Out of all the fans of the 32 teams in the National Football League, Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans came in dead last when it came to just being fans.
The online ticket broker TicketCity's annual study of the NFL’s Most Engaged Fan Base put the Bucs fans at the very bottom.
The study looked at criteria from social media activity, to average game attendance, to average ticket prices, to the percentage of stadium capacity filled at home games. Not all criteria was weighed the same. For example, home game attendance weighed more than Twitter followers.
TicketCity COO Zach Anderson said home game attendance is what really hurt the Bucs' ranking.
"When you're second to bottom on home attendance and fifth in the bottom in terms of average ticket price, that's going to weigh heavily in terms of your fan engagement because ultimately what's always best is about getting people out to the games," said Anderson.
The Bucs weren't the only Florida team to score low. The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Miami Dolphins ranked in the bottom 5.
Why aren't Floridians better team fans?
They're probably already rooting for other teams. Anderson said the lack of engagement among Florida teams could be because most fans in Florida are transplant fans.
"Florida is one of those markets like D.C. where not everybody who lives there grew up there and is a fan of the home team," Anderson said. "A lot of the folks from Florida are fans of teams in the East Coast whether it be the New York teams or the New England teams."
The Top 3 Most Engaged Fans:
- Dallas Cowboys
- New England Patriots
- Green Bay Packers
The Top 3 Least Engaged Fans:
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- St. Louis Rams
- Kansas City Chiefs
For the full list, click here.
