America’s stadiums may be silent, but its fans aren’t, and the Cheeseheads of Green Bay are proving that they are the loudest of them all: The Lambeau loyalists come out on top in the Forbes ranking of the best fans in sports.
Measuring passion is a tricky thing. Crazy certainly helps, but Pope hats, gold and black death paint, and gladiator getups aren’t the reason New Orleans Saints fans rank third on our list. We look at more concrete evidence, including television ratings, game attendance, merchandise sales and social media reach. We evaluated every one of North America’s 123 professional teams in the NBA, the NFL, the NHL and MLB.
One takeaway: NFL fans are the most devoted, with fans of the league’s 32 teams grabbing six of the top ten spots. The most blasé? Hockey and baseball fans, each with only one franchise represented.
TEAM OWNER: 361,169 fans and shareholders
TEAM VALUE: $2.85 billion
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING: 7.49 million
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 77,845
CHAMPIONSHIPS: 13
Cheeseheadsare willing to marry, divorce, remarry—even abandon their mothers—for a shot at tickets. No wonder: The season-ticket waiting list has 137,000 names on it, and 99% of current holders renew every year.
TEAM OWNER & NET WORTH: Robert Kraft ($6.9 billion)
TEAM VALUE: $4.1 billion
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING: 11.6 million
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 65,753
CHAMPIONSHIPS: 6
The Tom Brady juggernaut is considered one of the best football teams of all time—and one of the most controversial. One fan starteda GoFundMe campaign to help pay a $1 million fine after the Deflategate cheating scandal.
TEAM OWNER & NET WORTH: Gayle Benson ($3.2 billion)
TEAM VALUE: $2.275 billion
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING: 5.4 million
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 73,082
CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1
A full 75% of New Orleans residents identify as Saints fans—second in the NFL to Green Bay’s 82% with the Packers—helping to make the “Who Dat” nation’ssocial media following four times as big as the city’s population of 1.3 million.
TEAM OWNER: Daniel Rooney Trust, Arthur Rooney II
TEAM VALUE: $2.8 billion
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING: 9.8 million
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 62,237
CHAMPIONSHIPS: 6
The Steelers are the biggest show in town, with more locals identifying as fans of the black and yellow than for the city’s hockey and baseball franchises. Next stop: making the Terrible Towel the official state flag.
TEAM OWNER & NET WORTH: Jeffrey Lurie ($2.7 billion)
TEAM VALUE: $3.05 billion
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING: 6.6 million
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 69,783
CHAMPIONSHIPS: 4
It takes a special breed of fan to merit two Hollywood movies, both of them blockbusters. The throng has made thisfranchise the most popular in Philadelphia, besting the Phillies, the 76ers and the Flyers.
TEAM OWNER: Paul G. Allen Trust
TEAM VALUE: $2.775 billion
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING: 6.3 million
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 68,990
CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1
They call them the 12th Man, a mob so loud that visiting teams blame it when they lose—and so beloved that the city it represents allows a fan to hoist a No. 12 flag to fly atop the iconic Space Needle for every home game.
TEAM OWNER & NET WORTH: Joe Lacob ($1.2 billion) and Peter Guber
TEAM VALUE: $4.3 billion
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING: 18.1 million
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE:18,064
CHAMPIONSHIPS: 6
You couldn’t give this team’s merchandise away a decade ago; today, it’s a bestseller, led by Stephen Curry’s jersey. An added bonus: the league’s highest average local television rating during 2018-19.
TEAM OWNER: Clayton Bennett and Aubrey McClendon Estate
TEAM VALUE: $1.575 billion
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING: 9.8 million
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 18,203
CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1 (as the Seattle SuperSonics)
The Thunder have reliably sold out the Chesapeake Energy Arena since 2012, even without All-Star Russell Westbrook. It helps that they are Oklahoma City’s only pro team, as does making the playoffs nine times in 11 seasons.
TEAM OWNER & NET WORTH: Ron Burkle ($1.4 billion) and Mario Lemieux
TEAM VALUE: $665 million
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING: 3.9 million
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 18,537
CHAMPIONSHIPS: 5
The NHL’s only team in the top ten can thank All-Star Sidney Crosby, whose jersey has been a hot item since his 2005 debut. Two Stanley Cups in the last five years help, as do 12 sellout seasons at PPG Paints Arena.
TEAM OWNER: John Henry and Thomas Werner
TEAM VALUE: $3.3 billion
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING:7.3 million
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE:36,106
CHAMPIONSHIPS:9
It took 86 years to shed the Curse of the Bambino and win a World Series, but Red Sox Nation has proved even more loyal than Pats fans, with almost 80% of locals identifying as fans.