NFL Fan Rankings: Are Patriots No. 1?

The New England fanbase continues to be known as one of the best in the NFL.

Gillette Stadium is known for being one of the most hostile environments for visiting teams, and a significant portion of that credit goes to the Foxboro Faithful. New England Patriots fans are widely known for their feisty passion and sky-high expectations. 

Mike Lewis, the host of the Fanalytics podcast and a professor of marketing at Emory University's School of Business, recently decided to attempt to quantify the influence of fans on NFL teams and games. His result was a study he revealed this week, complete with a 2022 ranking of the best NFL fanbases.

Patriots fans were ranked second, behind only Green Bay Packers fans. The top five was rounded out by the Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

New England Patriots

New England Patriots

New England Patriots

The rankings were determined using actual statistics as opposed to solely using opinions and media narratives. Some factors that went into the rankings included "fan equity," which referred to the amount of money fans spend on their respective teams, "social equity," which emphasized social media following and showed the overall popularity of fanbases, and "talent equity," which examined how well teams actually performed in relation to their payroll.

New England received an additional shoutout as a prime example of how to build a strong fandom in a region; while the team has sold out season tickets since 1996, it was long considered the "ugly stepchild" of Boston sports. That, of course, changed when Tom Brady and Bill Belichick took the helm and created not only the greatest dynasty in sports history, but also one of the most fiercely loyal fanbases. 

Tom Brady

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Tom Brady

Adam Glanzman, Getty Images

Tom Brady

Despite having a poor 2020 season and disappointing 2021, fans have continued to stay hopeful that the team will achieve its former glory. With the 2022 NFL season quickly approaching, it's clear that the Patriots fanbase will continue to make its presence felt.