Study: Detroit Lions Have The NFL's 8th Worst Fanbase
By Dan Jenkins
@DanTJenkins
Get ready, Lions fans. Someone is calling you out!
Emory Sports Marketing Analytics recently released its latest annual "NFL Fan Equity Rankings," which ranks which NFL franchises have the best fanbases based on multiple statistical categories.
The Detroit Lions come in 25th place on the list, followed by the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins.
The Lions haven't historically sat well on this list -- they came in 28th and 24th place in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
Do with that information as you will. The website says that it takes into consideration certain factors such as market, ticket sales, revenue, and others.
"In terms of the nuts and bolts of what we are about to present, we use fifteen years of data on NFL team performance, ticket prices, market populations, median incomes, won-loss records and multiple other factors. We create statistical models of box office revenue, and then see which teams over- and under- perform the model's predictions."
For what it's worth, the Dallas Cowboys are ranked No. 1. The highest-rated "small market" teams are the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers.
You can see the full list HERE.