There are several obvious contenders, cities that have the reputation for caring "more" about their team than others.Particularly in the NFL.
The Philadelphia Eagles come to mind, with that city's fans infamous for maybe caring a bit, too, much.New York and Boston too, with the East Coast mindset and dedication to sports.Then there is Chicago Bears fans, who pack the old, outdated Soldier Field, even in frigid temperatures, to watch a their team, despite years of futility.
Then there's the South, particularly Texas, where football reaches extreme levels of importance and high school teams have 20,000+ seat stadiums.BUFFALO BILLS FANS AT THE BRAND NEW $2.2 BILLION HIGHMARK STADIUM ARE FINDING THEIR VIEWS ARE OBSTRUCTEDWell, Nielsen, the company mostly known for measuring television ratings, attempted to answer this question once and for all.The company released a new "Local NFL fandom index" report on Monday, tracking all 30 NFL markets by eight key metrics to determine which are the most invested in their teams.Josh Allen No.
17 of the Buffalo Bills takes the field against the Cincinnati Bengals during an NFL game at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Dec.7, 2025.
(Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)Those metrics include "apparel purchases, general interest levels, live event attendance, betting intent, social media engagement, radio listenership, streaming habits, and linear TV viewership." What "general interest levels" measure is not clear, nor is how they weighted those metrics to calculate their rankings.But what is clear is that the smaller- or mid-market teams enjoy the highest level of fan engagement and interest, which isn't too surprising given some obvious advantages they have over larger cities.Here's how Nielsen ranked the 30 markets and the "average index" based on their chosen factors.Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes look on during an NFL game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt am Main, Germany...