A recent study examining NFL fanbases by an Emory University professor may ruffle some feathers around Baltimore, as the analysis characterized the city’s fans as below average in loyalty relative to other professional football fans around the country.
Michael Lewis — a professor at Emory’s Goizueta Business School — released his annual analysis of NFL followings last week. The report — a quantitive analysis that aims to measure the loyalty of fans — put the Ravens fanbase as the 18th-best in the league. It’s a slight downgrade from last year, when Baltimore claimed the No. 16 spot on Lewis’s 2018 iteration of the list.
In order to produce a quantitative definition of fan loyalty, Lewis relies on three metrics — fan equity (fan spending on the team), social equity (a team’s social media following) and road equity (number of supporters at road games when adjusted for performance). After running these metrics through a statistical tool, Lewis says he is left with a model that controls for market size and short-term team performance, which ultimately produces “balanced analyses of fandom.”
Though the Ravens had lackluster rankings in both social (No. 18) and road equity (No. 31), they can hang their hats on some ardent financial support from their backers — Baltimore graded out as the No. 6 franchise in fan equity.
Elsewhere in the AFC North, the Pittsburgh Steelers placed at No. 5 in overall rank, the Cleveland Browns at No. 27 and the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 28.
