Boston is considered to be "Title Town," so it's really no surprise that the city boasts some of the most passionate fans in the United States.
When it comes to looking at, and ranking, specific fan bases though, where do New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox fans rank among the best? Well, Forbes decided to rank the most passionate fan bases in America, and both Patriots and Red Sox fans were represented in the Top 10.
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Forbes ranked the fan bases by looking at television ratings, merchandise, game attendance, hometown crowd reach and social media reach for each of the teams in the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA. Does that necessarily determine how "passionate" a fan base is? Maybe not. But regardless, that's how Forbes determined their ranking, so here's the Top 10:
- Green Bay Packers
- New England Patriots
- New Orleans Saints
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Seattle Seahawks
- Golden State Warriors
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Boston Red Sox
The Patriots and Red Sox clocking in at No.'s two and 10 isn't bad at all... especially for the Sox, who are the only MLB team represented in the Top 10. In fact, Forbes actually believes Red Sox fans are more loyal than Patriots fans... which could end up being true as we'll eventually see how many Pats fans flock to new teams in the aftermath of Tom Brady's departure.
It took 86 years to shed the Curse of the Bambino and win a World Series, but Red Sox Nation has proved even more loyal than Pats fans, with almost 80% of locals identifying as fans.
Boston Red Sox
And of course when discussing the Patriots, Forbes had to bring up Deflategate... surprise, surprise.
The Tom Brady juggernaut is considered one of the best football teams of all time—and one of the most controversial. One fan started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay a $1 million fine after the Deflategate cheating scandal.
With Brady gone, Patriots fans are certainly in for a shakeup with second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham taking over. Similarly, Red Sox fans are going to be missing star right fielder Mookie Betts once the 2020 season finally begins.
Although both teams may not be the most successful in 2020, there's no denying that they'll continue to garner support from Boston sports fans around the nation.