A Biased Ranking of All 32 NFL Team Fanbases

This season, I was watching the Green Bay Packers play the Los Angeles Rams and was struck by the fact that the Rams had their own stadium taken over again by visiting fans. I thought back to the biggest games in the history of the Rams and also the Los Angeles Chargers and couldn’t think of a single time one of them could even make up the majority of fans in the stadium.

This got me thinking about the different fanbases and how they are definitely not created equal. While this list will certainly be biased, and I will disclose that I am a Packers fan for full transparency, I’ve been to a fair amount of NFL games and watched more than enough to feel that I can give a pretty solid ranking of all fanbases. So without further ado, let’s rank all 32 NFL team Fanbases.

A Biased Ranking of All 32 NFL Team Fanbases

Elite

1) Buffalo Bills

The only correct answer is the Buffalo Bills. Bills Mafia is truly full of the craziest, most die-hard fans in the league. They’ve been through a lot and still go balls to the wall for this team every Sunday. They travel so well Walmart literally stocks up on folding tables before the arrive. Congrats Bills fans, you’re finally the best in the league at something.

2) Philadelphia Eagles

You can’t mention crazy without the City of Philadelphia. This fanbase is ruthless, mean, and never shut the hell up, but you have to respect it. They climb light posts, eat horse crap after winning the Super Bowl, and pelt Santa with snowballs just because they can. They are definitely toxic, but you can’t argue they won’t support their team until their dying breath.

3) Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh area is a lot like Philadelphia, with the exception of the insane craziness. With that said, their fans always show up and are the definition of die-hard fans. They do have an odd obsession with “Renegade” and that was enough to give Philadelphia the edge. Seriously, pick a better song.

T-4) Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears fans are dumb, but they are the lovable type of dumb. They hype up their random rookie quarterbacks before they even take a snap, yell “Green Bay Sucks!” down 20+ points, and always believe they’re going to “run the north” for no other reason than blind optimism. Even though they have a love/hate relationship with their team, you can’t say they aren’t “all in” 365 days a year.

T-4) Green Bay Packers

I can’t call Bears fans dumb without pointing out the lack of intelligence exhibited by my own fanbase. I have also fallen into the multiple traps that Green Bay Packers fans fall into each year. With that being said, this team’s fanbase can’t be questioned. A season ticket waiting list with over 148,000 names and a wait time of over 60 years tells you all you need to know about these fans.

Great

6) New Orleans Saints

There’s a reason no one likes to play in the Superdome and it’s because few places in the NFL get louder. They have no reason to pump in fan noise (although they probably still do anyway) and they show up every single night. These fans have rallied around the team even more since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Saints and City of New Orleans are now synonymous.

7) Baltimore Ravens

Much like the Saints, the Baltimore Ravens are Baltimore. While it does help that the team is good, the fans are as rabid and hard-nosed as their 2000 defense. They know how to fill a stadium, they live for their team, and few places are tougher to play in than the Bank.

8) Cleveland Browns

The fact that these fans continue to put up with this team after all the crap the Cleveland Browns have put on the field in recent memory is insane. They are loud, for some reason proud, and are behind whoever is at the helm of the team 100%. For that, Browns fans always deserve some respect.

9) Detroit Lions

Even when the Detroit Lions were horrifically bad, they still at least somewhat filled up Ford Field. Their fans are as gritty as their team and have their team’s back even when they don’t deserve it. Lions fans travel incredibly well and have taken a ton of crap for years in stride which in itself is impressive.

10) New York Jets

The New York Jets would be higher, but you can’t be an elite fan base when your most well-known fan Fireman Ed “retires” at halftime in the middle of a season just two years removed from back-to-back AFC Championship appearances.

Solid

11) Dallas Cowboys

I know that a lot of Dallas Cowboys fans are die-hard fans. But they also have a ton of bandwagon fans that tank their ranking. The worst person you knew in high school was probably a Cowboys fan and they also have to be one of the most obnoxious fanbases in all of sports which takes them from borderline “elite” to number 11.

12) Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings fans are like Bears fans except they don’t have anything to brag about. Sure, they show up, but they stole their whole “Skol” chant from the Iceland National Football Team. You can’t be a solid fanbase when your whole shtick is something that you stole from a soccer team. I would’ve put them above Dallas, but the incredibly dumb horn they blow after seemingly every play that they all think is so cool knocks them down a spot.

13) Seattle Seahawks

Fewer stadiums have ever gotten as loud as Lumen Field. The fans pack the house and they can help create one of the best home-field advantages in the NFL. The operative word in that sentence was “can” as they haven’t been as loud or proud now that they aren’t contenders every year. Just like the Vikings, you can’t make the “12th Man” your thing when you stole it from Texas A&M.

14) New York Giants

Although they are helped by having the largest stadium in the NFL, there’s no question that the Giants fanbase shows up in numbers any given Sunday. Even when the team is bad, they show up and give the team everything they have. Their spot in the rankings is no knock to them, it’s just that they aren’t crazy or rabid enough to put them any higher on the list.

15) Atlanta Falcons

In 2022, Atlanta missed the playoffs for the fifth straight year and finished 7-10 for the second straight season. Even with a poor product and a stadium that ranks 11th in capacity, the Falcons were eighth in home attendance. These fans show up, even with all their recent heartbreak, and make Atlanta a tougher place to play than most people give credit.

16) Denver Broncos

Although they fly under the radar, there’s no denying that Denver’s fanbase is solid. Even in 2022 when they were terrible under Nathaniel Hackett and had a measly 5-12 record, the Broncos were 13th in home attendance

17) San Francisco 49ers

If Dallas Cowboys fans are the worst people you knew in high school, 49ers fans are the worst people you know today. While San Francisco fans are loud now, they weren’t so loud during the tough times in the early-mid 2000s. They are seemingly more interested in starting fights than supporting their team at times, but their commitment to a team that hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 1994 is admirable.

18) Kansas City Chiefs

Like the Cowboys, the actual Kansas City Chiefs fans get a bad look from all the fair-weathered fans that will bounce the moment Patrick Mahomes retires or when Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift inevitably break up. Chiefs fans are loyal and do deserve some credit. At the same time, I’m not letting you off the hook for your racist Tomahawk Chop chant. Seriously, what are we doing here? You can’t think of anything else?

19) Washington Commanders

Although their fans haven’t looked good in any recent attendance rankings, a good amount of that can be attributed to a sleazy man named Dan Snyder who didn’t care about anything but money. It’s hard to blame fans for not showing up to a stadium that was literally falling apart. It’s been evident in how quickly they embraced this team when Snyder finally sold the team that all they ask for is some effort, which is pretty admirable.

20) Jacksonville Jaguars

As annoying as the “DUVALL” chant may be, at least it’s original. Although it is hard to decipher how many people really do support the team in Jacksonville, they have consistently shown out for big games. They aren’t die-hard fans, but they’re respectable.

Bad

21) Carolina Panthers

Look, I understand David Tepper is an ass. I get you don’t want to support him. With that being said, I can’t understand how you have beautiful weather during the winter and you allow ticket prices to plummet to around $3-5 per ticket, and you still can’t fill the stadium. I can’t call a fanbase anything other than bad if their fans won’t give up the equivalent of two candy bars to see their team in person.

22) Tennessee Titans

Like Jacksonville, it’s hard to know how many people really do support the team in Nashville. The fans don’t travel well, if at all, and they are constantly being outnumbered by visiting fans in their own stadium. A piece of advice for prospective expansion teams: if it’s not hockey, Nashville probably won’t support it.

23) Houston Texans

To be fair to the Texans, they are a newer team. Still, it seems like they should have more support and a more trustworthy fanbase by now. The J.J. Watt years are long gone and the crowd hasn’t been the same since. Maybe CJ Stroud can inject some life back into this fanbase.

24) Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts are one of 10 teams to have a dome or roof of some kind on their stadium. They seem to be one of the only teams that can never get it loud. If you play in a closed environment and can’t make noise a factor even for big games, you can’t be listed anywhere else but in the 20’s.

25) Miami Dolphins

While Miami’s attendance issues can be explained by their small stadium, they are just another fanbase that seems more than okay with selling their tickets to any game where they can get more than face value. Without Tua Tagovailoa on the field, which is unfortunately no longer a rarity, this fanbase doesn’t show up and frankly doesn’t care.

26) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Much like the Titans, Jaguars and Panthers, there are not many games where their stands aren’t at least close to outnumbered by the away fans. Tom Brady brought some of their swagger back, but too many fans left the moment Brady retired for them to be considered a solid fanbase.

27) New England Patriots

It remains to be seen how big the Patriots’ fanbase actually is. After years of being buoyed by Tom Brady fanboys and the worst guy you knew in college, we’re finally seeing that their fans only care if their team is winning. New England deserves better, but I wouldn’t expect much more with how spoiled Boston fans have become.

28) Cincinnati Bengals

I understand that Paycor Stadium is the seventh-smallest stadium in the NFL, but in a 2022 season where they finished 12-4, the Cincinnati Bengals were dead last in home attendance by over 30,000 fans. If you can’t show up for a good team after a lack of postseason success for decades, you’re not a serious fanbase.

Move The Team

29) Las Vegas Raiders

This isn’t an indictment on their real fans in Oakland, but their “base” in Las Vegas just doesn’t do it. Yeah, Jerry from accounting still dresses in all black and gets air time every week, but this Las Vegas Raiders fanbase is just a cheap knockoff. Send them back to Oakland, please.

30) Arizona Cardinals

Have you ever seen an Arizona Cardinals fan in the wild? Seriously, the only time you see a jersey or hear people root for them, it’s some pre-teen who also probably thinks Kyler Murray is the best quarterback of all time. This fanbase hasn’t been seen since Kurt Warner decided to literally throw Super Bowl XLIII away to James Harrison and the Steelers.

T-31) Los Angeles Chargers & Los Angeles Rams

To be fair, their actual fans in San Diego and St. Louis were quite good, but they were just abandoned due to greed. With that in mind, their “fanbases” in LA are laughably bad. They sell more tickets to away fans than their own and have probably the least influential “home-field advantage” of all time. Simply put their “fanbase” in LA barely even exists.