Study Claims Seahawks Fans Rank Among Bottom 10

The 12th Man doesn't even crack the top 12 according to Emory University's businees school study.

The Seahawks have the NFL’s 23rd-best fan base, according to a recent Emory University study. Or, to put it another way, the Seahawks have the NFL’s 10th-worst fans.

Maybe Centurylink Field hosts the loudest NFL fans, but Seahawks fans have not always been the most loyal. That means that according to the study, Seattle fans have not always been a "stick with team in good times and bad" bunch of followers.

On top the list were the Dallas Cowboys. Next were the New England Patriots at No. 2, the New York Jets, the New Orleans Saints and the New York Giants. Bringing up the rear were the Detroit Lions at No. 28, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Arizona Cardinals, the Atlanta Falcons and the Oakland Raiders at No. 32.

How did Emory come up with the rankings?

In our series of fan base analyses across leagues, we adjust for these complicating factors using a revenue premium model of fan equity. The key idea is that we look at team box office revenues relative to team on-field success, market population, stadium capacity, median income and other factors. The first step in our procedure involves the creation of a statistical model that predicts box office revenue as a function of the aforementioned variables. We then compare actual revenues to the revenues predicted by the model. Teams with relatively stronger fan support will have revenues that exceed the predicted values, and teams that under perform have relatively less supportive fan bases. We provide more details on the method here and here.