If you're like me, every day when you log on to Bleacher Report and go to the Front Page, you notice three or four of the "Most Popular" stories are about the Oakland Raiders.
And if you're like me, it kind of makes you scratch your head in wonder.
Why is there such a disproportionate number of Oakland Raider stories compared to the other 31 NFL teams? (Here's a screen shot of the Front Page this morning in case you need actual proof of this phenomenon). There are six stories total in the "Most Popular" section, and no fewer than four of them are about the Oakland Raiders; it's like that every single day.
Am I the only one who thinks that's more than a little weird?
I mean, Oakland is far from the biggest city in the NFL, so it's not as though the sheer size of their fan base can explain this. In fact, according to Wikipedia, Oakland is the 44th largest city in America by population. I count 22 other NFL cities on that list that are above Oakland, including Nashville (Titans) and Jacksonville (Jaguars).
Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the city of Oakland or their beloved Raiders—and yes, I know that some people love to hate the Raiders. Not me. I'm not angry or upset about the barrage of Oakland Raiders stories on the home page of Bleacher Report.
You might be more accurate to say that I'm intrigued...puzzled...perplexed...vexed.
Allow me to put forth some theories as to why the Raiders have a presence on this site that suggest they are America's Most Popular Football Team (when—no offense to Raider fans—they are not).
1. High Concentration of Tech Savvy Fans
My best theory is that Bleacher Report is most popular with tech-savvy people—folks who probably already have their own website or blog and who are on the cutting edge in web and technology products and developments.
Since Oakland is so very near the heart of Silicon Valley, it stands to reason that they would have a higher concentration of the tech-savvy kind of person. Thus the higher concentration of Oakland Raiders articles on this site.
Why This Theory Might Be Wrong: Well, then how do you explain why the 49ers don't have the same over saturation on Bleacher Report?
2. Massive Conspiracy
While admittedly not my best theory, there is the possibility that Bleacher Report's staff members are such huge fans of the Oakland Raiders that they secretly boost the stories' popularity factors. I said it's possible...but it's definitely not likely.
Why This Theory Might Be Wrong: Well, there's not a lot of sense in rigging a site like this to promote your favorite team, since Bleacher Report is all about the fans' voice and democracy. There's too much downside if they were to get caught for me to seriously believe in a conspiracy.
Besides, if you're going to enter into a conspiracy to promote one NFL team, don't you think you'd pick a team that at least has half a chance of winning eight games this year?
3. There Are Just More Oakland Raider Fans Online and on Bleacher Report
It's possible that there are more Raider fans on this site, per capita, than there are fans of other teams.
Why This Theory Might Be Wrong: I really, really doubt this theory. I did some searches on Bleacher Report to test my theories. I searched for "Oakland Raiders" and got about 17 pages of stories. Then I searched for "Dallas Cowboys" (they are "America's Team" after all) and got 25 pages of stories. I searched for "New York Giants" and got a whopping 32 pages of results.
What this proves is that there aren't a disproportionate number of articles being written about the Raiders. There are, in fact, more articles here for the Giants and Cowboys. If there were more Raider fans in general on this site, then they would have the highest number of total articles written. But they don't.
And yet the Raiders still dominate the "most popular" section.
4. Raider Fans Have A Sophisticated Network of Online Supporters
We're going to send you the most entertaining Oakland Raiders articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
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