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Grrrrr: Bears Fans Not Best in NFL, Study Says

By DNAinfo Staff | July 10, 2015 1:00pm | Updated on July 10, 2015 3:19pm
 A Bears fan is seen in this file photo.
A Bears fan is seen in this file photo.
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Getty Images/Leon Halip

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears are number ... six.

No, that's not the pre-season prediction for where they'll finish in the NFC. That's where the team's fan base ranks, according to a new study.

Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta looked at a number of factors in trying to rank football's best fans. Using 15 years of data they were basically trying to determine which team best sustained interest even in bad years.

The "fan equity" rankings put the Dallas Cowboys at the top; they have "a storied history, a market that loves all forms of football and a world-class stadium," say marketing professors Mike Lewis and Manish Tripathi.

At the bottom of the list, at No. 32, is the Miami Dolphins, which may be linked to Florida having so many transplants who are still allied with the teams in their former homes. The Jacksonville Jaguars are ranked No. 29.

The key to building fan equity, the researchers write, is "championships and deep playoff runs." Just getting to the early rounds of the playoffs does little to sustain long-term interest that will remain even during bad seasons, they say.

"The Packers or Steelers will sell-out the year after they go 6-10, not so much for the Jaguars," they write.

A writer for a Packers blog at SB Nation takes issue with the Emory methodology. (Packer fans rank 7.) But a similar Bears blog notes Chicago fans take the top spot ... in the NFC North.

1. Dallas

2. New England 

3. New York Giants

4. Baltimore

5. New York Jets

6. Chicago

7. Green Bay

8. New Orleans

9. Indianapolis

10. San Francisco

11. Philadelphia

12. Houston

13. Denver

14. Pittsburgh

15. Washington

16. Tennessee

17. San Diego

18. Minnesota

19. Arizona

20. Atlanta

21. Tampa Bay

22. Carolina

23. St. Louis

24. Cincinnati

25. Detroit

26. Seattle

27. Kansas City

28. Buffalo 

29. Jacksonville

30. Oakland

31. Cleveland

32. Miami

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