Study Says Lions Fans Are One of NFL’s Happiest Fanbases After Week 1 Win
Even the most pessimistic of Detroit Lions fans are struggling to deny just how awesome the opening-day win over the Kansas City Chiefs was. As hyped as the Lions were coming into the season, few were willing to give the Lions much of a chance against the defending Super Bowl champions.
Nonetheless, the Lions are 1-0. And last I checked, the NFL didn't put an asterisk next to Detroit's record.
With such a monumental victory, it's no surprise that the Detroit Lions longsuffering fanbase would be one of the happiest in the NFL following Week 1. According to a study from Gambling.com, that appears to be the case, top 5 in the NFL in fact.
The website's study took a look at each team's fans' reactions on social media to determine positive reactions and ranked each team accordingly.
The San Francisco 49ers came away with the top spot, having 36.30% of fans' posts being positive. The 49ers demolished the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road, 30-7, after fearing two of their top players may not play. The players in question, Nick Bosa and George Kittle, did play and things got ugly in Pittsburgh fast. The 49ers look poised to rectify a disappointing end to the 2022 season in the NFC Championship and could prove to be a significant hurdle for the Lions if they meet in the postseason.
On the opposite end of the spectrum were the New York Giants, and understandably so. The Giants won a playoff game last season but began this season by getting destroyed by the Dallas Cowboys 40-0 on Sunday Night Football. Giants fans in 21.1% of social media posts were outright embarrassed to be fans of the only team in the NFL not to score a single point in Week 1 of the 2023 season.
The entire NFC North made the top 10 list of happiest fanbases. Ironically, the No. 10 happiest team, the Chicago Bears, was also the fourth-most angry team. The Bears have reason to be excited with Justin Fields at quarterback, but his inexperience and the poor defense leads to quite a bit of frustration for fans from the Midway.
The Minnesota Vikings were upended by Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one of the more surprising outcomes of Week 1. Still, Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson continue to be a dangerous combo, giving Minnesota fans enough reason to be positive about the season to come. The Vikings came in at No. 7 on the list.
The Green Bay Packers were the only team from the division to topple the Detroit Lions. Jordan Love got the cheeseheads off to a great start and may be the answer to the post-Favre-Rodgers era after all. Packers fans were the No. 4 happiest fan base after their team steamrolled the Bears.
With 27% of fans posting positively about their team, the Detroit Lions were the No. 5 happiest fanbase in the NFL. Things are looking up for the team from Motor City. If Dan Campbell's boys stack up more wins like this one, it'll be hard for any other fanbase to be happier than those in Detroit.