Sunday, February 04, 2018

The Geography of Super Bowl Fandom


Most people in the north eastern states of the USA will be watching the Super Bowl today. But which team will they be supporting?

Google Trends has released an interactive map called NFL Playoffs 2018 which shows the most searched NFL team in each United States county. From this map we can guess at which areas of the north east USA will be supporting which team in today's Super Bowl.

Of the two teams in the Super Bowl the New England Patriots are the most searched team in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and the eastern part of New York. It seems that they will have all of New England pretty much rooting for them today.

On the other hand the Philadelphia Eagles don't appear to be even the most popular team in Pennsylvania. More counties seem to support the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pennsylvania than the Philadelphia Eagles. However the Philadelphia Eagles are the most supported team in the eastern counties in Pennsylvania. They are also the most popular team in New Jersey and Delaware.

In 2014 Facebook released a NFL American fandom map. The map shows the most 'liked' NFL teams in each county of the USA. The Atlantic has a large image of the map in its Geography of NFL Fandom article. This map paints a similar picture to Google's map. The New England Patriots do rule in New England while the Eagles have a much smaller area of support in New Jersey, Delaware and the most eastern counties of  Pennsylvania.

Based purely on the geographical size of their respective support I announce that the New England Patriots win this year's Super Bowl fandom award.

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