NFL Fan Allegiances by State: Bills Mafia Takes Over as Playoffs Look Wide Open

The map below, courtesy of BetOnline.ag, is based on geotagged X data in the last week (since the bracket was officially set) tracking tweets, hashtags, and direct keyword phrases about who fans are rooting for in each state.

For example, #BillsMafia (Bills), #GoHawks (Seahawks), #GoBolts (Chargers), #FlyEaglesFly (Eagles,), #DaBear (Bears, #GoPats (Patriots), #SteelerNation (Steeler), #GoNiners (49ers), etc. Over 210,000 tweets were tracked.

As you can see from the map, most states stick with the home team or regional team, however this map definitely looks different than previous years… notably, no Chiefs, no Ravens… and the return of the Patriots, 49ers and others.

Interestingly, it seems the NFL fans without a state or regional team to cheer for, have defaulted to the Buffalo Bills (Bills Mafia), largely due to several factors… they are long “overdue” for a big playoff run, the have never won the Super Bowl, the likeability of QB Josh Allen, and the crazy antics of the fan base.

In the middle of the country (Chiefs country), however, it seems some have defaulted to cheering for the Texans (Chiefs fans apparently don’t like the Bills).

Two other notes that caught my eye: one, the Eagles won the state of Pennsylvania over the Steelers and the 49ers won the state of California over the Rams and Chargers. Honestly, I think the Raiders win be rooted for over the Chargers in the state of California! Although, the Chargers did win Arizona.

Regardless, this is about as “wide open” as we’ve ever seen the NFL playoffs… It seems any team could potentially make a run.

Here’s the breakdown:

Bills – 12 states               (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota. Mississippi, NY. ND, Ohio, SD, Tennessee)
Patriots – 6 states           (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont)
Seahawks – 5 states       (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington)
Texans – 5 states            (Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas)

Eagles – 4 states             (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania)
Bears – 4 states              (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri)
Broncos – 4 states          (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming)
Steelers – 2 states          (Virginia, West Virginia)
Panthers – 2 states         (North Carolina, South Carolina)
49ers – 2 states               (California, Hawaii)
Rams – 1 state                (Nevada)
Chargers – 1 state           (Arizona)
Packers – 1 state            (Wisconsin)
Jaguars – 1 state             (Florida)