Forbes Mag: America's Best Sports Fans (Spurs 8th)

America's Best Sports Fans
Monte Burke, 08.02.10, 06:00 PM EDT
Devotees of these teams live and die with each pitch, pass or shot.

In Pictures: America's Best Sports Fans http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/02/bes...dom_slide.html

What is the essence of a sports fan? Richard Gilman, a literary and theater critic who died in 2006, came as close to anyone in defining it: “Being a sports fan is a complex matter, in part irrational but not unworthy, a relief from the seriousness of the real world, with its unending pressures and often grave obligations.”

Put another way: Sports mean nothing, so they mean everything.

Some people take fandom to the extreme. They attend games, they buy apparel, they live and die with each pitch, pass or shot. English soccer fans may be the most notorious in the world, traveling with their teams, singing at the top of their lungs and sometimes causing mayhem on the streets. But American sports fans are catching up, lighting up Internet fan sites, traveling huge distances to see games and even brawling at the ballpark.

Just look at the fans all over the country who follow every pitch of their beloved Boston Red Sox. They pack Fenway when the team is in town, and fill other stadiums when they’re on the road. They stayed true throughout an epic dry spell, when the Sox went 86 years without winning a World Series--and when the team finally broke that drought in 2004, they grew even more fanatic. Today, the team is No. 2 in MLB merchandise sales (behind their hated rivals, the New York Yankees). And members of "Red Sox Nation" are so devoted, they top our list of "America's Best Sports Fans."

Behind the Numbers
To produce a list of the best fans in U.S. sports, we looked at every team in the “Big Four” U.S. professional sports leagues: football (NFL), basketball (NBA), baseball (MLB), and hockey (NHL).

I agree that there are a lot of teams on the list from big cities. Teams that can afford to buy all sorts of talented free agents every off season and "buy" championships (or at least playoff appear....

For each team, we gathered three different metrics. First, we measured their home and away game attendance, which indicates a team’s drawing power in its home market and nationwide. Then we counted their merchandise sales (Numbers for the NFL, NBA and MLB were provided to us by Sportsonesource, a sporting good industry analyst, and the NHL gave us their own data). Finally, we ranked each team’s in-market popularity, based on surveys of American sports teams by Turnkey Sports and Entertainment. We ranked all of the teams, then took the top four from each of the four leagues.

Coming close behind the Red Sox is another nation of fans--although members of “Steeler Nation” would be quick to point out their nickname was coined 11 years before “Red Sox Nation.”

These passionate football fans are everywhere; The Steelers built a big fan base in the 1970s, when they dominated the National Football League, racking up four Super Bowl championships. And as Pittsburgh's steel industry died, those fans moved all over the country, taking with them a love for the Black and Gold. (Just ask Washington, D.C., and Denver, two proud NFL cities that were aghast at being overrun by Steelers fans at games in their own stadiums in the last two years.)

No. 3 on our list: The Detroit Red Wings. In a city that has seen its share of trouble in recent years, the Red Wings provide relief for fans. The team has made the playoffs the last 19 seasons in a row, the longest such streak in the “Big Four” professional sports leagues. That’s a lot of dead octopi (Click here to see Red Wings’ fans favorite playoff tradition).

The highest-rated NBA team on our list is the Boston Celtics, at No. 7. The team has won 17 NBA championships, the most in league history, led by legends like Bill Russell and Larry Bird.

Right behind the Celtics at No. 8 are the San Antonio Spurs. Like their team leader, Tim Duncan, the Spurs are quiet champions. They’ve made the playoffs the last 13 seasons. Fan devotion is may be increased by the fact that they are the only big pro team in town.
Fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers have been through a lot in recent weeks, but there's good news; they still rank among the best fans in the country, coming in at No. 13. Of course, all of the data we used is year-to-date, when LeBron James was still a member of the team.

You might assume that since "King James" left to play for the Miami Heat, the Cavaliers' popularity might tank--if nothing else, they may not win as many games. But so far fans have seemed to make the defection a rallying point. Last week it was reported that a group of little girls was selling lemonade to help team owner Dan Gilbert pay off a $100,000 fine, incurred by the NBA for his rant about LeBron leaving town.

First, we measured their home and away game attendance

If they really did that, then the Montreal Canadiens should be 1st in the NHL

What a bunch of fucktards

Forbes list of America's Best Sports Fans

1. Boston Red Sox
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
3. Detroit Red Wings
4. Indianapolis Colts
5. New England Patriots
6. Pittsburgh Penguins
7. Boston Celtics
8. San Antonio Spurs
9. Dallas Cowboys
10. St. Louis Cardinals
11. Montreal Canadiens
12. Los Angeles Lakers
13. Cleveland Cavaliers
14. New York Yankees
15. Philadelphia Phillies
16. Chicago Black Hawks

Yankees are pretty low on there IMO. Spurs are pretty high, but we do have some great fans

Celtics fans? LOL. What a retarded list.

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Originally Posted by DesignatedT

Celtics fans? LOL. What a retarded list.

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No kidding. I spent several months up there a few years before KG et al came along, and they didn't even have the games on in sports bars.

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Originally Posted by Solid D

Forbes list of America's Best Sports Fans

1. Boston Red Sox
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
3. Detroit Red Wings
4. Indianapolis Colts
5. New England Patriots
6. Pittsburgh Penguins
7. Boston Celtics
8. San Antonio Spurs
9. Dallas Cowboys
10. St. Louis Cardinals
11. Montreal Canadiens
12. Los Angeles Lakers
13. Cleveland Cavaliers
14. New York Yankees
15. Philadelphia Phillies
16. Chicago Black Hawks

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Wings and Penguins ahead of the Canadiens?

Are they fucking serious????????? :rollin:rollin:rollin:rollin


Whoever came up with that list should be sent to Cleveland











EDIT: oooooooooops it says in America

I'm a :donkey

Nothing more annoying than Red Sox and Steelers fans

Imagine where we would be ranked if the fans in the lower seats cheered as much as the fans in the upper deck.

Clearly the Silver Stars are pro. :downspin:

Celtics? Bandwagoners don't count

Spurs fans 1 spot ahead of Cowboys fans ... let the bellowing from D/FW begin.

And where is Mav fan??

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Originally Posted by dbestpro

Imagine where we would be ranked if the fans in the lower seats cheered as much as the fans in the upper deck.

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Bro....that shit irks me when I watch/go to the games.

Personally, I think the list is very subjective. We shouldn't be that high up. We have great fans and a lot of pride when it comes to the Spurs but the majority of the fans at the game sit there and act like they're the owners or something. Matter of fact, that indian dude who is at every playoff game that sits behind van gundy who always smiles and blows kisses at the camera is the poster child for those "fans". Happy with just being there than actually paying attention to the game.

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Originally Posted by CubanMustGo

Spurs fans 1 spot ahead of Cowboys fans ... let the bellowing from D/FW begin.

And where is Mav fan??

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They're having a circle jerk in the troll forum until Sept 1st.

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Originally Posted by dbestpro

Imagine where we would be ranked if the fans in the lower seats cheered as much as the fans in the upper deck.

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Imagine if the people in the upper deck cared enough about the Spurs to buy better tickets. Fucking cheapskates.

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Originally Posted by Solid D

Forbes list of America's Best Sports Fans

1. Boston Red Sox
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
3. Detroit Red Wings
4. Indianapolis Colts
5. New England Patriots
6. Pittsburgh Penguins
7. Boston Celtics
8. San Antonio Spurs
9. Dallas Cowboys
10. St. Louis Cardinals
11. Montreal Canadiens
12. Los Angeles Lakers
13. Cleveland Cavaliers
14. New York Yankees
15. Philadelphia Phillies
16. Chicago Black Hawks

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As much as I love the Spurs, when I saw we were ahead of the Lakers I had to go back and re-read the metrics about how they arrived at the rankings.

Apparently our home fan devotion is enough to overcome metrics on what is probably a lead for the Lakers in home/away attendance and merchanidise sales.

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Originally Posted by CubanMustGo

Spurs fans 1 spot ahead of Cowboys fans ... let the bellowing from D/FW begin.

And where is Mav fan??

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Does this mean we can have our own football team now?

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Originally Posted by wildbill2u

As much as I love the Spurs, when I saw we were ahead of the Lakers I had to go back and re-read the metrics about how they arrived at the rankings.

Apparently our home fan devotion is enough to overcome metrics on what is probably a lead for the Lakers in home/away attendance and merchanidise sales.

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If home/away attendance carried much more weight you'd probably see the Cowboys and Yankees dominating the list.

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Originally Posted by wildbill2u

As much as I love the Spurs, when I saw we were ahead of the Lakers I had to go back and re-read the metrics about how they arrived at the rankings.

Apparently our home fan devotion is enough to overcome metrics on what is probably a lead for the Lakers in home/away attendance and merchanidise sales.

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They don't ask you what team you are a fan of when you buy your tickets, so there's no way to accurately measure which team's fans go to away games the most. Even if Ticketmaster started doing this, some would lie, and then scalping/resale of tickets would skew the numbers.

All they can do is look at overall attendance numbers for each away game they play and compare them to other teams.

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Originally Posted by dbestpro

Does this mean we can have our own football team now?

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Let's hope so. I'm sick to death of the non-stop Dallas Cowboys media force-feedings I have to endure every time I turn on the local television news.

I have to be honest, I really don't think we have more loyal and devoted fans than the Cowboys or the Yankees. Maybe even the Lakers too.

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Originally Posted by Obstructed_View

Imagine if the people in the upper deck cared enough about the Spurs to buy better tickets. Fucking cheapskates.

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Most fans can't afford to go to the games let alone get the top seats.

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Originally Posted by Obstructed_View

If home/away attendance carried much more weight you'd probably see the Cowboys and Yankees dominating the list.

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The Yankees bring an all star team to the field. I am not sure what the fascination with the Cowboys is.

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Originally Posted by rascal

Most fans can't afford to go to the games let alone get the top seats.

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If those people in the upper deck were true fans and cared about their team they'd save up for better tickets.

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Originally Posted by rascal

The Yankees bring an all star team to the field. I am not sure what the fascination with the Cowboys is.

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It's the same as it was with the Yankees through the 80s when they weren't winning. The Cowboys have plenty of all-star players at this point to keep ESPN sucking on their nuts and to keep everyone talking about them.

It's how many tickets and merchandise you sell when your team sucks that counts. For that matter, the Dallas Cowboys are way too low. I remember before Aikman, Irving and Emmit, people still buying jerseys and watching games. Oh, and the Cavs??? C'mon the team is dead now that we witnessed Lebron leave. Lebron made that team. Where are the Chicago Cubs? Those loveable losers, talk about fan devotion...

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Originally Posted by rascal

Most fans can't afford to go to the games let alone get the top seats.

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10 dollar seats too much?

Hell they even have discounts at times to lower that even more?!

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Originally Posted by EricB

10 dollar seats too much?

Hell they even have discounts at times to lower that even more?!

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Perhaps not... but not every Spurs fan lives in town and has the benefit of forgoing travel costs to attend games in San Antonio...

Fact of the matter is there are many attendees (including some season ticket holders, gasp!) who simply don't cheer as loudly as those that may only have the chance to come to one or two games per season...

Buying season tickets doesn't entitle anyone to claim they are more of a fan than someone who is less priviledged to do so... but the opposite applies as well...

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Originally Posted by wildbill2u

As much as I love the Spurs, when I saw we were ahead of the Lakers I had to go back and re-read the metrics about how they arrived at the rankings.

Apparently our home fan devotion is enough to overcome metrics on what is probably a lead for the Lakers in home/away attendance and merchanidise sales.

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Lakers are a bandwagon team. Spurs are not. hell half of the fans cheering for LA are there just to see kobe. which is why kobe again sold the most Jerseys.

How can any list not include Packer fans? Any list should have criteria. List should have been separated by sport. Sitting in a cozy, heated/AC'd seat can't compare with freezing your nuts off for 8 hours to see an 8-8 team. Red Sox fans are rabid, not doubt. Hopefully, the Packers will never move to a dome. Viking fans lost their mojo when they went to a dome. Viva Bud Grant!