Facebook Data Shows NFL Fandom by Counties Throughout United States

Thanks to Facebook data, we are able to see a very detailed NFL fandom map.

The map shows which NFL team has the highest number of Facebook "likes" by county. It isn't an exact science, but it gives us a pretty good idea of each club's popularity.

For the most part, the results were predictable. States with just one team could usually agree on which was its favorite. It gets interesting when the data shows fandom in the states with more than one franchise.

It should come as little surprise that the Dallas Cowboys—aka "America's Team"—won a lot of counties. However, it may surprise some that the New York Jets were unable to get on the map.

There were some changes from last year's map. The Oakland Raiders lost quite a bit of territory to the San Francisco 49ers. Last year, the Cowboys had some counties in Arizona. Now, every county in the state belongs to the Cardinals. The Pittsburgh Steelers lost ground in Ohio to the Cleveland Browns, perhaps because of Johnny Manziel. The Jets "won" one county last year but, as noted above, were shut out this year.

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