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Since I recently wrote an article about the top-10 worst fans in sports, I thought it was only right that I did a piece on the 10 best fanbases. Here is that list: 10...

The Top Ten Best Fanbases In Pro Sports Right Now

by Ian Zymarakis (Columnist)

103

7177 reads

Opinion

May 22, 2008


Since I recently wrote an article about the top-10 worst fans in sports, I thought it was only right that I did a piece on the 10 best fanbases.

Here is that list:

 

10. Dallas Mavericks Fans

The Mavericks have boasted the best attendance/capacity percentage out of any team in the NBA every season since 2002-03.

The entrance of owner Mark Cuban brought a brand new fan base that showed as much compassion and intensity as the team's owner had—this season, reaching an astonishing 105.7 percent capacity for each home game.

The American Airlines Center is one of the loudest arenas in the NBA, if not the loudest.

 

9. Buffalo Sabres Fans

A surprise entrant onto the list, Sabres fans are some of the most loyal in the NHL, many of whom come from Canada nightly to watch the Sabres' home games.

This season, the Sabres finished second in the NHL in both total home attendance average and percent capacity (109.4).

All this for a team that missed the playoffs this past season and didn't play that great hockey until after the midway point.

 

8. Toronto FC Fans

For a sport that still doesn't have a huge viewing popularity in the United States, it has definitely found a home in Canada. In just its second season in the MLS, Toronto FC has been a financial success thus far, selling out every game they've hosted. 

Toronto FC had to cap its season ticket sales this season at 16,000, which is an MLS-high. The sea of red at BMO Field is something that needs to be seen; the fans in Toronto are very loyal to their team and gives the stadium a feel of an English Premier League game.

Fans rain red streamers and other things down on the opposing players whenever they head over to take a corner kick.

Even without a big-name player on the team, Toronto FC has been, huge financially—and a big asset to the MLS.

 

7. Montreal Canadiens Fans

One of the original six teams in the NHL, the Habs to this day have arguably the biggest following of any NHL team. The Bell Centre, where the Canadiens play, has the largest seating capacity in the entire NHL—and, good or bad, Canadiens fans go to games.

The Canadiens had the largest average home attendance this season, with 100 percent capacity.

Fans seem to live and die based on how the Canadiens perform and follow the team almost religiously.

I guess that's what happens when you play in a hockey haven, as many see it.

 

6. Washington Redskins Fans

The largest stadium in the NFL also boasts one of the largest capacity percentages of any team in the NFL.

This past season, the Redskins were first in the NFL by averaging just under 89,000 fans per home game and second with a 110 percent capacity.

The most loyal Redskin fans are the Hogettes—some of the best fans in pro sports, even though they're men wearing dresses.

Good or bad, Redskins fans are always there in full force, supporting their team.

 

5. Boston Red Sox Fans

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103 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

    I don't know if this is better then my worst fans in sports article but we'll see. Let me know what you guys think and if you would change the list at all or what teams you would take out and which ones would you add.

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  2. jordan schuster about 1 year ago

    haha get ready for those that will hate this list, I like it but get ready for those that wont....

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  3. Ralph isaac about 1 year ago

    how the f' is the Lakers Fans not in the top 5? You put Mavs in top 10? u lost all credibility there.

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  4. Miah D. about 1 year ago

    for sure Manchester U fans are kinda really insane!! what about liverpool though?! for every home game, there have to be police squads to protect the other fans.

    good choice for the flames as well. the entire city is amazing especially during the playoffs.

    about the Habs (hehe), you might be interested by this article
    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/24566-NHL-Bandwagon-Fans-Keeping-the-League-Afloat-210508

    anyway, I hope this one will be a hit as the previous one! good job!

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    • Kiran Gokarn about 1 year ago

      Pool fans are loyal supporters but are too violent as well..........almost thuggish at times......who can forget the Heysel stadium tragedy..??

      Utd fans are one of the most well behaved and the most numerous as well.

      A special mention must go out to the fans of the Indian National Cricket Team,who fill every stadium that the team plays in.
      Besides there is this faction of people called the Bharat army (Indian version of the Barmy Army) who travel with the team at all their matches.......some commitment.

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    • Mai Cheung about 1 year ago

      Totally agree! Manchester and Liverpool probably have the most loyal soccer fans!!!

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  5. Matthew Hogan about 1 year ago

    The Habs should be ahead of any other hockey team. I'm a Sabres fan and every time they have to play Montreal away I hate it because I know how devoted those fans are. They are the greatest franchise in NHL history and therefore, they have the greatest fans. Awesome article.

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    • Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

      Montreal fans are awesome, and I think its something that many of the fans wear suits' to the games, or so I have been told but I still think the sea of red, with red jerseys to be exact is an amazing sight to see at an arena.

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    • Miah D. about 1 year ago

      you guys, you must be among the rare ones to consider the Habs fans to be awesome ...
      seriously. just ask the Bruins fans, toronto ... anyone in the league actually! lol

      people say the Habs fan community is arrogant, that we have stolen the "ole ole" thing to European teams and so on and so on . it is tough sometimes ! lol

      somehow, I still think the Bell Center would need something to identify itself to. A song (still like Liverpool) ... ONE colour (like the flyers do with the orange crush) and so on

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  6. JDO JDO about 1 year ago

    I don't think many soccer fans would agree that Man Utd fans are by any definition the "best" fans in soccer.

    And you were better off sticking to just US and Canadian teams, and admitting as much. Now you are saying that 9 of 10 of the best fan bases are in the US and Canada? Now one is going think this conclusion is based on any substantive knowledge of sports outside of the US and Canada.

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    • Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

      With over 330 million supporters worldwide I would say many soccer fans would agree with me, those that don't are the ones so loyal to their team that they hate anything and everything about Man U. Basically 5% of the world are Manchester United supporters, that is incredible.

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  7. Marc Kaveh about 1 year ago

    Man Utd "Best fans"!

    Are you taking the piss, I respect the Manchester based and linked fans but the vast majority of Man Utd fans are blatant glory hogs! Look you can't tell me if Man U had won nothing for 60 years then they wouldn't have as many fans!

    Best fans, you base that who went to see their team in a final, how about the Irish soccer fans who invaded Italy, Usa and Japan. And my team Newcastle United who haven't won anything domestically in 55 yrs and still we sell out home and away matches and our support never waivers.

    Don't tie support in with trophies, barren spells are what defines a clubs support!

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    • Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

      Manchester United hasn't always been successful, they had seasons where for the first half of the season they were close to the relegation zone of the standings. They were not that successful in the first couple of years of the 1970's among other seasons. I did not put their fans on this list due to the champions league final, I put them on because of everything else, their loyalties and passion run very deep, as they do on many other soccer teams, I just feel Manchester United fans are the most passionate fans of any team. I might've been better off just putting soccer hooligans in the #1 spot rather then a specific team but I liked putting specific teams this time around.

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  8. gem asdani about 1 year ago

    Best NORTH AMERICAN FANS!!! By FAR the best fans in the world are Boca Fans. Fenerbahce gets a honorable mention, as do liverpool fans.

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  9. Roy about 1 year ago

    The Toronto Maple Leafs have not won the Cup since 1967 and they sell out all the time. I'm not suprised they've been left off this list because the fans in the platnium seats are just a bunch of suits who talk about business and sit on their hands all game. This list should onlyhave been based on N. America only. Toronto FC matches are a lot more enjoyable than Leafs/Raptors/Jays games and this is because of the support and of course the beutiful game of football.

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    • Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

      Isn't that what most of the people that sit lower level are now? Just a bunch of suits that just watch the game and don't make much noise at all for the home team when something happens? It seems these days most lower level tickets are handed out through corporations to clients to try and please them.

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    • Miah D. about 1 year ago

      agreed ... I used to work in a company where they give canadiens tickets to the clients who are just passing by Montreal. i mean, the people dont know anything about the game, they just go and sit there. they clap from time to time, and they find it cruel when there is a fight in front of them.

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  10. Joel unq about 1 year ago

    Calgary doesnt even have the best fans in Alberta...let alone the whole NHL...look at the sell out streaks in the NHL...Calgary is a bandwagon bunch and I'm sure once the team falters the C of Red will get smaller and smaller. Look at the attendance b4 their recent playoff streak.

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  11. Alex McVeigh about 1 year ago

    No offense to Mavs fans, since I am one, but they (we) are not among the ten best in sports. Sure they fill the AAC, but they are the most negative people this side of Pre-2004 Red Sox fans. Just read the comments on the MavsBlog for the Dallas Morning News.

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    • Tyler Heun about 1 year ago

      I agree with Alex. You can't put the Mavs in the top 10. Part of being a top 10 fan base is support during losing years. Before Cuban took over and spent millions this team was a door mat in the NBA and the fan base was pretty small. Now they win, and now they show up. So, no dice. Good fans follow teams through bad times: Chicago Cubs.

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  12. Jordan Carlson about 1 year ago

    Calgary Flames as the best fans in the NHL? laughable...this a team that needed garbage bags to cover the nosebleeds before going on a Stanley Cup run in 2004....

    "Good or bad, Flames fans will always be out in full force—with their red Flames jersey no less."

    HA! Again, apparently you didn't watch Flames games before 2004 because I rarely saw red jersey's in the crowd...if you look closely, you'll see that most "fans" have the new jersey's that came about in 2004

    They're not even the best fans in the province let alone the NHL

    As for Man U...yeah, it must be hard being a fan of a team that constantly wins year after year...what hardcore fans!

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  13. Lindsay Downey about 1 year ago

    Flames Fans wear their Jerseys all day on game days whether we are luckey enough to have tickets or not. We love our team.

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  14. Nic Gulas about 1 year ago

    Not one college team on here and you call this the best fans list??? How many of the fan bases you have mentioned travel in droves like Bama, OSU, UM, USC, OU, Clemson, UGA fanbases do??? The only one I will give you the benefit of the doubt on is ManU and not another one. Not another one of those fan bases travel like college football fans do.

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    • Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

      This is only a list with pro sports teams on it, I didn't include college teams on this list or on my list of worst fans either.

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  15. Michael Schlossberg about 1 year ago

    really no yankees ? come one dog they have already sold 4 million tickets.... toronto fc? is this a joke NO ONE CARES ABOUT SOCCER just ask Jim Rome

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    • Nino Colla about 1 year ago

      The Yankees are so negative. I guess it depends on your criteria but every other day something isn't good enough for them. If you need proof look no further than the treatment of A-Rod in the not-so-long-ago past.

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  1. Andrew Kneeland about 1 year ago

    I agree with you about the Chicago Cubs fans. Anyone who can be loyal to a team that hasn't won in 100 years earns my respect.

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  2. Samuel Samson about 1 year ago

    Loyalty to Manchester United is easy for their fans - they win so often. How many of those fans were around during the dark days of the late 70s and 80s? The ones who were deserve some kudos - and deserve to enjoy the team's more recent successes - but the rest... not so much.

    If you want to find great fans in the English Premier League, then you need to look further down the table - in fact to the very bottom. Derby County Football Club finished '07-'08 with the lowest points tally in Premier League history. They won ONE league game all season. Week after week they were beaten soundly - 6-0 by Liverpool, 5-0 and 6-2 by Arsenal, 6-1 by Chelsea - and perhaps worse than these, 6-0 at home by Aston Villa, 5-0 at home by West Ham, 4-0 at home by fellow relegated team Reading. Their solitary league win was by 1 goal to 0 back on September 17th. There was every reason for the fans to stay away in droves.

    But they didn't. In fact they recorded Derby's third highest average crowd ever - in their least successful season. Pride Park Stadium held an average gate of 32,432 for the 19 Premier League fixtures, the 12th highest average in the top flight. They were the seventh best-supported club when it comes to the percentage of ground filled - better figures than Newcastle, Liverpool, Aston Villa or Everton. Attendances for all the final seven matches at Pride Park - when relegation seemed certain - topped 33,000. The lowest league attendance of the season was 30,048 for the visit of Blackburn Rovers on December 30, and the highest was 33,087 for the final game of the year, against Reading.

    Now that is a truly great fanbase; they keep coming to watch, keep shelling out their money through the hard times. Not with any expectation of improvement. Nobody is that optimistic. Just because they love their team and want to support them come rain or shine. And the club has already sold upwards of 20,000 season tickets for next year, despite the fact the club will be playing in the next division down.

    It's great that so many Manchester United fans can afford the trip to Moscow. But the fact that more than 30,000 fans made it to Pride Park every week to watch the worst football Derby County ever served up makes their fans my choice for number 1.

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  3. Kieran Way about 1 year ago

    This is a very Americanized view of the sportsworld. If you think that Man United fans are the best football fans in the world, then you are obviously uneducated when it comes to your understanding of football fans around the world. Travel to Buenos Aires, and visit La Boca, where their team Boca Juniors is engrained in their culture. Go to El Monumental and watch River Plate play. Travel throughout Argentina, and see how important the sport of football is in some communities, it will destroy what we call "hardocore" by quite a bit. It's the same case throughout South America. This is also the case throughout most of the world, travel to Germany, other English grounds, France, Spain, Japan, Egypt, Turkey, etc. And you will see top fanbases.

    And to the person that stated "no one cares about soccer"
    Well, if this is a list of the worlds top 10 fan bases. Then really, we should be saying who cares about American football, hockey, and to a certain extent basketball. Because football, or soccer, is the worlds game.

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  4. Ron Johnson about 1 year ago

    Boston? Are you nuts! I agree with Manchester United, but Boston Red Sox? Get real!

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  5. dang dang about 1 year ago

    Your only knowledge about the world's sports comes from Euro trip, doesn't it?
    First off, any mention of a N.A. fan base being in the top 10 is just ludicrous. You have to get past the top 50 before a non-soccer fan base could be mentioned. Secondly, wtf? Manchester United, seriously? In case you don't know, Manure fans are often the laughing stock of soccer fans as they are mostly, especially with the recent success of the club over the last decade or so, glory hunters and fickle fucks. Their home fans are very tame and the loyal loud fans can not even get tickets for the games. Their away support is top notch but it is not the best, and there are many teams that match that support and exceed it. It is hard to rank the top 10 fan bases, but it's gotta be made up of the Southeastern and Central European fan bases (Turkish and Croatian clubs such as Galatasaray and Dinamo Zagreb ...) and South American fan bases (Argentinian barra bravas, Brazilian torcidas and so on).

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    • Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

      I didn't base the list off of the Man U fans going to Russia to see the Finals for Champions League. I should've known by putting a soccer team as the #1 spot that all other soccer fans would want their team in the list also, this isnt the top 10 soccer fans in the world right now, its top 10 fans in sports.

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  6. Jeremy Kaufman about 1 year ago

    How are the New York Yankees' fans not on this list?

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    • MJ Kasprzak about 1 year ago

      'Cause Yankees' fans deride players when they don't win World Series. The fans on these lists are "tick-and-thin" loyalists.
      I had thought if I did not see the Packers' fans #1 this list would be invalidated. However, you did pick the only two sets that could even have an argument made they are ranked higher. Nonetheless, I will tell you why they should not be:
      1. Not only do the Packers sell out every game with a waiting list in the thousands, they sell 50,000 tickets to intra-squad scrimmages. I do not know enough about ManU fans to be sure of this, but I doubt they can claim that kind of pull for exhibitions much less scrimmages. And the Cubs don't sell out every game. Now I know there are a heck of a lot more games for these teams to sell out, but they have larger bases because of the Metro Areas they draw from--for instance, the Cubs play 10 times as many home games every year but have a Metro Area about 500 times as large.
      2. The Packers have as many people outside a stadium during a game as inside because they want to be in the vicinity of what is happneing.
      3. There are no other teams whose fans can come out in stronger numbers than the home crowds. The first time I attended a game at Candlestick (DON'T call it Monster Park!), I was one of about 20-25% of the crowd to be in green and gold, even though the Niners were still a playoff team.
      4. We do this despite the team performing badly for so many years. In sixteen seasons (1973-1988) the Packers had only two winning seasons, 8-7-1 and 5-3-1 in the strike year. From the time Vince Lombardi left after the 1967 season and Mike Holmgren arrived in 1992, 23 non-strike seasons went on without a playoff win.

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  7. world football about 1 year ago

    is this a north american list or global list? clearly the author has no knowledge on sports.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzs8FLb1LzA

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  8. Jason klau about 1 year ago

    i dont agree with the sabres being on this list. they had trouble selling tickets untill they became (self proclaimed) "scary good"

    the mark of a diehard fanbase is one that sticks with their team in good times or bad.

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    • Todd Morse about 1 year ago

      The problem with the article is that it lacks any criteria in which the author bases what makes fans great. Sabres fans could be seen as great or as bandwagon, depending on point of view. If the belief is a true fan should be selling out every game, through bad management, losing seasons, players who don't care and bankruptcies, then so be it. Others may see true fans as fans who will send a message to ownership by being knowledgeable enough to not spend their dollars on a losing product. I'm not necessarily defending it, but througout their history, Sabres fans are always smart and dedicated when the team has reciprocated and shown a committment to winning.

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  9. Harry O'Donnell about 1 year ago

    I find the fact that you keep refering to "soccer" fans as hooligans, we english fans do have our history, but i would feel safe in saying we are now possibly one of the best behaved fans in europe, to be honest i do not agree with your list, but i do not blame you for thinking manchester united are the greatest fans in the world, we are pretty amazing. I think you should have stuck to north american sports fans, the fact of the matter is that teams sell out stadiums and arena's etc.. due to their success, no one wants to pay to se their team lose.

    Some football fans may bring up derby, but i believe that the majority of their fans that attented their premier leage games where local neutrals, and obviously with any sports team you do get die hard fans who stick with their team through thick and thin.

    Newcastle fans are not good fans, their expectations of their team are based purely on the size of their stadium, they feel that because they are playing in a large stadium they should be a big club. I think Newcastle fans should live up to their fact that they are a mediocre mid-table team.

    As for american sports team fans, well i have no idea about american sports I find them to be very boring games.

    Heres a question i would like awnsered, does the baseball WORLD series include teams from outside america yet? (i honestly do not know, i do not follow these things)

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    • Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

      The World Series is just teams in the United States and the one in Canada, being the Toronto Blue Jays. Teams in Japan and wherever else are not considered.

      As for what you said about fans not going to games if the team is losing I find that to be untrue, just look at the Red Sox before they won their world series, they always sold out games same with the Chicago Cubs, 100 years without winning a World Series title and fans still pack that ballpark

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  10. Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

    Teams in the MLB (Major League Baseball) in the USA and Canada (they only have 1 team in the MLB)

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  11. Scott Thorn about 1 year ago

    it seems like you just arbitrarily put the cubs ahead of the Sox simply because they haven't won a championship.

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  12. Jay Jay about 1 year ago

    Wow. What a thorough and wildly inaccurate list with little to no basis on any real criteria. I particularly love the oversight of so many rabid college football camps.

    Look this NHL team has 14 fans but since all 14 of them are hardcore they totally deserve a spot...so does my kid's little league team by these standards.

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    • Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

      Well if you take notice douche bag, I didn't put college teams on this list because they are all pro sports teams... why don't you write some articles on here before you start commenting peoples stuff negatively you tool

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  13. gem asdani about 1 year ago

    A "The Top-10 Best Sports Fanbases" in the world would basically be all soccer teams. None of these American sports teams come anywhere near as being as loyal, excited or hardcore as soccer fans...a true list (not this americacentric crap list) would have Milan, Liverpool, Boca Juniors, Urawa Reds, Barcelona, Real Madrid....etc

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  14. Steve Way about 1 year ago

    Why are you even a sportswriter, you have no idea what you're talking about. My 14 year old brother could come up with a better list.

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  15. world football about 1 year ago

    Sell out crowd = best fan base? I think you have a mindset of a capitalist.

    Well, a sellout crowd can be a powerful statement for the front office, however the most loyal and passionate fans are the ones bring the incredible excitement to the game. You can have sellout crowd of 60K with no atmosphere like the NFL...or you can have 20K euro football fans nonstop chanting, singing, drinking and cheering their beloved football team, creating a awesome atmosphere throughout the game. I think I'd rather go the the latter.

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  1. Rain Man about 1 year ago

    How come the Yankees aren't on this list, they set the MLB record for attendance, with 4 straight seasons 4,000,000+ attendance.......

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  2. Jeff Leets about 1 year ago

    You better throw Raider Fans on this list my friend. While the world would like to bash us and label us as drop out, ex con, uneducated, trailer park, drug addicted welfare recipients I know better. I have been in the trenches, behind the scenes and know first hand the level of commitment and dedication our fanbase has. Top notch. A little crazy at times but nothing like it. Nothing like it in the world.

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    • Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

      I'm gonna be honest with you, I totally forgot about Raiders fans, they are some of the best and most loyal fans in the world. Had I remembered them they would've been in the top 10. Thats my mess up

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  3. Chris Zadorozny about 1 year ago

    are u kidding how u can u not put in the Detroit Red Wings fan base in the top 5 let alone the top ten
    before u right another article about this think of the Wings fans

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  4. Matt Titman about 1 year ago

    you definitely shouldve stuck to North American sports. Now all the soccer fans are gonna bitch about how Manchester is overhyped and that the American public only knows maybe 5 european soccer teams.

    Decent article on the whole. Its one of those articles that you're never gonna please everyone because your dissed their team.

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  5. Ryan Messing about 1 year ago

    Interesting article, did you think about the Detroit Pistons at all? They hit 233 straight sellouts yesterday against Boston, and the Palace is one of the loudest arenas in sports. I was at the game and, before the Pistons decided to get down by twenty, it was so loud I had trouble hearing the PA announcer at times. Even when the Pistons had a few futile comeback attempts in the second half, people were on their feet and it was loud.

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  6. Greg Caggiano about 1 year ago

    New York Rangers fans should be on that list. Sticking with your team for 7 years of listless, non-playoff hockey and selling out every game during that stretch should count for something....

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  7. Greg Giardini about 1 year ago

    Toronto FC, i didn't even know what sport they play, how could they be on this list? If any Toronto team belongs its the Maple Leafs, and the Cowboys belong way more than the mavericks. also if your gonna put red sox fans, you have to put yankees fans, its just natural.

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  8. Evan Aczon about 1 year ago

    Raiders fans? Warriors fans? I know the "We Believe" is just the last couple years, but I feel like those have shown some promise as real good fans. As for the Raiders, the Black Hole? Come on!

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  9. Ben Horner about 1 year ago

    I completely disagree with your number 1...MAN U?!? Why not Chelsea fans, or Arsenal fans, or even god-forbid Liverpool fans? Even Derby County for Christ sakes, even with their abysmal showing they sold out every home game. And as for your example...buddy thats a movie not real-life and every European soccer fan would do that for their teams. If anything you should have made European soccer fans that number 1 as a whole

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  10. Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

    I thought about doing that, but then I saw that all the others were just teams rather then cities or a whole sport in general thats why I went with just one team

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    • Todd Morse about 1 year ago

      well, it might have been worthwhile to establish and define your criteria before writing the article, and then make that your introduction to the article. You base some of your best fan bases on sell outs and loyalty, yet some of your worst fan bases sell out and are incredibly loyal. If you would have established your criteria, it would have eliminated a lot of the criticism, as well as opened your eyes to what it takes to make a worthwhile list, and probably changed your lists from an eyeball test to something tangible.

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  11. Bryan Matthew about 1 year ago

    If you're gonna count Man Utd, than why not Liverpool, Leeds or Tottenham or something? Just as passionate, if not more than Utd fans in England. If you want to get crazy, take a look at Boca Juniors fans or Fenerbahce fans.

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  12. Brya Matthew about 1 year ago

    Forgot about Celtic fans in Scotland, they are "dubbed" the greatest fans in the world. Watching the Glasgow derby is probably the most entertaining sporting event on this planet.
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=au4b7FUBhso

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  13. Sebastian about 1 year ago

    I don't think #1 in sell-outs necessarily qualifies a franchise as having one of the "best" fanbases (re: Washington Redskins). Green Bay, okay, no argument there.

    Also, you have three NHL teams and one NBA team. I'm not saying leagues should have an equal amount, now. But I am saying the Dallas Mavericks shouldn't necessarily be a top ten team only because of their attendance numbers. I'm saying this as a Dallas resident-- Dallas fans are alright when the team is doing well, but when a team is going through a tough-stretch, Dallas fans immediately sit on their hands. I would suggest the San Antonio Spurs for an NBA representative in the best fanbases.

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  14. Raider D Richardson about 1 year ago

    No Oakland Raider fans?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Not even in top ten?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

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    • Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

      Yeah, I know, I mentioned it before a little bit up in the page that I completely forgot about Raider Nation and the black hole, had I remembered they would've been in the top ten, maybe i'll go back and edit the piece to include them... thats my bad

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  15. Adam Amick about 1 year ago

    Though I'm not a member of the crowd, I think Junior Nation (fans of NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) should be in the top-five of this list. The Mavs fans do not belong here... If any Dallas team does, it would be the Cowboys (again, even though I'm not a fan) for the world-wide following they have.

    Here's who I'd have on here (in no particular order)
    Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans
    Detroit Red Wings fans
    Manchester United fans
    Dallas Cowboys fans
    New York Yankees fans
    Montreal Canadiens fans
    Ferrari (Formula 1) fans
    Washington Redskins fans
    Michigan Wolverines football fans
    Tiger Woods' fans

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  1. world football about 1 year ago

    Best Fans - my global list

    USA - D.C United
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg16DwgN39U
    Canada - Toronto FC
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLVvvdm1Y_M
    Argentina - Boca Juniors
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhrtwECAhZA
    Brazil - Flamengo
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP7lezGVFD0
    Spain - Real Madrid
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8sUgcIl4-o
    Spain- Barcelona
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqy7970GxJY
    Italy - Roma
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6bDrMYT1yM
    Turkey - Fenerbahce
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBBPoyXEOhM
    Turkey - Besiktas
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exfbOgRtA70
    England - Liverpool
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka_eBOpLP_g
    Japan: Urawa Reds
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpMPkseJJCA
    Germany - Bayern Munich
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT5pxnLAdzQ
    Netherlands - Ajax Amsterdam
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UssQ-lZSbFA
    Netherlands - Feyenoord
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaHbo-zJd4
    Portugal - FC Porto
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS4HyDC25Vs
    Serbia - Red Star Belgrade
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ39Ym2mDQU
    France - Olympique Marseille
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzs8FLb1LzA
    Scotland - Celtic
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awositUJYLM

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  2. Tim Yu about 1 year ago

    Nice article, Ian.

    It's not likely that you'll ever have people completely agreeing on a list like this -- but most of the people do have a point in the fact that it's almost too "Americanized" of a viewpoint. I obviously have a bias towards football/soccer but I'm also well aware of what's going on in North America as well being from Canada.

    As great as Manchester United fans have been, as some people already pointed out, it's easy to support a club as rich and successful as the Red Devils are. If you take a look at Fenerbache, Besiktas, Galatasaray (all clubs from Turkey), Dinamo Zagreb, RS Belgrade, Celtic and Rangers, they blow Toronto FC and Dallas Maverick fans out of the water. That's not even mentioning the rest of the clubs in Europe and the football mad fans in South America. It's a totally different atmosphere.

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    • Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

      I know the turkish teams quite well. My family is all in Greece so they pay attention to what goes on with the teams over there. My team is Olympiakos from the Greek League of course, I've always loved them, and its in the family to cheer for them....

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  3. Peter Bukowski about 1 year ago

    No way Cubs fans ought to be #2. Hard to argue with your #1, but anyone who has ever been to Lambeau Field knows there is absolutely nothing like it in the world. You have to be in Green Bay on a Sunday to really understand the true majesty of the moment.

    Yeah Wrigley gets jammed for every game and there are Cubs fans everywhere and they never win blah blah blah. The FANS, are obnoxious, annoying and uneducated. You go to Wrigley to go to Wrigley and enjoy a game, NOT because they want to see good baseball (100 years is a long time to not be playing good baseball) If anything that proves that Cubs fans are simply either masochists or indifferent. Cheering for a loser doesn't make you a good fan. I've been to Wrigley and I've been to Miller Park in Milwaukee when Cubs fans invade Wrigley, they are not welcoming or fun to be around in general.

    Go to a game at Lambeau and you'll realize why they call it the closest thing to a college football atmosphere in pro sports. Stop by any tent you'll be offered a beer and brat no charge, just as long as you're not a dirty Bears fan...or Cubs fan either for that matter

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  4. James Doker about 1 year ago

    i thought about writing a long and detailed comment for this, but everything wrong about this silly list has already been said. good effort, though.

    i think it would have been worthwhile to explicitly state that it's only for professional sports. as of now, it just says "the 10 best fanbases;" strictly speaking, this would implicitly mean that college teams could qualify. perhaps that is why people have complained at the lack of college fan-bases (which clearly would preempt many of those on the list).

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    • Ian Zymarakis about 1 year ago

      It did say pro sports originally but somebody would edit it and take out pro sports from the title, I would change it and somebody would change it again

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  5. Jeremy Krantz about 1 year ago

    Two words: Red Wings

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    • Andrew Kneeland about 1 year ago

      I agree. The Rochester Red Wings have some of the greatest fans...

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    • Adam Amick about 1 year ago

      I utterly despise the Red Wings, but that's why I included them on my list... The U-Haul Army (as we call those who have packed up and left the depressed state of Michigan and Detroilet area and moved to prosperous Texas) has a following everywhere.

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  6. Jeremy Krantz about 1 year ago

    Rochester? How about Detroit...

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  7. Colin Fuller about 1 year ago

    it is well know that Man Utd fans are about the worse fans in british football.
    even there ex captain slagged them off http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prawn_sandwich_brigade

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  8. Travis Loftis about 1 year ago

    Yeah, Man U have the second best fan base among teams name the Red Devils - I find if you're going to use a soccer team, the "best" fans are how you define it.

    Do you define best as the fans who buy tickets to their rival teams stadium and set pyro to it, while screaming and chanting and singing for their team?

    No doubt Montreal is a little low for my liking.

    If you're going to name the best fans of each soccer league, it's a more fair attempt. Best soccer fans in England, I don't know, maybe Chelsea, but best in Italy are probably AC Milan, Germany (Though I love my Kaiserslautern) tend to be Borussia, of those I've met, I mean, so many countries have fans of their teams.

    Good write ups, this and your worst *pro* fan-bases.

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  9. world football about 1 year ago

    Man Utd fan base in the UK is declining due to take over of Glazer family. Most loyal fans left the club and formed FC United of Manchester. Worldwide(especially in the emerging markets like asia and the middle east) however fan base has increased dramatically due to EPL's new lucrative TV contracts. Costing almost £250m!! NBA makes only about $90 million annually from its TV contract overseas.

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  10. Mike about 1 year ago

    not sure how u left off the KC Chiefs fans win or lose they support their team

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  11. Adam Amick about 1 year ago

    Again... The article is about Fan Base... That would be size and reach of fans across the nation and world. Not the quality or fair weather status of the fans.

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  12. Matthew Irby about 1 year ago

    Glad you specified about the Mavs fan, i'm from dallas, lived here my whole life and will always cheer for the Mavs, but sadly, over 75% of today's Mavs fan can't tell you any players names before the Cuban era. And if they can its only going to be Harper, Blackmon, and Davis because they are on TV or the radio.

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    • Adam Amick about 1 year ago

      Matthew, would you agree that a good portion of those who attend Mavs and Stars games are from the "See and Be Seen" crowd?

      I've always regarded the lower-bowl types at Reunion Arena and now American Airlines Center as being a late-arriving, early-leaving, and not really passionate about the sport types. I can't remember who it was in the Dallas sports radio market who referred to the lower-bowl folks at Reunion as the "Boob Jobs and Coke Heads" crowd... But it was funny, and true.

      I also believe the Dallas team fans to be fair-weather and bandwagon jumpers. They bitch and moan when the Cows lose, and then think they're the best thing when they win. The Rangers have been so bad for so long it's remarkable as many people as do attend The Ballpark. The Mavs have been good for several years, but the fans are fickle.

      And the best team in town, the Stars, are largely ignored until they make their annual trip to the playoffs. They've been the most successful franchise in the city since coming here, but have a hangar to park the bandwagons in.

      All in all this is a football town, and I accept that. Of course, that is if you're a Cows fan. There are two major colleges in the area with SMU and TCU, the former still recovering from the "Death Penalty", and the latter making annual trips to no-name bowl games in Houston, Mobile, or even at home.

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    • Sebastian about 1 year ago

      Adam, I think you're referring to The Ticket, 1310 AM, when you talk about the lingo and city description.

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    • Matthew Irby about 1 year ago

      Adam, you hit it right on the nose. Yes, almost everyone in the lower bowl at the AAC are the seen and be seen crowd, I love the boob jobs and coike heads.

      Sadly you are correct about my town having tons of fair-weather fans, but yer almost none of them will admit it, which is hilarious.

      You are correct as well in saying thet the Dallas Cows fan base probably should have made the Top 10 worst, this folks are just flat out IDIOTS. And I can proudly say that I am not one of them and will never be, been a life-long 49er fan, so you can imagine what junior high and high school was like in mid to late 90s.

      Toughest for me is that my team are the Rangers, and as bad as it has been I will still put in 15-25 games a year, they are my boys still the bitter end. How ever long that my be, hopefully not toooooooo much longer.

      The Stars fan base is slowly picking back up, a great example of people here not knowing anything about our good teams. Arena Football team the Desperados are one of the best teams in AFL, maybe a coupel thousand at a game. Indoor Soccer League the Sidekicks have won 4 championships in the last 7 years, if you asked someone from Dallas that, 99% wouldn't have a clue what the hell you are talking about. And the best is in the Women's Professional football League, our Dallas Diamonds have won all 3 chamiponships in the 3 years the league has been around.

      College football, Dallas seems to be the old West waypoint, full of Horns, Aggies, Sooners, and Raiders. We had a shot when the Big XII formed, because the twelfth team was suppose to be TCU, but a couple of bribes later it was Baylor...big mistake.

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  13. Joe Willett about 1 year ago

    Love the Cubbie shout out at #2.

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  14. Nick Sturiale about 1 year ago

    Boston Red Sox fans? Are you serious? They are mostly a bunch of band wagoners that use excuses like "Oh my family is from Boston" as an excuse to dress in Red Sox gear and cheer for the defending World Series champs. Had they not won World Series twice in the past 5 years, things might be a little different. But when you say best fanbases you have to include the band wagoners and the Red Sox definitely lead the league in those. Their fan base is a complete joke. Their loyal fans include the state of Massachusetts, out side of that they have a horrendous fan base.

    The attendance means nothing. They are good and have a small stadium. The Cleveland Indians set records at Jacobs field with consecutive sell outs and the San Francisco Giants sold out every game for five years.

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  15. Paul Boye about 1 year ago

    Yeah no Philly mention.

    It figures, but I don't really expect anyone to put us on a good list anymore. Y'all are so conditioned to not like us without even really knowing why, I think.

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  1. Harry O'Donnell about 1 year ago

    The person who said about MOST loyal fans going off and forming FC United of Manchester, you are a fool. FC United of Manchester is some people that where angry about it, it only realy gets close to selling out their tiny stadium when manchester united are playing away that weekend, and anyway those people that own that club are still Manchester United fans.

    Ok maybe someone should write a criteria of some of the things that make fanbase great, people say that sticking with your team even when its doing it bad, well if the fans where good enough they wouldnt be doing that bad, ask anyone in proffesional sport and they will tell you that fans can make all the difference.

    American fans cannot be considered great due to fact that they dont have to leave their own country to watch their team, football fans have to travel all over europe sometimes. Anyway you want to see how great manchester uniteds fanbase is, just watch the fifa world club cup in japan.

    so erm yeah someone write up a criteria of what defines a great fanbase, so we can end this

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  2. Andrew Tonge about 1 year ago

    This is an undertaking that would best be done by starting out doing it by sport. Top Ten by each major sport, and then pairing down to top 5 based on a certain set criteria. You can do one list for the pro sports, and then one for the college sports. Under certain criteria, a lot of fan bases would be considered top notch. This process would be fun undertaking and generate a lot of buzz, and also be a lot of work, but it would be worth it.

    Andrew

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  3. gem asdani about 1 year ago

    Man Utd fans are the best, good to see TFC fans on there as well.

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  4. sdaf afgaf 11 months ago

    No offense, but you need to look outside the US for biggest fanbases, top 3 fanbases in the world based on tocket sales and marketing are;

    3. AC Milan - Italy
    2. Manchester United - England
    1. Celtic FC - Scotland/Ireland

    These were based on figures collected by an independant agency which did interviews all across the world

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  5. Evan Green 10 months ago

    Where's the ST. Louis Cardinal love? This city lives and dies on the Cardinals, and is considered to have some of baseball's best fans in what is called baseball heaven.

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