Steelers, Penguins among top 10 on Forbes list of ‘most passionate fans’
The page-wide photo at the top of the website link for the article said it all: a face-painted fan covered in black and gold from the waist up and waving a Terrible Towel at a Pittsburgh Steelers game.
Though stay-at-home orders that have shut down the sports world offer them little way of showing it, Pittsburgh pro sports fans have been recognized as some of the best on the continent.
Using a formula that included local TV ratings, attendance, merchandise sales and social media reach, Forbes.com on Wednesday released its rankings of “America’s most passionate sports fans.” Partisans of the Steelers and Pittsburgh Penguins made the top 10.
The Steelers were No. 4 overall on the NFL-dominated list, and the Penguins were the lone NHL representative in the top 10, ranking ninth.
America’s stadiums may be silent, but its fans aren’t. Here are the nation's most passionate sports fans of 2020: https://t.co/4HISF3Vvom pic.twitter.com/joI7uoTS10
— Forbes (@Forbes) May 6, 2020
Pittsburgh joined Boston as the only markets with two teams in the top 10: the New England Patriots ranked second and the Boston Red Sox 10th.
Forbes made its calculations based on the past three seasons for each league.
“We are so grateful for their support, and it’s never a surprise to us when they’re named the most passionate fans in the NHL,” Penguins president and CEO David Morehouse said in a statement released by the team. “Because they are.”
Forbes’ methodology involved analysis of local TV ratings (per Nielsen), attendance based on capacity reached, secondary ticket demand (per StubHub), merchandise sales (per Fanatics), social media reach (Facebook and Twitter followers based on the team’s metro area population) and hometown crowd reach (defined by Nielsen as a percentage of the metropolitan area population that watched, attended and/or listened to a game in the last year).
NFL franchises claimed the top six spots: the Green Bay Packers, Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks.
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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