SWNYFOOTBALL by Tyler SchmallNew York office - 646-873-7565 / usnews@swns.com
NEWS COPY - WITH VIDEO & INFOGRAPHIC
The average NFL fan spends 46 hours a month thinking, talking, or reading about their favorite NFL team, according to new research.
This statistic just emerged in a new study that examines the habits that stem from NFL fandom and the lengths people go to for their favorite team.
Ticketmaster polled 2,000 NFL fans in a new survey “OfficialFan”, conducted by OnePoll, that takes a look at fans’ live game passion and found that it runs very, very deep.
When it’s game time, it’s serious business as 84 percent of respondents said that when their team is playing, they drop everything they’re doing to watch live, with over half saying they’d miss a major moment to watch the game live in the stadium.
And that should come as no surprise, as four out of five NFL fans (79 percent) have been a fan of their favorite team since they were born.
According to Ticketmaster, an NFL fan travels an average of 296 miles for an away game during the regular season – and often much farther if their team makes it to the playoffs.
And female NFL fans are making themselves known, with the ’18-’19 regular season seeing a 61 percent increase in regular season ticket buyers.
The survey also included a personality test that identified fans by trait – the Tailgate Aces who practically live in their home stadium’s parking lot, Stats Champs, whose game knowledge rivals that of many ESPN pundits, the Hype Master who always brings the party, and the Die Hards who have lived and breathed football since birth.
Respondents who were determined to be Tailgate Aces, the grill master fans who show up for the game hours before kickoff, were also the most likely to prefer watching the games live in person.
There’s nothing better than grilling dogs with a stadium behind you, and NFL fans in Los Angeles were statistically the most likely to be considered the biggest tailgaters.
Green Bay fans taking home the Stats Champ crown, Baltimore fans being the biggest Hype Masters, and Philadelphia fans ranking as the most likely to be Die Hards.
Said a spokesperson for Ticketmaster: “We work for and with fans every day – from Tailgate Aces to the Die Hards who have their NFL team’s colors running through their veins. As the Official Marketplace of the NFL, we love celebrating what makes someone an #OfficialFan – and there’s no better time to grab your favorite Hype Master and enjoy a live game as the playoffs kick into high gear.”
NFL fans are so into their team that 41 percent say they watch every single game in the season.
Important games can take precedent for a lot of NFL fans and some occasions are just skippable under the right circumstances.
For example, 35 percent of NFL fans have skipped out on dinner plans in order to watch their team play in a game.
One in four NFL fans have bailed on a birthday party and a whopping one in five NFL fans (20 percent) have even left a date hanging in order to catch the game.
The devotion is so strong that one in ten have even skipped their own kid’s recital to watch their team play.
And no matter how a team may have performed this past regular season, the majority of fans surveyed are extraordinarily confident in their squad.
How confident exactly? Even though the current season isn’t over, three in four NFL fans have no doubt that their NFL team will win the Super Bowl next year.
Said a spokesperson for Ticketmaster: “There’s nothing like being in the stadium live and watching your team hurtle towards the end zone. We’re very proud of our partnership with the NFL to bring the safest and most convenient ticketing options to fans everywhere so they can get the most out of their live event experiences.”