Life, Death, and the Dallas Cowboys

A study was made on what NFL team had the best fans. Surprisingly, three out of four NFC East teams made the top five.

Unsurprisingly, The Dallas Cowboys were #1.

So, how does Cowboys Nation keep blue and silver trending? And what really does make the Dallas Cowboys have the best fans in the league?

According to the study at Emory University, it’s based on three things: fan equity, social equity, and road equity.

1) Fan Equity

Fan Equity is defined as a measure of willingness to spend. Let’s take a rewind and picture this. In 2015, you are taking a stroll through the streets of Dallas, Texas. You know nothing about the NFL, or football in general.

In that moment of time, by the looks of all the Dallas Cowboys merchandise wandering around, you would have thought we were 16-0, the number one seed, and about to confidently march into the NFC championship with our winning hats already made. Instead, we were 4-12. The point is that there is no record that will stop Cowboys Nation from going into their pockets and picking up a brand new, $150 jersey.

Some other league fans will call that pathetic. It looks like loyalty to me. Fan equity also ties into ticket sales and home game attendance. The Dallas Cowboys have had the number one highest stadium attendance for almost four years. That’s almost four straight years of sold-out seats since 2016. You can probably guess what happened in 2015. (Look a couple of sentences above.)

2) Social Equity

A measure of transmission or amplification. Amplification doesn’t even closely describe the support us Cowboys fans will give when it comes to our team. Call it egotistical. Call it prideful. It doesn’t matter because there is a reason we are called America’s Team.

To clearly paint the picture, Emory University compares us to the Houston Texans. As we finished number 1, the Texans finished number 21 because fan engagement is different when it comes to the Cowboys. Look at television and sports networks such as ESPN or Bleacher Report. The Cowboys didn’t make the playoffs last season, and they had 87% more air time than 5 other playoff-bound teams. For example, the Patriots, Ravens, Texans, Bills, and Titans.

Even during times such as our bye week, the Cowboys are always sure to get a segment on TV. That’s because people want to see what is being said about the Cowboys, and people want to be able to see a reaction from their fans.

3) Road Equity

Road equity is how a team draws while away from their home stadium. Now that the quarantine has settled, you are able to look back at any Dallas Cowboys game since 2009 with the free NFL game pass. Take a look at all of our away games, and listen to how loud the cheers were whenever the Cowboys scored a touchdown in CenturyLink Field or Heinz Field.

I would willingly bet money that in every away stadium there will be 50% of blue and silver in the stands while the Star is on their field. And every other non-Cowboys fan could probably say that getting a ticket to see their favorite team play in their stadium is a little more expensive when the opponent is the Dallas Cowboys.

The Dallas Cowboys are NFL royalty not because of amazing football success. And not only because of the popularity of the team, but the passion that our fan base has towards our team. It’s not about how many wins or how much postseason success we have. It’s real simple. We love our team. 1-15 or 15-1.

We are America’s Teams, or even… the World’s Team?

Go to any city, any state, any country and you will find at least three Dallas Cowboys fans.

It makes it easy to say that all of the success can be redirected back to the fans. The Dallas Cowboys the highest valued team in the world at 2.1 billion. Why? The fans.

The Dallas Cowboys have the highest television ratings in the NFL, and almost in sports. Why? The fans.

Since the NFL began keeping statistics, the Cowboys have sold more licensed merchandise than any other franchise.