New study shows questionable view of Oregon Ducks fan base
Fandom in college football is sometimes a touchy subject. There are teams you love more than anything in the world and teams that you hate with a fiery passion. Despite the passionate feelings, there is often a sense of respect between groups, though.
Even college football fans who can’t stand the Oregon Ducks acknowledge the team in Eugene is popular. It doesn’t matter how much you despise the green and yellow, it’s hard to deny that with the uniforms, the connection to Nike, and the rise to national prominence over the past couple of decades, the group of individuals that call themselves Oregon fans has grown exponentially.
However, a recent study that was done by SBRNet and analyzed by AL.com has a different view. The study uses polling data from the marketing research firm in partnership with the Center for Sports Analytics at Samford University, working to find out which schools in the nation have the largest fanbases for college football programs.
Our friends over at Buckeyes Wire, Wolverines Wire, Nittany Lions Wire and Roll Tide Wire have been having fun with this study, so we wanted to see what all of the fuss was about.
According to the study, Oregon doesn’t have a top-10 fan base. Neither do they have a top-20 fan base, when looking at size. Somehow, the study conducted by SBRNet determined the Ducks have the 37th largest fan base in the nation, which ranks sixth in the Pac-12 conference, boasting a total of 921,746 fans.
For reference, the No. 1 fan base per the study is Ohio State, with a number of 6,151,180. You can see why we are dubious about the data.
Of course, studies like this have all kinds of caveats based on the population polled, margin of error, time period taken, and many other facets. Regardless, that result seems pretty crazy to us, especially when talking about a national brand like Oregon that is widely recognized across the nation. For example, the Ducks garnered an average of 2.21 million viewers per game in 2022, which ranks 12th in the nation.
While there are a lot of teams in the 36 spots ahead of Oregon that belong there, we have differing opinions on some others. To help state our case, we took the reported fan-size numbers and compared them with the TV ratings data that was released for the 2022 season, looking at the average number of viewers that each team garnered per game last season.
Here are a few teams that we feel don’t belong ahead of the Ducks on fan-base size rankings:
No. 36 — Oregon State Beavers
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 940,786
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 625K (57th)
Our Analysis: The Beavers have a bigger fan base than the Oregon Ducks? If you’re searching for data points that show this study is flawed, then look no further. Oregon State averaged just 625K viewers per game in 2022, and it was its best season in years. I’m not sure what survey questions led to a result in which the Beavers fans outnumber Duck fans, but I would love to get some clarity.
No. 35 — Arkansas Razorbacks
Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 946,162
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 1.80M (21st)
Our Analysis: Arkansas is one of the more respectable teams that stand ahead of Oregon in the ranking, but I think they should also be relatively upset about their placement. With an SEC-sized following, the Razorbacks had the 21st-largest TV following on average last year. Of course, their 1.80M viewers per game still came nowhere close to the Ducks’ number of 2.21M per game.
No. 32 — California Golden Bears
Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 1,101,718
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 857K (45th)
Our Analysis: The Golden Bears have a rich football history that features five national championships. More recently, though, it has turned into one of the worst programs in the Pac-12 conference with an increasingly disinterested fan base that largely leaves stadium seats empty on Saturday afternoons. I was shocked to see Cal ahead of Oregon on the fan-ranking list. In what world?
No. 31 — Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 1,125,122
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 618K (58th)
Our Analysis: Off the top of your head, can you tell me the last time Rutgers had a winning season, or was relevant in any sort of fashion in the college football world? Neither can I. The answer, for the record, is in 2014 when the Scarlet Knights went 8-5 and won the Quick Lane Bowl. Since then they’ve been a below-.500 team that’s largely irrelevant. But, yes, I’m sure they have more fans than the Oregon Ducks. I’m sorry, Rutgers Wire.
No. 29 — Maryland Terrapins
Brent Skeen-USA TODAY Sports
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 1,182,667
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 1.864M (19th)
Our Analysis: This one is a bit tricky. I know that the Terrapins are in the Washington D.C. area and have a long history of success, though most of that comes on the basketball side of things. Respectfully, though, I understand that the football team has a solid following in a large demographic. I’m not sure that they have a bigger following than the Ducks, though. I’d be accepting of an argument that proved me wrong, however.
No. 28 — Syracuse Orange
Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 1,187,679
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 841K (48th)
Our Analysis: If you want to talk about schools that can claim success and a large fan base, but in a different sport, then Syracuse is certainly up there. When was the last Syracuse football game you willingly watched, though? They’ve got four winning seasons in the last 10 years, and two bowl game wins to show for in that time. I don’t feel like I even need to argue very hard that they don’t have a bigger fan base than Oregon.
No. 27 — Washington Huskies
Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 1,312,982
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 1.15M (34th)
Our Analysis: This one should be fun. Alright, let’s start with respect. Washington is a great program. They have a great school, a great history, and have found some real success over the past decade, being the only Pac-12 school other than Oregon to make it to the College Football Playoff. Are they more beloved than the Ducks, though? Look at it from a national perspective. How often do you feel like a random person is seen at a sporting event wearing a Huskies hat in the stands. When was the last time you saw an NBA player wearing Nike shoes with the Washington logo on them, rather than an Oregon O? I don’t want to take anything away from Washington, they are a great team with great fans. They don’t however, have a bigger fan base than the Ducks.
No. 26 — Arizona State Sun Devils
Joe Rondone-Arizona Republic
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 1,356,965
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 314K (71st)
Our Analysis: If Kenny Dillingham can “activate the valley” then I think that Arizona State could get to a point where they belong at this point on the list, but it seems insane to suggest that they have a sizeable fan base at the moment. The Sun Devils have been void of any real success for quite a while on the gridiron, displayed perfectly by their measly 314K viewers per game in 2022. Not many people are interested in ASU at the moment.
No. 24 — Minnesota Golden Gophers
Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 1,438,305
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 1.05M (37th)
Our Analysis: How many people are rowing the boat with P.J. Fleck? They’ve been a really solid team over the past decade, winning 11 games in 2019, and nine games in the past two seasons. I’m not trying to take anything away from the Golden Gophers on the football field. However, I do think Oregon’s fan base is bigger, just based on my general experience of being a college football watcher.
No. 20 — Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 1,571,430
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 837K (49th)
Our Analysis: There’s one team in Georgia that has a bigger fan base than the Ducks, but it certainly isn’t Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets barely cracked the top 50 when it comes to average viewers per game in 2022. Georgia Tech has had just two double-digit win seasons since 2000, and they constantly get overshadowed by the Bulldogs in Athens. I was shocked to see them this high on the list. In what world?
No. 17 — Illinois Fighting Illini
Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 1,696,451
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 1.17M (32nd)
Our Analysis: I would argue Illinois has not been legitimately relevant in the world of college football since the turn of the century. It’s been since 2001 that they’ve won double-digit games, and while there are a couple of bowl game wins to show over a decade ago, I don’t think anyone with that sort of mediocrity and lack of a national brand can garner what is ranked as the No. 17 fan base in the nation. No way.
No. 15 — Boston College Eagles
Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 1,859,225
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 322K (70th)
Our Analysis: If you want to talk about a school that has slowly withered away after a strong start to the century, then look no further than Boston College. A once great football team that had Heisman winner Doug Flutie running things in 1984, the Eagles have gone over a decade since they won double-digit games or did anything in the ACC. You can see how irrelevant they’ve become based on the 322K viewers per game they garnered in 2022.
No. 8 — UCLA Bruins
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 2,984,517
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 1.59M (25th)
Our Analysis: This one is a bit tough. I think UCLA has a large fan base, and I think that a lot of common fans see the Los Angeles market, the cool colors and the history of the program and choose to hop on board, choosing the Bruins over the USC Trojans as the LA team. However, if you look at the vast array of empty seats at the Rose Bowl each and every week in the fall, then you can present an argument that the fan base is waning. Will that change going to the Big Ten? We’ll see. Regardless, I will take Oregon’s fan base over UCLA’s any day.
No. 4 — Duke Blue Devils
Jaylynn Nash-USA TODAY Sports
Football Fan base Size, per SBRNet: 3,701,651
Average Viewers Per Game in 2022: 115.7K (91st)
Our Analysis: Alright, let’s have some fun. Duke?! The Duke Blue Devils?! Ranked No. 4 in a study that was meant to conduct the size of football fan bases? If we were talking about basketball, then sure, I would agree with you 100%. But we aren’t. This is football, where Duke had the 91st most people tune into their games in 2022. How that landed them at the No. 4 largest fan base in the nation is beyond me, but I seriously question the data points that ended up with that result. It goes without saying that I believe Oregon’s fan base is larger.
