“Fanalytics” put Vikings fans near the bottom of the NFL

I’m not sure what “fanalytics” are or anything, but based on this study that was conducted using them to rank NFL fan bases, I can only assume that they still have plenty of kinks that need to be worked out.

This study from Emory University using various metrics to rank NFL fan bases has the Vikings coming in at 24th out of 32 fan bases. Here are the criteria that were used:

I use three measures of fan engagement: Fan Equity, Social Equity and Road Equity. Fan Equity focuses on home box office revenues (support via opening the wallet). Social Media Equity focuses on fan willingness to engage as part of a team’s online community (support exhibited by joining social media communities). Road Equity focuses on how teams draw on the road after adjusting for team performance. These metrics provide a balance – a measure of willingness to spend, a measure unconstrained by stadium size and a measure of national appeal.

By these three measures, the Vikings come in at #21 in “Fan Equity,” #29 in “Social Equity,” and #15 in road equity. Their final ranking is a simple average of those three figures.

It’s not difficult to see why the “Road Equity” for the Vikings is high. After all, they went 6-2 on the road last season and people were no doubt excited to see the Vikings come to down to play their team. The low “Social Equity” rating seems to suggest that the Vikings don’t have a huge national following, and I guess I can understand that.

So, a purely statistical view of Vikings fans puts them at the bottom of the league. However, we know that Vikings fans are awesome, and the only measure we need for that is our own damn opinions.