Largest fanbases in CFB study

#3
#3
VOLnVANDYland said:
I find it very hard to believe there are more Oregon and Syracuse fans that UT fans
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I might have believed Oregon maybe 12 years ago when they were scoring like a video game. Honestly, been years since I have seen any Oregon gear on people out and about.

Syracuse, yeah not buying that either. Nobody has give a crap about Syracuse football since the 50s.
 
#7
#7
stolitonic said:
I might have believed Oregon maybe 12 years ago when they were scoring like a video game. Honestly, been years since I have seen any Oregon gear on people out and about.

Syracuse, yeah not buying that either. Nobody has give a crap about Syracuse football since the 50s.
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Wisconsin surprised me too.
 
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#8
#8
They normalized 2011 and 2014 NYT studies using 2020 census data for much of this.

Fan bases can be fairly fluid with on field success (particularly ticket sales), and the timing likely reflects in this analysis for some schools.

Given all that, I cannot explain the gigantic secret Syracuse CFB fan base.
 
#9
#9
95 Vol Alum said:
They normalized 2011 and 2014 NYT studies using 2020 census data for much of this.

Fan bases can be fairly fluid with on field success (particularly ticket sales), and the timing likely reflects in this analysis for some schools.

Given all that, I cannot explain the gigantic secret Syracuse CFB fan base.
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The only thing I can figure is that they project Syracuse as having a fraction of their fanbase come from the NYC metro area, and even if it is a tiny fraction that is still a significant number of people. A guy I used to work with is originally from NYC and has no ties to the school or city of Syracuse, but is a huge Syracuse basketball fan.

I don't think they have more fans than Tennessee or Auburn, but I bet it is more than we might think. Even if they do have 3.45m fans, it honestly isn't all that impressive because they have huge metro areas to draw on. USC at 4.46m isn't impressive either given the school is located in the 2nd largest metro area in the country.
 
#10
#10
Yeah....I don't believe that. What I call a "fan" and what he calls a "fan" are probably very different things.
 
#11
#11
I’m not even mad about Tennessee given our incompetence the past two decades.

Would love someone to explain how you find that many fans that give a F about Syracuse though?
 
#12
#12
DaddyChad said:
I’m not even mad about Tennessee given our incompetence the past two decades.

Would love someone to explain how you find that many fans that give a F about Syracuse though?
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The only power 5 school in the state with the largest city in the country doesn’t hurt.

Syracuse, Rutgers, and BC are the 3 power 5 schools in closest proximity to NYC. NYC folks look down on folks from Jersey, so Rutgers is out. BC is on freaking Boston, another area most NYC don’t care for. So the next most logical solution is to cheer for your states largest school that has moderate success.
 
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#13
#13
I can see tOSU, Texas and maybe ND as the top 3.......I'm surprised by Florida, Penn State and Wisconsin. Wouldn't have guessed Syracuse to be in the top 30 or 40 but maybe they have a bigger NYC base than I know of? Would have guessed us in the top 10 and Bama in top 5.
 
#14
#14
DaddyChad said:
Would love someone to explain how you find that many fans that give a F about Syracuse though?
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They don't. Syrcause basketball is popular, and not just by virtue of playing in a football stadium that affords a ballooned capacity, but I simply refuse to believe anyone who claims that a football program unable to sell out a 49k seat stadium (routinely getting crowds smaller than 35k, often times in the high 20k range) located four hours from America's largest city/alumni base (not to mention physically in an MSA of 660k, neighbored by Rochester's 1mm+ MSA) has more fans than Tennessee.
 
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#15
#15
TrumpedUpVol said:
They don't. Syrcause basketball is popular, and not just by virtue of playing in a football stadium that affords a ballooned capacity, but I simply refuse to believe anyone who claims that a football program unable to sell out a 49k seat stadium (routinely getting crowds smaller than 35k, often times in the high 20k range) located four hours from America's largest city/alumni base (not to mention physically in an MSA of 660k, neighbored by Rochester's 1mm+ MSA) has more fans than Tennessee.
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Kinda of my thoughts as well, I guess they probably surveyed a bunch of ppl and they just picked Syracuse by proximity or default. Are you really a fan of a program though if you don’t ever attend games or buy anything in support of the program? Certainly is a difference in the passion of fans regionally as well.
 
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#16
#16
I would replace Syracuse and Auburn with maybe the likes of Oklahoma and Kentucky
 
#18
#18
DaddyChad said:
Kinda of my thoughts as well, I guess they probably surveyed a bunch of ppl and they just picked Syracuse by proximity or default. Are you really a fan of a program though if you don’t ever attend games or buy anything in support of the program? Certainly is a difference in the passion of fans regionally as well.
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Brother, I think you need to look at what being a fan means. Quite honestly, most cfb fans do not inhabit boards such as this, attend every game, buy every piece of memorabilia, etc.

We are the fringe element of cfb fans lol.
 
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#19
#19
stolitonic said:
Brother, I think you need to look at what being a fan means. Quite honestly, most cfb fans do not inhabit boards such as this, attend every game, buy every piece of memorabilia, etc.

We are the fringe element of cfb fans lol.
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I think the exact definition is “enthusiastic supporter”. Well there’s different levels of enthusiasm. Idk where or if you draw the line anywhere as far as casual vs die hard fans. And at some point those stats have more meaning as far as revenue generated by a program etc.
 
#20
#20
DaddyChad said:
Kinda of my thoughts as well, I guess they probably surveyed a bunch of ppl and they just picked Syracuse by proximity or default. Are you really a fan of a program though if you don’t ever attend games or buy anything in support of the program? Certainly is a difference in the passion of fans regionally as well.
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I think there are a lot of people in NYC (not compared to the size of that city, but a high absolute number) that tune into Syracuse games (especially basketball) and you could probably consider fans of the team. If Syracuse is capturing even just a tiny fraction of sports fans in NYC, that is still a significant number of people.

I think that looking at the absolute size of the fanbase is kind of misleading though. Maybe Syracuse actually does have more people you could count as fans than Auburn or Tennessee do. I kind of doubt it, but it is possible. Syracuse's fanbase, even though it might be larger in absolute terms, has a fraction of the enthusiasm/passion and spends a fraction of the money.

Plus, Syracuse is a basketball school, so I wouldn't expect them to sell out the Carrier Dome for football games even if it was located in Midtown Manhattan.
 
#21
#21
05_never_again said:
I think there are a lot of people in NYC (not compared to the size of that city, but a high absolute number) that tune into Syracuse games (especially basketball) and you could probably consider fans of the team. If Syracuse is capturing even just a tiny fraction of sports fans in NYC, that is still a significant number of people.

I think that looking at the absolute size of the fanbase is kind of misleading though. Maybe Syracuse actually does have more people you could count as fans than Auburn or Tennessee do. I kind of doubt it, but it is possible. Syracuse's fanbase, even though it might be larger in absolute terms, has a fraction of the enthusiasm/passion and spends a fraction of the money.

Plus, Syracuse is a basketball school, so I wouldn't expect them to sell out the Carrier Dome for football games even if it was located in Midtown Manhattan.
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One of the sources cited in that slide show does not appear to show that Syracuse is that popular there. By that study, Syracuse is the 6th most popular college football team in NYC market and while their basketball team is most likely more popular, I don't see it jumping up that considerably.

The Geography of College Football Fans (and Realignment Chaos)

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