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Phins have the worst fans in the NFL according to study

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by jedburg, Jul 9, 2015.

  1. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    no question, not the point..
     
  2. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I'm 29 and at the moment make a fair living, but the NFL still seems like it is universally expensive to my age group. I'm alright with Sunday Ticket, but after that, I'm in no hurry to dump my hard earned money on something I can't control. Most of my colleagues are always looking to save money and budget what fun they can have. Football is just simply going to take a back seat to a great many other things at my age. To be honest, I'd rather go out with friends, travel, make payments on major items life requires, play golf or just save the money for when I inevitably get hit with hard times. At my age, NFL football games just aren't a good investment--period.

    I also think it's generally true that the smarter or more-driven the person, the more lucrative/demanding their job tends to be, and the less they tend to look to sports for entertainment. The smartest, most hard-working and most productive people I know watch a bit of sports but do more for themselves on their off-time--and I'm inspired by that to be honest. They travel and they absorb culture more than obsess about what's out of their control. We should all do more of that.

    I would guess that while there are tons of fans that are relatively young like me (and plenty under 21 mooching off their parents), they probably aren't the major draw for the actual stadium-based events. If you don't have a fair amount of disposable income, it's not a good investment. You stay at home and enjoy being comfortable there for a much cheaper price.

    I just recently attended an MLB game and guess what? Tons of young people. Tons of young couples. Lots of cute girls. But tickets there are $30-$40 for great seats and you can escape with food and a couple beers for under $50 if you're smart. That's a very do-able afternoon activity.

    So if Miami has attendance issues and a general lack of local fan support--which I think it probably does--I can't shake the feeling it's probably something to do with the lifestyle and desires of the population in Miami that's 40 and older. It's hard for me to believe that the under-40 crowd is ever going to give you much financial support.

    It could be that the culture in Miami has evolved such that the population that's over 40 isn't all that interested in the NFL?


    Oh, and I'm going to the Jags-Fins game here in Jacksonville during week-2 with a buddy of mine. So between Sunday Ticket, that game and all the Dolphins jerseys I have...the NFL has gotten enough of my money! ;) I'm doing my part. I'm still trying to figure out how I wound up with 3 Tannehill jerseys?!
     
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  3. LBsFinest

    LBsFinest Banned

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    The losing product on the field every year doesn't help either.
     
  4. The Sportz Guy

    The Sportz Guy New Member

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    I live near Atlanta... there's no way Dolphins fans can be worse than Falcons fans. For crying out loud, the team had to rely on fake crowd noise!!
     
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  5. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    The NFL's target demographic is middle-class Caucasian males. That group is becoming smaller and smaller at a very high rate in South Florida. The demographic composition of South Florida really doesn't support a strong football market.
     
  6. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Hey, thats me!

    But I don't live anywhere near Miami :confused2:
     
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  7. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    Adding some data to the discussion, here's a graph that shows the % of NFL fans within 50 miles of the home team, measured by Facebook "likes" (so it's not a totally random sample, but better than no data). Over 50% of Dolphins fans are within 50 miles of the home team:
    http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...l_progressive,q_80,w_636/18db4pvogebu0jpg.jpg

    Add to that the results of this poll on national popularity of teams across years (scroll down a bit to Table 3):
    http://www.harrisinteractive.com/Ne... Default/mid/1508/ArticleId/1506/Default.aspx

    Looks like your intuition about all the teams is basically right except the Dolphins (and to a lesser extent the Vikings who are apparently more popular nationally than you seem to think). The Dolphins are average in popularity nationwide and have more fans locally than farther away.
     
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  8. slickj101

    slickj101 Is Water

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    I prefer an actual seat and urinal vs the metal benches and 10 person piss buckets at the ralph.
     
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  9. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    The Marlins prove your theory wrong. Ive been to more Marlins games per season than i have when they were in Sun Life.

    Also the Canes had better attendance in the Orange Bowl than Sun Life.
     
  10. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    lol. Not sure how your personal experience disproves anything. The Marlins have horrible attendance.
     
  11. padre31

    padre31 Premium Member Luxury Box

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    All the yrs of mediocrity, do not agree with the study.

    However, how about a matrix of

    -sellouts
    -crowd noise decibels
    -paraphenalia sales
    -website hits (official and unofficial)
    -online ticket sales/ticket scalping

    To me that would take into account a broader scope of fan participation
     
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  12. PhinFan1968

    PhinFan1968 To 2020, and BEYOND! Club Member

    This study must have been who has the biggest bandwagon contingent, looking at that top 5 (except the Stej...their crowd shows up to boo any given year).
     
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  13. Rocky Raccoon

    Rocky Raccoon Greasepaint Ghost Staff Member

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    If you prefer Marlins Park to Sun Life, that's cool. But the Marlins certainly don't prove any point wrong seeing as their attendance is consistently among the worst in MLB. This year they're 28th. Only two teams are worse, and one is Tampa, who basically has as many fans in attendance as they do players.
     
    Fin D likes this.
  14. teams hold coties hostage for the best deal. players hold out or demand to be traded looking for the best deal and the scumbag who wrote this dribble is attempting to grade fans based on how much money they spend. i wont even waste my time defending myself from this type of nonsense.
     
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  15. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Thanks for the links!

    Are you sure that the first chart doesn't mean "percentage of fans within 50 miles who root for the home team"? That's how I take it, and the data makes more sense in that manner. For example, almost everyone in the Saints, Packers and Steelers home markets is a fan of the home team, but on the other end, in NYC, you have people who root for lots of different teams. While I'm very willing to believe that about 90% of people near Pittsburgh are Steeler fans (having grown up there), I find it very hard to believe that 90% of all Steeler fans live in that area.

    As to the second chart, it seems to confirm my suggestion that the Fins fan base, while once much stronger, still is in the top half of the league. Look at some of those other clubs, who may get a blip up here and there, but are always in the high 20s in the rankings. Even after 2007, we were square in the middle of the league in popularity nationally.
     
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  16. Fin4Ever

    Fin4Ever Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Spot on...great post.
     
  17. Fin4Ever

    Fin4Ever Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    They are going to start offering Okeechobee Purple at the Stadium this year to offer fans....they will accomplish 3 things,
    1) Ticket sales will skyrocket, and be sold out all year.
    2) Concession sales go through the roof.
    3) All of the rednecks who want to fight will be plastered in their seats.
    Lol.
     
  18. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    Hey good catch on the bolded part! I should've checked on that myself.

    Here's a link to an article that has that graph as well as # of Facebook likes per team. It does show a huge drop-off in likes from the most popular teams to the rest. Data is from 2012:
    http://deadspin.com/5980852/who-is-americas-favorite-nfl-team-facebook-data-offer-a-clear-winner

    So I guess with the correct interpretation, that "50 miles" graph tells us loyalty within the home team's area. I guess it still speaks to your argument except that we don't know what percent of all fans are within that area. Can't find a graph for that right now, but this one does show what the favorite team is in each area:
    http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/FB_NFL_Fandom.jpg

    I guess it shows that even with low local support (say of Jags, etc..), the local team seems to be the most popular, except for the JETS (note the caption on the right side) :lol:
     
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  19. Fin4Ever

    Fin4Ever Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I remember a time when our Dolphins ranked 2nd in fan base, locally, and nationally, second only to the Dallas Cowboys.
     
  20. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I looked over that 2012 data a lot when it came out. I've seen the county by county facebook map with the ability to "drill down" and see the top 3 teams in each county, but I'd love to dig deeper. Are the Fins the 5th most popular team in some counties? The 10th? If we're in the top half of the league nationally, we must be that way in a lot of different paces across the country. My educated guess would still be that some of the teams ahead of us, such as the Colts, Vikings and Jets, have their fan bases concentrated in a relatively small area, while ours is spread out much moreso.
     
  21. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    According to the one chart, we were #6 as recently as 1998, the oldest year it tracks. I know we were among the most popular for a long time before that. And heck, for those of us who didn't grow up in Florida, its a big reason why we're all here.
     
  22. Fineas

    Fineas Club Member Luxury Box

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    Not sure what you are talking about there. I certainly don't target your posts, but if you say things I disagree with I may respond and say so, just as with anyone else.


    I have been a season ticket holder for a long time and continue to be. My seats are pretty good (upper deck, 40-45 yard line, 6th row) and are $45 each. The parking pass is $20. So 4 tickets and parking come out to $200. Turnpike tolls are a few bucks. Tailgate with some burgers, dogs, buns, and potato chips for around $20 for 4 people. Bring some bottled water into the stadium for another $5. $225 all in. Cheaper if you get seats in the endzones or higher up. . . . You are welcome -- it was really no problem at all.


    Does "moved to Miami" include kids who were "born into" being Dolphin fans, or foreigners who came here and adopted the Dolphins? If so, then I'd bet that there are more of those than have left. The population of Miami-Dade County was a bit less than 1.4 million in 1972. It is now 2.6 million, or just about twice as big. For the entire existence of the team, South Florida has been heavily populated by people from the Northeast, many of whom had allegiances to other teams. That is not a new phenomenon. In the glory years the percentage of South Floridians who identified as Dolphin fans may have been higher than today, but I don't think the gross number was any bigger. The sports fan's dollar has been stretched dramatically though. Back then there was just the Dolphins and Canes football (which wasn't that big in the early 70s). Now there's the Dolphins, Heat, Marlins, Panthers, Canes, FIU and FAU.

    Parking was a disaster at the Orange Bowl. Yeah, one may not have had to drive around for hours literally unable to find a spot, but it was pretty common to find a spot more than a mile away in someone's back/front yard and blocked in by several other cars. I can't speak to your disability, as that is not something have experienced or am knowledgeable about, but an able-bodied person can easily get to even the furthest parking spots at Sun Life in 15-20 minutes. To the extent you think that is too long, it is not the fault of the stadium. I don't think any other stadium has any innovative technology for how to get 30,000 cars much closer to the stadium than at Sun Life.
     
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  23. Fineas

    Fineas Club Member Luxury Box

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    That is pretty oversimplified. I think the NFL's target demographic is middle to upper class (i.e., with enough money to go to games and/or buy merchandise) football fans, regardless of race or gender. Hispanics are a big part of the Dolphin fanbase and are a big part of many other teams' fanbases. Same re: African-Americans and women. Newly arrived Hispanic immigrants typically aren't football fans, but Hispanics who have lived here their whole lives or 30-40 years very often are.
     
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  24. Fin4Ever

    Fin4Ever Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I am happy to have so many national fans...as well as those all around the world...I think that we are pretty popular in Europe as well.
     
  25. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    ok and I prefer venues that have the stands as close to the field as possible because Im aware of its advantages..so ill piss in a bucket and sit on a metal bench if it makes it an intimidating place for the opponent..
     
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  26. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    heres something weird, I have visited all other team fan sites across the league over the years, out of all the teams between all of their fan websites, we without question have the strongest presense on fan boards...not sure what it means but its true..so we lead the league in something as fans...blogging...lol..I think its pretty cool though.
     
  27. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    And the evidence keeps coming in,and the heads continue to ignore, when are you all going to concede....the venue was horrific...

    think of the great venues in sports, they all have great culture..theres your coorelation.
     
  28. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    Your basing this off attendance amongst other teams. Im talking about attendance in Sun Life compared to Marlins Park. Marlins Park has much higher numbers than Sun Life. That stadium is so garbage even Ross wanted to give it away.
     
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  29. Dorfdad

    Dorfdad Well-Known Member

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    Blah Blah Blah.. Lets see 30 Years since we have been in the superbowl, 15 seasons since we won a game in the post season (8 years since we sniffed post season), years of bad decision making by the ownership, rising ticket, food, and parking prices. Who wants to spend a frustrating day overpaying for what has been a **** team over the last 20+ years?? Winning is the only cure.. I don't blame fans at all. Put all the circus shows on you want but until the football team consistently wins the fans are going to be lukewarm.. Why support losers?

    This is coming from a 30 Year fan as well.
     
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  30. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    In spite of all that, by most measures our fan base is still in the middle of the league nationally. I'd say that means we have awesome fans. The stupid study seems to rate fans based on how much they spend. Worthless.
     
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  31. jw3102

    jw3102 season ticket holder

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    The real problem with the fan base has absolutely nothing to do with the stadium. The fact is South Florida doesn't have a large group of Dolphin fans. Many people living in the area come from other areas of the country or from countries outside the United States and didn't grow up Dolphin fans.
    The large following of fans the Dolphins had years ago have either moved away from South Florida or are no longer living. Fans in South Florida have numerous options of how to spend their entertainment dollars and spending hundreds of dollars to go to a game to watch a very mediocre team the past decade was not high on their list of priorities.

    Sports fan will show up for Dolphin games if they once again become a consistent winner. Until then, it doesn't matter how much money Ross puts into stadium renovations. They could have the best stadium in the entire league, but if they continue to be mediocre, fans will continue to stay away.
     
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  32. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    great venues induce culture..bad ones don't.
     
  33. slickj101

    slickj101 Is Water

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    I prefer reality over semantics.
     
  34. Fin4Ever

    Fin4Ever Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    That is only because you will enjoy peeking at the buckets.:lol:
     
  35. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    heres the reality, the things we both would like to have are so easily attainable in a new venue its ridiculous, not saying ours, ours is hopeless, im talking about any suit that gets it, problem is for them, they dont get it..not to many people do, including you I suppose.
     
  36. Pandarilla

    Pandarilla Purist Emeritus

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    Ridiculously skewed findings...We have the largest online fanbase in the NFL.

    Also, if you want to throw in the lack of Super Bowl success, shouldn't that indicate that we have the most loyal fans?

    The numbers criteria is absurd when mentioning how passionate your fanbase is...So much wrong with this research.

    high school science fair caliber report if you ask me...but still, screw you Emory University!
     
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  37. vt_dolfan

    vt_dolfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    If thats the case...why is Seattle so low?
     
  38. vt_dolfan

    vt_dolfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    Yeh but Deej...your Mecca of football netted Seattle #26....kinda shoots a hole in your argument doesnt it?
     
  39. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    this kid who wrote this has something called fan equity as his premise, i don't know what that means..but in Seattle capacity is at 67,000 fixed seats — 21st of 32 NFL teams..

    they have a 10 year waiting list for season tickets and a thriving economy in terms of merchandise from the 12 th man, not including serious advertising dollars inside the venue..

    so the only answer I have for you is exactly where i come from on the issue, the venue makes the fanbase.
     
  40. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    It's just a term they're introducing to describe brand equity (value of a brand) for sports teams. Why introduce a new term when one already exists and a new one isn't needed? Because if it's adopted, citations of the paper (by others) will go way up because that's where the term originated.
     

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