Steelers Named America’s 4th-Most Passionate Fanbase

The passion of Pittsburgh sports fans has never been in question, but it never hurts to get some national recognition.

Steelers fans were named the fourth-most passionate fan base in the country by Forbes.

To compile the rankings, Forbes used a combination of local television ratings, attendance, merchandise sales, secondary ticket demand, social media reach and hometown crowd reach.

According to the rankings, the Steelers have an average attendance of 62,237, and a social media following of 9.8 million.

What is most surprising about the rankings is that the Steelers are the fourth-ranked NFL fanbase, something that the black and gold faithful may take offense too.

The Green Bay Packer took the top spot in the rankings, with the New England Patriots second and the New Orleans Saints third.

Multiple factors led to the Packers being selected as the top franchise, including their unique ownership setup with the fans being shareholders, and their season-ticket waiting list with 137,000 names.

It is no secret that the NFL dominates the American sports landscape, demonstrated by six football fan bases among the top ten spots. The Philadelphia Eagles (5) and Seattle Seahawks (6) are the other two NFL representatives.

The Steelers were not the only local fan base to receive recognition, with the Pittsburgh Penguins coming in at No. 9.

The Pens are the top-ranked NHL team, and came in higher on the list than the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

Hockey and baseball had just one entry a piece in the top ten.

The NBA had the next most fan bases represented with two — the Golden State Warriors (7) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (8).