Panthers’ Fans At Bottom Of List When It Comes To Loyalty

A new poll was released by Canada Sports Betting ranking the loyalty of NFL fanbases. It's not good Panthers fans! The poll has Panthers Fans at the bottom of the list when it comes to team loyalty. This is one of those polls that’ll give all but one team’s fanbases something to bitch about. Now, you can argue that this is a Canadian list and they don't know American football... But still. It's not a good look for the Carolina Panthers.

To come up with their rankings, CSB “looked at the volume behind more than 500 keywords to NFL teams over the last three years,” including “merchandise, individual players, team stadiums, and game tickets.” Then they were “split by state to name the most dedicated, consistent, and bored fans.”

Apparently, the Bengals saw “an average rise of 80% in volume year-after-year…greater than any other NFL team.” Not surprising for a good young team on the rise with a star quarterback in Joe Burrow.

As for the bottom of the barrel Panthers fans at least we're not in last place. The five least engaged fanbases according to the poll were (starting with the lowest ranked) the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New England Patriots. (I hate the Pats hahaha) The Carolina Panthers were ranked 27th out of the 31 total NFL teams.

It's not surprising to me. Charlotte is a very transient city, with lots of fanbases calling the Queen City home. For example, I grew up in NJ a huge Jets fan. I'm still a Jets fan. But I root for the Panthers too. Unless, you grew up in Charlotte or moved here with no NFL team to root for, the Panthers are probably your second favorite team. So it's really no surprise Panthers Fans are at bottom of the list.

It’s worth noting that the Washington Commanders didn’t show up in the rankings “due to a low keyword volume.”

This past weekend, I spent many hours with youth football players that range from age 10 - 12 years old. My son is a youth player, and  I noticed at least six different NFL jerseys being worn by him and his teammates. This led me to wonder, who are kids' favorite NFL quarterbacks today?

I was reminiscing about which athletes kids looked up to when I was 10 years-old. It was simple. Your favorite player was typically one of the stars on your favorite (usually hometown) team. Occasionally, a universal big name like Joe Montana would jump into the mix. However, many of the big Montana fans I knew growing up in New Jersey were then San Francisco 49ers fans. This was usually due to their admiration of Montana. I don't see that to frequently be the case today.

It is not uncommon for kids to gravitate more towards specific players now as opposed to an overall team. There are two main reasons why I find this to be the modern way of fandom for youth today.

First is fantasy football. In fantasy football, you cheer for individual players. The team winning or losing doesn't matter, the player on your team putting up big numbers does. It's great for the NFL to have kids intently invested with so many games per week.

Second, players are digitally accessible. Meaning, you can engage differently with a player much more in our social media universe. Players share a glimpse into their lives and who they are off the field. The NFL as a league leaned into this a partnered with TikTok back in 2019 to give fans even more content.

It's a question with many answers. 30 years ago I would have said, "I love Phil Simms because he is the New York Giants' fearless leader." I asked 30 local youth athletes this as a follow-up question upon them naming their favorite NFL quarterback. Often the answer was related to the Quarterback's persona. Their style of play, their personality, and even their jersey number was mentioned.

So tallying up the 30 youth football players I asked, here are the kids' favorite NFL quarterbacks that are active today.

Hurts received 10% of the votes. A year ago, I don't believe his name would have been mentioned. However, Hurts skyrocketed last year and brought the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl. He showcased a fast style of play where he could run just as well as he throws. Kids love someone who takes the media world by storm. Furthermore, Hurts wears #1, and this has become an increasingly popular jersey number.

Being on the cover of Madden certainly helps. Allen's quaterback style is similar to Hurts' in that he too can use his legs. Seven kids named Allen (who is not a huge force on social media) their favorite because of his character. He plays ever game like it's his last. My neighbor said, "It feels like every game the is the Super Bowl when Allen is leading the Bills offense on a drive down the field." It's a fair point. Allen dives and scraps for every single yard, and the kids are seeing it and reacting to that.

"Joe Cool" is not his nickname, but it should be. Here's a great example of TikTok and shorts influencing youth player today. My son still watches the clip of Burrow throwing a spinning 50-yard, no-look pass perfectly down the sideline, from warmup last season. Burrow has an edge. He has confidence. Furthermore, he's as good as they come. Burrow is the modern quarterback who has the skill set of a historical, prototypical QB. His black, orange, and white jersey is also pretty Joe "cool." He received eight votes.

#15 got the most votes with 12, and is the clear #1 among the group of kids that I spoke to. Mahomes is a brand unto himself. He has his own style of play. He is innovative and his coach Andy Reid allows him to implement plays that people have never seen run before. "Mahomes is just in another league," my son said. "And he wins." His two Super Bowl rings also sit beside his two MVP awards. "We see that what Mahomes does, actually works," another youth player said. He has a valid point.