For years, Seattle’s 12s have been considered one of the best fan bases in the NFL, known for their deafening noise and their ability to turn CenturyLink Field into one of the most hostile environments in the league.
However, there is a new study the 12s are likely to take issue with. Professor Michael Lewis from Emory University published his annual statistical ranking of all 32 fan bases of the NFL, and Seahawks fans landed at No. 15.
Lewis’ model judges each fan base on three categories:
Fan Equity (Seattle rank: No. 18) – This factors in how much financial support the fans give their team. Are fans showing up to games and buying merchandise or do they mostly support from their couches at home?
Road Equity (Seattle rank: No. 24) – How well does the fan base travel to away games? Since home games are understandably easier for the majority of each fan base to attend, factoring in how much they are willing to travel is critical to this model.
Social Equity (Seattle rank No. 8) – How active are the fans involved online? Are they joining social media pages and message boards to show their support?
The one area Seahawks fans excel in this model is social equity, which makes sense because they have created a unique culture on Twitter. As for road equity, the Seahawks are the most geographically isolated team in the league. It’s a flight of a couple of hours to the nearest NFL cities in the Bay Area.
While Seahawks fans may be disappointed and disagree with this ranking, they might take solace in the fact the Rams were ranked dead last.
The entire rankings:
