Dallas Cowboys fans tumble down Fandom 250 rankings
Dallas Cowboys fans take a drastic tumble down FanSided’s annual Fandom 250 rankings of the top fan bases in the world despite the team’s massive popularity.
Among all the fan bases of every form of entertainment in the world, the Dallas Cowboys are likely the most polarizing. Cowboys fans are known for being the largest fan base in the NFL, spanning across the world because of their massive popularity. But the team also has a large number of detractors, possibly even outnumbering its fans.
Regardless, when it comes to ranking the top fandoms in the world, the Cowboys loyal and passionate fan base has to be considered one of the best. Earning the moniker of America’s Team after a legendary run of success throughout the 1970s, generations of Cowboys fans are everywhere. Three Super Bowl wins in the 1990s sent their popularity through the roof. And despite struggling to return to the big game since 1996, the Cowboys’ fan base remains fervent and resolute.
According to Forbes, the Cowboys are the world’s most valuable sports franchise, worth an estimated $4.8 billion. That’s certainly a direct result of their fans, their passion and the team’s popularity.
When the Cowboys are on television, their games are often the highest watched programs on the entire medium. In 2017, NBC’s Sunday Night Football was still the most watched television show of the year, despite a drastic loss of viewership.
According to Sports Illustrated, only three games broke the 15.0 rating barrier in 2016. Those contests being between the Giants-Cowboys (15.5), Cowboys-Packers (15.8) and Cowboys-Steelers (16.4).
Just last month, the Cowboys’ fandom broke another viewership record. In Dallas’ highly-anticipated matchup against the New Orleans Saints, that game brought in the highest viewership numbers in the history of the Thursday Night Football. The previous record holder? A Cowboys, Vikings matchup back in 2016.
It’s no surprise the Cowboys also rank very high amongst the top merchandise sales every year, with players like quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott consistently in the top ten of jersey sales according to NFLShop.com.
Despite all of these metrics, Cowboys fans took a massive tumble down FanSided’s annual ranking of the top fan bases in all of entertainment, Fandom 250. FanSided ranked Dallas’ fans as 40th overall, sixth best among NFL teams in 2018.
FanSided used five key measures to determine the subjective ranking: Legacy (10 points), fansmanship (25 points), passion (25 points), buzz (25 points) and magnitude (15 points). They determined the Cowboys’ fandom earned a total score of 74.
It’s a disappointing result considering the fact America’s Team still reigns supreme in so many measurables. For Cowboys fans, their team is undoubtedly number one on this list regardless. Even FanSided admits, Fandom is fun and it is personal. What’s most important is that you support what you are passionate about.
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Last year, the Dallas Cowboys ranked 13th on FanSided’s Fandom 250 list, second among all NFL teams. And in 2016, the Cowboys ranked 5th, first among all sports franchises and tops of the NFL.