The NFL is the most popular sports league in America, with millions of fans tuning in to watch their team every single week. And in the Empire State, the Buffalo Bills have been the crown jewel in recent seasons over the Jets and Giants, largely thanks to perennial MVP candidate Josh Allen.
This got us at EmpireStakes.com thinking: How do the ups and downs of NFL games across the state’s teams affect supporters? And which fanbases across the entire NFL were the most affected by their team’s results during the 2022-23 season?
We’ve also determined which fans are the most emotional overall, to give an insight into the true passion they feel for their squad as a whole. And not just fans in the New York sports betting arena, but all fans.
How did we get here? We surveyed 2,000 NFL fans of different ages and genders to discover which fans are the happiest when their team wins, and which teams’ supporters feel the most downbeat after losing a close one.
Bills Fans Are A Passionate Bunch, To Say The Least
It seems our trusty New-York based team, the Buffalo Bills, has one of the happiest fanbases when they win a game, coming in second place for the happiest NFL teams overall. With an impressive index score of 9.28 - just .16% less than the winning fanbase’s happiness score - the Los Angeles Chargers, supporters of the Bills felt the most emotion when they won. Just picture members of Bills Mafia jumping through tables. If you know, you know!
And after the Bills finished the 2022 regular season with a 13-3 record, and going 7-1 at home, it’s no surprise that this team’s supporters are the second happiest! These fans had every reason to celebrate ... at least until we got to the Divisional Round of the playoffs against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.
On the flip side, Bills fans also made the top 10 on the unhappy scale. So, these fans might be proud as punch when their team wins, but not gaining a victory is likely to affect their mood, coming in ninth overall (5.921), just behind Bengals fans.
But cheer up Bills fans. Over at BetMGM New York, the Bills are the second favorite to win the Super Bowl next season at +850, behind only the Kansas City Chiefs (+650).
Giants Ranked Evenly for Both Emotions
The New York Giants came lower down on the happiest fanbase scale compared to other teams’ supporters, ranking in 18th place, indicating that their emotions don’t run as high with a winning streak as other teams’ fanbases, with an index score of 8.82.
With an emotional rank of 15 overall, Giants’ supporters certainly felt emotion, but not as much as other leading teams like the Bills.
Why the relative average score for the G-Men? Well, last season was a moral victory of sorts. First-year coach Brian Daboll led the team back to the postseason and gave hope to the future of quarterback Daniel Jones, though the team was never a serious Super Bowl threat according to New York sports betting apps.
The NFL Fanbases With The Biggest Range of Emotions
To see how emotional fans really are, we also combined each fanbase’s happiness and sadness scores to determine their overall score as emotional supporters.
The most emotional fanbase might go to the fans of the New Orleans Saints, who came first (15.59), but if we’re speaking more locally, it seems the Bills are also plenty emotional, compared to most.
With a score of 15.19 on the emotional scale, coming 4th overall, it seems the highs and lows of the NFL affect Bills fans almost as much as others like the Los Angeles Chargers (15.56) and the Panthers (15.49). (Worth noting: the Chargers suffered a humiliating playoff defeat to the Jaguars in January, while the Panthers fired their coach in Week 5).
The Bills were followed by the Buccaneers, with a score of 15.15. Then came Green Bay Packers supporters (14.91), and Las Vegas Raiders (14.85), while fans of the Minnesota Vikings had an overall emotional score of 14.79.
Rounding out the 10 final NFL emotional team supporters after the Vikings were the Kansas City Chiefs (14.79) and New England Patriots (14.74). The Giants came in at 15th (14.46). Where are the New York Jets, you might ask? Well let's just say the Zach Wilson era wasn't great, as the Jets failed to crack the top 20 in happiest, unhappiest and emotional rankings. Maybe that apathy will disappear once Aaron Rodgers gets under center?
The NFL Fanbases With The Biggest Range of Emotions
