This stat just crossed my desk…
According to Scarborough, the Colts are the #3 NFL team in the U.S. in terms of % of the population that has watched, attended or listened in the past 12 mo. (Green Bay #1 and Pittsburgh #2).
Why is this important for Sports 2.0? It speaks to the fact that geographic market size does not determine the size of a team’s fan base…and hopefully…leads sponsors and media buyers to consider associating with the most popular teams, rather than just buying the biggest media markets.
Indianapolis is the 26th largest DMA, but #3 in top 5 largest fan base (Harris Interactive… and 10.5 million Americans 12+ say the Colts are their favorite team(according to ESPN Sports Poll).
Yes, this has everything to do with winning….Colts have been winning, so they’ve been on national TV a lot, which exposes them to the biggest audience…and more and more people become fans…
And every time we’re on TV in a market - any market - our Website traffic spikes from that market.
Perhaps there’s a 2 (or 3) screen strategic opportunity here?
Pat,
Do you have a list of all the cities that have an NFL franchise and where they rank? Also do you have this kind of data on Baseball and Basketball?
Mark
Sorry. I don’t have data for the entire league.
Yes I could not agree more with what you are saying. It is all about national exposure.
I have a question for you though. How big do you think the NFL would be if you took the gambling aspect out of the game?
I think gambling has a lot to do with football’s popularity nationally, but in these smaller markets, people are loyal to their teams.
Smaller markets: I used to live in Cleveland and there isn’t much to so there, so everyone was a sports fan. I tend to think the same for the three cities that you mentioned here. As long as the teams are good, everyone who lives in the city or that state becomes a fan.
In my country, football……….you call it soccer but still it is big business and gambling is too. Some people almost depend on their winnings to survive and it gives them something to look forward too in their other wise dismal lives (or so my father told me), but I am sure here in America, it is for just winning. I did enjoy reading your article and will stop by again.
Thank you so much,
Felicia
Oddly, we have no professional football here in Ohio. OK…yes, we have the Browns and benGALs. But they aren’t very professional on the field. Of course…the benGALs are not very professional off the field either!