Birmingham is the #1 college football market in the U.S. according to Nielsen’s 2026 Local College Football Fandom Index.
Nielsen, the agency that tracks what America watches and buys, dropped their Fandom Index this week just ahead of the 2026 season opener.
Birmingham tops nearly every college football fandom category
The data group did more than survey TV viewership for their Fandom Index. They looked into a number of categories including:
- Apparel purchases
- General interest levels
- Live-event attendance
- Betting intent
- Social media engagement
- Radio listenership
- Streaming habits
- Linear TV viewership
Birmingham ranked near the top in nearly every category Nielsen tracked, finishing first nationally in interest level and live-event attendance. It came in second for social media engagement, third in radio listenership, streaming and TV viewership, and fourth in apparel purchases.
The category where Birmingham ranked lowest was betting intent, coming in 10th. That’s likely tied to Alabama’s ban on sports gambling rather than a lack of enthusiasm — especially considering how dominant Birmingham was across every other measure of fandom.
“The ranking really mirrors what we saw when we did this for the NFL (Fandom Index) recently. It’s not the big markets (that top the list), it’s the smaller markets where there’s less sports competition from an attention standpoint. Less pro teams.
“Obviously, you’re right in the middle of SEC country, the most successful conference. You’ve got Alabama and Auburn nearby, two powerhouse programs. So you put all that together, and that’s how Birmingham ended up at the top of the list.”
Jon Miller, a senior director with the Nielsen Insights Lab
Nielsen College Fandom top 12 list
Six of the top 10 markets on Nielsen’s list are near SEC towns. Here’s the full top 12 list:
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Des Moines/Ames, Iowa
- Columbus, Ohio
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Chattanooga, Tennessee
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Charleston, West Virginia
- Austin, Texas
Do you think Nielsen got the ranking right? Let us know who you’d move up the list.
