come in second.
Third place goes to the fans of the best professional franchise in a hard-on-their luck town that was built on hockey. Or maybe it was the automobile. Either way, the Wings, Forbes reports, have made the playoffs “19 years in a row, the longest current streak in the ‘Big Four.’”
The Colts and Pats simply win, and they’re led by a couple of the most beloved frontmen in the biggest professional sports league in America. Maybe lady jerseys boost their merch haul?
If there’s one trend that sticks out in the list of 16 best fanbases provided by Forbes, it’s that Boston is passionate about its sports. Beantown rallied its MLB franchise into the No. 1 spot, its NFL franchise into No. 5, and its NBA franchise, the Boston Celtics, into No. 7 — the highest rank of any NBA team.
Bruins fans are nowhere to be found on the list. Neither are those of the Dodgers, who continue to swear it’s the traffic.
Photo by malo via Wikimedia Commons.