Top 5 Fan Bases in the NFL

There’s no doubt football is America’s biggest sport, and the NFL’s passionate fan bases always steal the spotlight but which one is the greatest?

Crazy Passion for the Game

NFL fan bases are a large part of why professional football is so popular. With so many rabid rooters across the 32-team landscape, there’s no doubt the games themselves have become events. Fans aren’t above traveling to road games, even abroad as the game has gone global, braving the elements (and the costs) to see their favorites in action. Adorned in team apparel, these diehards often arrive hours early to begin their stadium experience at a tailgate party.

Choosing the top five among NFL fan bases is quite subjective, but perhaps the best way to start with teams that have a history

Here’s a look at some of those… 

Which NFL Team Is Best for Fans?

NFL news and NFL standings have the football fans’ attention not only throughout the season but the offseason as well. Supporters are consumed with the latest bits of information, including roster and draft moves, injuries, coaching changes, etc.

Of course, games themselves tend to be religious experiences, with those living and dying as they analyze just about every play.

If you’re asking which NFL team is best for fans, that’s a highly debatable area to explore. It’s not easy being a fan in this era, certainly cost-prohibitive in just about every market. Teams did improve the game-day experience starting a few seasons ago, adding some features including state-of-the-art audio and video inside the stadium.

Teams have also tried to make their players more accessible in the form of open practices during training camp as well as select meet-and-greets during the season.            H3: Which NFL Team Has the Biggest Fan Base?

Betting on NFL games has grown exponentially as gambling has become both legalized and accepted throughout the majority of the United States and the world.

Football dwarfs all other sports in terms of wagering, providing an interesting dynamic of people who have been known to bet with their hearts and not their heads. Is it borderline sacrilegious to have a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, “America’s Team,” wager against the star on the helmet?

Despite not winning a Super Bowl in three decades, there’s a strong sentiment that the Cowboys have the biggest fan base in the NFL. According to 2023 statistics, and because they play in the biggest venue (number of seats), Dallas averaged more than 93,000 fans per game.

You’d never make a mistake injecting the Green Bay Packers and their cheesehead gallery into this conversation, nor the Buffalo Bills and their “mafia” mainstays.

The two teams representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers, would both be considered in the category as well.

What Is the Least Popular Team in the NFL?

The least popular team in the NFL is another subjective category, but the Jacksonville Jaguars are on this list. Jacksonville has made annual trips overseas in the hopes of gaining new fans, but the team’s middling level of success has not helped.

Also, the Indianapolis Colts were chosen as “least popular” in a poll based on online searches.

Do not discount the ineptitude of the New York Giants and/or New York Jets, the latter owning the league’s longest postseason drought (14 seasons through 2024).  

What NFL Team Has the Lowest Fanbase?

Among the NFL fan bases, teams with marginal levels of success in limited-size markets would be obvious contenders. Hence, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts are logical candidates in this category.

Any Final Thoughts?

NFL games odds and lines are not supposed to take into account the popularity of a certain team, but who’s to say it never factors? This is returning us to the issue of “betting with your heart instead of your head.”

If a team that is perceived to be popular is playing an unpopular one, perhaps the undecided, flip-a-coin bettor goes with the former, wanting to hop on what he/she thinks is a bigger bandwagon in that game.

That’s not necessarily the best strategy, however.