Study: Bears Have One Of NFL's Most Devoted Fan Bases
(CBS) Nothing moves the needle in the Chicago sports world -- and the city's entire scene, really -- like the Bears.
But just how devoted is the Bears fan base? Very much so -- but not quite on par with some other big-name franchises, according to a study.
The Bears nabbed the sixth spot in the "NFL Fan Equity" rankings, per research done by Emory Sports Marketing Analytics. Fan equity is "a measure of brand equity that is based on fans willingness to financially support their team," Emory Sports explained.
Ranking in the top five, in order, were the Cowboys, Patriots, Jets, Giants and Colts.
Emory Sports Marketing Analytics conducted another study to measure teams' support that wasn't financially based. In the "NFL Social Media Equity" rankings, the Bears took the 11th spot. The top five were the Steelers, Cowboys, Patriots, Packers and Saints, respectively.
This measure was based on "an analysis of how strong each team's social media following is after controlling for team quality and market characteristics," per Emory Sports, and it wasn't constrained by stadium capacities or team pricing policies.
See the full results of the study here.