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Now in its third year, the NFL "Fan Equity" rankings presented by Emory marketing professors Mike Lewis and Manish Tripathi spark serious debate.
Their study, released last week on their Emory Sports Marketing Analytics site, has received coverage in major news outlets, including USA Today and daily publications in cities across the NFL landscape. Tripathi and Lewis, both professors at Goizueta Business School, say the goal is to find the “best” fans, which they admit could be taken many ways.
"What we are really trying to get at is what team has the most avid, engaged, passionate and supportive fans," they write in their blog about the findings.
Tripathi and Lewis use 15 years of data to create a more concrete argument on NFL team performance, including attendance, prices and revenues.
So who has the best fans?