A recent study, published by two Emory University professors, suggests that Dallas Cowboys fans are the best, or, as the study's authors put it; "the most avid, engaged, passionate and supportive fans," in the NFL.
*Cue angry responses
Manish Tripathi and Mike Lewis, the authors of the study, cite a fair amount of historical precedent to support their findings.
"We use fifteen years of data on NFL team performance, ticket prices, market populations, median incomes, won-loss records and multiple other factors," Tripathi wrote on the Emory Sports Marketing Analytics blog. "We create statistical models of box office revenue, and then see which teams over- and under- perform the model's predictions."
While the Dallas faithful are allegedly quite...faithful...the Miami Dolphins and their apparently wayward supporters come in dead-last.
Just what hard data did Tripathi and Lewis use to determine their rankings?
"By hard data we mean data on actual fan behavior. In particular, we are focused on market outcomes like attendance, prices or revenues. A lot of marketing research focused on branding issues relies on things like consumer surveys. This is fine in some ways, but opinion surveys are also problematic. It's one thing to just say you are a fan of a local team, and quite another to be willing to pay several thousand dollars to purchase a season ticket."
The pair even attempted to control of temporary changes in environment - meaning a bad team isn't likely to draw as many fans, while a good team is bound to see a major spike in fan engagement. But as Tripathi and Lewis note, the "real quality" of a sports brand is rooted in fanbases will continue to buy t-shirts and slurp down beers despite being faced with a mediocre-to-bad team.
"The Packers or Steelers will sell-out the year after they go 6-10, not so much for the Jaguars. The other thing that separates sports brands from consumer brands is the cities themselves. The support a New York team gets in terms of attendance and pricing is always going to be tough to achieve for the team in Charlotte."
Per the study, the Cowboys wound up atop the rankings thanks largely to a fanbase that is and always has been ravenous where football is concerned and what they deem a "world-class stadium," in Jerry Jones' mecca to the ostentatious, AT&T Stadium.
As for the Dolphins winding up on the bottom, all Tripathi and Lewis can point to is the fact that teams in Florida simply don't seem to have the same type of support as others across the nation - the Jaguars also clock in amongst the bottom-five.
Check out Tripathi and Lewis' full rankings list below (h/t to CBSSports.com)...
1. Cowboys
2. Patriots
3. Giants
4. Ravens
5. Jets
6. Bears
7. Packers
8. Saints
9. Colts
10. 49ers
11. Eagles
12. Texans
13. Broncos
14. Steelers
15. Redskins
16. Titans
17. Chargers
18. Vikings
19. Cardinals
20. Falcons
21. Buccaneers
22. Panthers
23. Rams
24. Bengals
25. Lions
26. Seahawks
27. Chiefs
28. Bills
29. Jaguars
30. Raiders
31. Browns
32. Dolphins