By the Numbers: The Most Popular NFL Teams in the UK
While football remains king across the United Kingdom, football of the American kind has taken a firm foothold on these shores. Buoyed by the annual London Games, held at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Wembley each autumn, and a huge push by broadcasters like Sky to offer comprehensive coverage to fans, the presence of the sport in the UK has never been stronger.
Yet, while there is no sense of the tribalism that you might associate with teams like Liverpool and Everton, or Exeter and Plymouth Argyle, for that matter, fandom for individual teams has also taken hold. And, as you might expect, some NFL teams are more popular than others. But just who are the most popular NFL teams in the UK?
You’ve probably not had someone knock on your door to ask you that question, but they do measure these things. YouGov will usually release an annual poll (it has done so recently) of the most popular NFL teams in the UK, and companies measure these things through metrics like social media activity and Google searches.
As such, we can make a good stab at citing the most popular teams. Below, we look at the current top six:
The Dallas Cowboys
Arguably, the most famous NFL team, the Cowboys regularly top surveys that measure recognition of teams. Put it this way, in the TV show Pointless, the Cowboys would probably be the score closest to 100. Game show analogies aside, the Cowboys are one of the most valuable sports teams in the world, but they have been down on their luck recently, failing to reach the Super Bowl since the mid-1990s, and missing the Playoffs entirely this year. Think of them as the Manchester United of the NFL; full of problems and false dawns, yet still the biggest draw in the league.
Miami Dolphins
Another team that charts well on the “fame” surveys, the Dolphins’ big period of success was in the 1970s and 1980s, led by legendary coaches like Don Shula and players like Dan Marino. They became a pop culture team, and that arguably filtered through to UK fandom. Like the Cowboys, they have not scaled the heights in a long time. They have, in fact, just sacked their head coach after a disappointing season.
San Francisco 49ers
An interesting addition here, the 49ers are probably a little more popular with fans than their name recognition would suggest. Some of that is understandable, given the 49ers have regularly been considered contenders in the NFL Super Bowl betting in recent years, including this season. Super Bowl LX will actually be played at Levi's Stadium, their home patch, on 8th February. Led by coach Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers have been one of the most exciting teams in modern NFL.
New York Giants
Second only to the Cowboys in name recognition, the Giants are a historic franchise, playing in the NFL (or its equivalent) for 101 seasons. In that time, they have won eight championships and been in the Playoffs 33 times. They last won the Super Bowl in 2011, thanks to a superb performance from Eli Manning. Right now, though, they are pretty poor, having won just seven games across the past two seasons.
Chicago Bears
We’ll round this off with the Bears, another ‘historic’ team that have been in business since the 1910s. Bears fans have faced everything that sport has to throw at them across 100+ years of existence, ranging from sustained periods of success to the tearing-your-hair-out frustration of watching a bad team year in, year out. They are in a good position today, though, making the NFL Playoffs ahead of Super Bowl LX.
