As I sit back watching my New England Patriots crush the Broncos, I feel inspired and obligated to write about my favorite team in sports. Ever since my 7 year old self watched Adam Vinatieri’s historic game-winning field goal 13 years ago, my fanaticism has consumed me – never missing a game since. For most people, a paper about a team that’s not their favorite may not strike much interest, but I plan on doing something quite different. Using various pieces of media that study what makes a fan, I intend to analyze fan loyalty and the numerous factors that affect it. In addition to examining personal experiences of being a pats fan, I intend to take an academic stance on the subject by looking at research.
With an obvious bias that Boston is home to the best fans in the world, I began my research to see if this hypothesis held any value. Not after long, I found a 2013 study conducted by two Emory University professors entitled “2013 Best fans in the NFL“. Looking at team box office revenues relative to team on-field success, market population, stadium capacity, median income and other factors, a statistical model was created to account for all of these important components. In an ordered fashion, here are the teams they found to have most loyal and supportive fan bases.
Not to my surprise, the Patriots ranked very highly coming in at the number 2 spot overall. Growing up in the Boston area ingrained extreme passion and intensity towards the team, making these findings quite believable. Since coming to college I’ve fans of nearly every team, and I plan on discovering what drives their passion. Why is it that the Jets – a historically terrible team amasses the third best fan base in the league? Beginning with this article as a preliminary starting point for my research, I plan to look more into the aspects of NFL fanaticism, and theorize what factors have made me the crazy Pats fan I am today.
darealdreamteam 