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College Football Map by Tickets Sold Tells Interesting Story About Most Popular Teams
As we wait for the college football season to get underway, there are a seemingly infinite number of ways to judge teams against one another. It will all be played out on the gridiron soon enough, but until then, fans and analysts will be looking through the lenses of preseason polls, recruiting classes, and more.
Another fun way to look at things is by tickets sold, and StubHub provided an interesting territorial map that gives an unofficial look at the geographical layout of which teams are most popular based on tickets sold in each state.
Here's how it looks:
Here's a look at each state's most popular team based on the tickets sold:
State | Most popular team |
|---|---|
Alabama | Alabama Crimson Tide |
Alaska | Washington Huskies |
Arizona | Arizona Wildcats |
Arkansas | Arkansas Razorbacks |
California | USC Trojans |
Colorado | Colorado Buffaloes |
Connecticut | Penn State Nittany Lions |
Delaware | Penn State Nittany Lions |
Washington D.C. | Penn State Nittany Lions |
Florida | Florida Gators |
Georgia | Georgia Bulldogs |
Hawaii | Oregon Ducks |
Idaho | Boise State Broncos |
Illinois | Illinois Fighting Illini |
Indiana | Purdue Boilermakers |
Iowa | Iowa Hawkeyes |
Kansas | Kansas State Wildcats |
Kentucky | Kentucky Wildcats |
Louisiana | LSU Tigers |
Maine | Navy Midshipmen |
Maryland | Penn State Nittany Lions |
Massachusetts | Boston College Eagles |
Michigan | Michigan Wolverines |
Minnesota | Minnesota Golden Gophers |
Mississippi | Ole Miss Rebels |
Missouri | Missouri Tigers |
Montana | Montana State Bobcats |
Nebraska | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
Nevada | USC Trojans |
New Hampshire | Penn State Nittany Lions |
New Jersey | Penn State Nittany Lions |
New Mexico | Texas Tech Raiders |
New York | Navy Midshipmen |
North Carolina | NC State Wolfpack |
North Dakota | Colorado Buffaloes |
Ohio | Ohio State Buckeyes |
Oklahoma | Oklahoma Sooners |
Oregon | Oregon Ducks |
Pennsylvania | Penn State Nittany Lions |
Rhode Island | South Carolina Gamecocks |
South Carolina | Clemson Tigers |
South Dakota | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
Tennessee | Tennessee Volunteers |
Texas | Texas Longhorns |
Utah | Utah Utes |
Vermont | Boston College Eagles |
Virginia | Virginia Tech Hokies |
Washington | Washington Huskies |
West Virginia | West Virginia Mountaineers |
Here is a look at the fanbases by number of states they led, ordered by the sum of estimated populations of those states.
School | States | Population sum estimate |
|---|---|---|
USC Trojans | 2 | 42.2 million |
Penn State Nittany Lions | 7 | 35.2 million |
Texas Longhorns | 1 | 30.5 million |
Florida Gators | 1 | 22.6 million |
Navy Midshipmen | 2 | 21.0 million |
Illinois Fighting Illini | 1 | 12.5 million |
Ohio State Buckeyes | 1 | 11.8 million |
Georgia Bulldogs | 1 | 11.0 million |
NC State Wolfpack | 1 | 10.8 million |
Michigan Wolverines | 1 | 10.0 million |
Virginia Tech Hokies | 1 | 8.7 million |
Washington Huskies | 2 | 8.5 million |
Boston College Eagles | 2 | 7.6 million |
Arizona Wildcats | 1 | 7.4 million |
Tennessee Volunteers | 1 | 7.1 million |
Purdue Boilermakers | 1 | 6.9 million |
Colorado Buffaloes | 2 | 6.7 million |
Missouri Tigers | 1 | 6.2 million |
Minnesota Golden Gophers | 1 | 5.7 million |
Oregon Ducks | 2 | 5.7 million |
Clemson Tigers | 1 | 5.4 million |
Alabama Crimson Tide | 1 | 5.1 million |
LSU Tigers | 1 | 4.6 million |
Kentucky Wildcats | 1 | 4.5 million |
Oklahoma Sooners | 1 | 4.1 million |
Utah Utes | 1 | 3.4 million |
Iowa Hawkeyes | 1 | 3.2 million |
Arkansas Razorbacks | 1 | 3.1 million |
Kansas State Wildcats | 1 | 2.9 million |
Ole Miss Rebels | 1 | 2.9 million |
Nebraska Cornhuskers | 2 | 2.9 million |
Texas Tech Red Raiders | 1 | 2.1 million |
Boise State Broncos | 1 | 2.0 million |
West Virginia Mountaineers | 1 | 1.8 million |
Montana State Bobcats | 1 | 1.1 million |
South Carolina Gamecocks | 1 | 1.1 million |
Some other key callouts:
- The Colorado Buffaloes are drumming up interest in their home state as well as in North Dakota
- Purdue beats out Notre Dame in Indiana.
- The Penn State Nittany Lions and the Navy Midshipmen were dominant in the Northeast, taking seven and three states, respectively.
- The best geographic travelers are the Oregon Ducks, who are separated by 2,560 miles as the crow flies (using state capitals).
- The best continental U.S. travelers are the South Carolina Gamecocks, separated by 752 miles as the crow flies (using state capitals). They won Rhode Island, but not their home state (Clemson won there).
College football kicks off later this month, and fans can't wait to see how it pans out under the new era of conference alignment.
Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.