NFL's Most Negative Fanbases According To Study

NFL’s Most Negative Fanbases According To Study

Experts at the language learning platform Preply have conducted a study into the language used by football fans online last season. They analyzed the language content of fan comments across official subreddits of all NFL teams to find out which fanbases are the most positive and negative on social media. Methodology behind their study:

• Preply analyzed Reddit and associated subreddits for major sports teams in the US to find out who has the most positive and negative fans.
• Studying fans of teams in the NFL of the 2023/24 season, they studied all comments under the top 100 Reddit threads for each team in the past 12 months.

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• They used an academic AI tool to assess the sentiment of every online comment, defining them as positive or negative in emotion.
• In total, the analysis included 116,773 comments from NFL threads.
• Data is accurate as of March 2024 and represents the 2023 season.

Wildly enough Colts fans are ranked as the most negative NFL fanbase, with 47.6% of all comments analyzed deemed negative in nature. Despite only just missing out on the playoffs last season and exceeding expectations according to some, fans remained pessimistic about their team’s performance by posting negative comments online. Almost half of all comments posted by Colts fans contained language rooted in doom and gloom. In contrast, the most positive fans in the NFL were the Seattle Seahawks with 55.4% of comments said to have used positive language. See below to see what other NFL fanbases were deemed as the most negative fanbase of the 2023-24 NFL season.

1. Indianapolis Colts – Received 47.6% negative comments

2. Denver Broncos – Received 45.8% negative comments

3. Kansas City Chiefs – Received 45.7% negative comments

4. New Orleans Saints – Received 45.6% negative comments

5. Dallas Cowboys – Received 45.5 % negative comments

6. New England Patriots – Received 45.1% negative comments

7. Buffalo Bills – Received 44.5% negative comments

8. New York Jets – Received 44.0% negative comments

9. Pittsburgh Steelers – Received 43.7% negative comments

10. Cleveland Browns – Received 43.2% negative comments