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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