A Study Revealed the NFL’s 10 Most

A study of passion within NFL fanbases found market size matters quite a bit.

The impact is not necessarily what one would expect, however, and it was not the only factor.

Is bigger better?

Mid-sized dominance

Ahead of the start of the 107th NFL season, data from Nielsen reveals the most passionate fanbases tend not to be in the largest cities in the league.

The Philadelphia Eagles are the only top five Nielsen market (in terms of size) in the top five of teams in the Nielsen Local NFL Fandom Index.

They are also the only one from the 10 biggest markets in the top five — or the 18 largest for that matter.

Instead, the team with the most passionate fans is from the second-smallest market: The Buffalo Bills.

They are followed by the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers and Cincinnati Bengals — then the Eagles.

At No. 69 nationally, Green Bay is the smallest market in the NFL while Kansas City is 34th and Cincinnati is 37th.

Big market malaise

Scroll down to the bottom of the list and you’ll see another trend.

The four least-passionate fanbases are in New York and Los Angeles, the two largest cities in the country.

What could explain this?

Nielsen suggests it’s greater competition for attention of residents.

Some is likely a matter of splitting the cities among two teams, but that’s not all.

“Large multi-option media hubs such as New York, Los Angeles, and Miami underperformed,” per Nielsen. “In these saturated markets, a wealth of entertainment options and split team loyalties often dilute per-capita intensity, leaving New York at the very bottom of the index.”

Digging deeper

How much does winning matter?

Some, but not necessarily a lot.

The Bills and Chiefs rank second and first in winning percentage over the last five years.

The Packers are eighth, and the Eagles are fourth, but the Bengals are just 13th.

On the flip side, the Cleveland Browns rank 10th in fan passion despite being 26th in winning percentage while the Denver Broncos are not far behind at 12th in passion and 27th in winning percentage.

Success could also be a factor for the teams at the bottom — or not.

While the Giants and the Jets are last in fan passion and No. 31 and 32, respectively, in winning percentage, the Rams and Chargers have both been good over the last five years. The Rams won the Super Bowl in at the end of the 2021 season and have the No. 7 winning percentage over the past five years while the Chargers are perennial playoff contenders and have the No. 15 winning percentage.

More on the methodology

To produce its Fan Passion Index, Nielsen used eight metrics to examine what it calls the full spectrum of modern fandom.

Those are apparel purchases, general interest levels, live event attendance, betting intent, social media engagement, radio listenership, streaming habits, and linear TV viewership.

This story was originally published byMen’s Journalon Aug 19, 2026, where it first appeared in theSportssection. Add Men’s Journal as aPreferred