Vols 16th most populous fanbase?

#3
#3
I don't know about the researcher's methodology, but I do know that he's about 1.5m to 2.5m low on the Tennessee fan base.

Other estimates I've seen over the years have always put us in the 5m to 6m range. This guy has us under 3.5m.

Some of the comments on his work have noted he's from the northeast and spent time on the west coast, as well. That may be motive for a bias that raises Syracuse, Oregon, USC, and a lot of the B10 teams a bit beyond reality, while nudging SEC teams below actuality.

Anyway, I couldn't find a source for his research methods, so we'll likely never know.

All we know for sure is he's estimating the Vols fan base a couple of million low compared to all previous counts.

Go Vols!
 
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#4
#4
VFL-82-JP said:
I don't know about the researcher's methodology, but I do know that he's about 1.5m to 2.5m low on the Tennessee fan base.

Other estimates I've seen over the years have always put us in the 5m to 6m range. This guy has us under 3.5m.

Some of the comments on his work have noted he's from the northeast and spent time on the west coast, as well. That may be motive for a bias that raises Syracuse, Oregon, USC, and a lot of the B10 teams a bit beyond reality, while nudging SEC teams below actuality.

Anyway, I couldn't find a source for his research methods, so we'll likely never know.

All we know for sure is he's estimating the Vols fan base a couple of million low compared to all previous counts.

Go Vols!
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There's just no way we aren't 16th. I think we have a lot of dormant fans too that checked out that will return when we are good again.
 
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#5
#5
Having Oregon so high with 5.5 million supposed fans is strikingly dubious and calls the whole list into question for me. That number is a million more than the state population of 4.3 million. Even if there weren't any Oregon State fans (the Ducks' main historical rival), that number would seem high. Probably more than half of Oregon's population is made up people who moved here from out-of-state during the last few decades and who don't have any reason to care about the Ducks or the Beavers.

Anecdotally, I can tell you that after living here for the past 25 years, college football in general isn't nearly as culturally prominent as it is in Tennessee and other states I've visited. It's just not that big of a deal here for most people I know. The guy mentions Phil Knight's association with the program, but that's more of a media fascination than anything that drives fan interest.
 
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#6
#6
I think we were 6 million strong @ 2001.
We could be in the 5 million range easily if we compete for championships and playoffs for a few seasons. We have less built-in competition that UGA and Bama.
 
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#8
#8
According to the article we are tied with Auburn for 15th. Total disrespect to list them first.

I’m so glad they removed the tie from college football.
 
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#9
#9
It comes down to winning.

We’ve lost how many generations of UT fans since those mattresses burned around campus?

Incompetent leadership and disinterested administrations torched this place. The diehards stayed but all the folks just in the gravitational pull of that floated away a long time ago.

Start winning again and in 10 years we’ll be back in the top 5.
 
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#11
#11
Clear sec bias here. I can assure you with homers alabama's fan base is just as big as OSUs. I say add 1-3 million to the SEC teams for underreporting.

And if you are going to try and tell me that Syracuse has more fans than OK or Neb I'll tell you are crackin smoke! Heck even Iowa and Wisconsin have more fans than Syracuse.

I live in Colorado: Yeah we have Air Force and Colorado fans but Nebraska is still quite popular here. Also, as a non-SEC/B1G state it is easy to tell most of the fans are SEC with a few Mich/OSU/Iowa/BYU/PSU/ND/Tex fans slathered in. I could probably go 5 years without seeing a Syracuse fan, and really have to look hard for USC/UCLA/Miami/FSU/Wash/NC fan
 
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#12
#12
It's not SEC bias... Football is bigger in the south. It just is. There are some surprises here, but our placement just shows the effects of the last 18-20 years. There is not a fair weather fan amongst those 3.2 mil though... and we are the only fan base that cares enough to throw golf balls.
 
#13
#13
UT is at a disadvantage to many schools, especially the Big10, on school size. For example, OSU UG enrollment is 46k compared to UTK of 25k. Likewise, PSU is 47k (main campus). In this fight, we may have to settle for “outpunching our weight”.
 
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#15
#15
Wait till Tennessee's football program starts winning again

It will shoot up this and any similar list in a heartbeat
 
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#17
#17
VAVol85 said:
UT is at a disadvantage to many schools, especially the Big10, on school size. For example, OSU UG enrollment is 46k compared to UTK of 25k. Likewise, PSU is 47k (main campus). In this fight, we may have to settle for “outpunching our weight”.
Click to expand...

If that is the case, you would expect UCF to have a big fanbase with enrollment over 70,000 students.

aTm has 73,000 but I think that includes satellite campuses like San Antonio, etc.
 
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#19
#19
VAVol85 said:
UT is at a disadvantage to many schools, especially the Big10, on school size. For example, OSU UG enrollment is 46k compared to UTK of 25k. Likewise, PSU is 47k (main campus). In this fight, we may have to settle for “outpunching our weight”.
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There is no way in hell PSU has more football fans than we do.
 
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#20
#20
The highest-grossing football programs in college football are... | Footballscoop

Really like this a little better as well. Kind of shows what “fans” put into their programs each year.

And by reference Syracuse isn’t even close to the top of the ACC in revenue brought in each year by football. In fact it brings in about half what the last programs on this list bring in. This is simply them asking some random New Yorkers what college football team they support.

Most glaring is the passion by programs like Tennessee and Nebraska given how terrible those two programs have been in the last few decades.
 
#22
#22
HuntlandVolinColo said:
If that is the case, you would expect UCF to have a big fanbase with enrollment over 70,000 students.

aTm has 73,000 but I think that includes satellite campuses like San Antonio, etc.
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UCF has a lot of commuter students and part time students. Also, they are relatively new, have no tradition, and don’t play in a P5 conference. Also, because there are so many things to do in Orlando and other teams to follow, UCF does not attract as many non-alumni.

Lots of things play into fanbase size, but when you are generating alumni only half as fast as some of your competitors, you have to be twice as passionate. Luckily UT fans are.
 
#23
#23
VAVol85 said:
UCF has a lot of commuter students and part time students. Also, they are relatively new, have no tradition, and don’t play in a P5 conference. Also, because there are so many things to do in Orlando and other teams to follow, UCF does not attract as many non-alumni.

Lots of things play into fanbase size, but when you are generating alumni only half as fast as some of your competitors, you have to be twice as passionate. Luckily UT fans are.
Click to expand...

I know, I just threw it out there because most people don't realize how big that school is from an enrollment standpoint.
 
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