Sports Fan Data

Fan Clubs, Soccer, Sports Data, Sports Fan Data, Top 10

Top European Soccer teams: #7 Chelsea

Posted on by Steven Freidenrich

When Chelsea FC was purchased by Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, in 2003, the club had seen limited success in both domestic and international competitions. Now 16 years after his purchase, it is safe to say that Abramovich’s tenure as Chelsea owner has been bountiful. Chelsea has since won 5 of their 6 English football championships and their sole Champions League title. After purchasing the club for 140 million Euros (approximately $160 million as of February 2019) and injecting over $1 billion since, the team has grown into the seventh most valuable soccer club in the world, worth an estimated $2 billion (according to Forbes).

The new era of Chelsea football has been kind to the fans. After seeing relatively stagnant cup play since the club’s inception in 1905, fans have been able to see enough success in the past 15 years to last a lifetime. Because of this success, Chelsea has been able to take full advantage of the large London market. Chelsea is here to stay, and the Chelsea football renaissance has earned them the #7 spot in FanWide’s European soccer club rankings.

Visit FanWide.com to find a Chelsea F.C. game watch party or fan club near you.

Fan Clubs, Fan Data, Soccer, Sports Data, Sports Fan Data

Top European Soccer Teams: #9 Manchester City

Posted on by Steven Freidenrich

It is 2019, and Manchester City, the reigning English Premier League champions, looks poised to add another trophy to the case. The club’s 2017-2018 title was their third in the past 10 years, tying them with Chelsea and Manchester United for the most Premier League Titles in that span. Considering 60% of Manchester City’s all-time domestic league titles have been won within the past decade, it is safe to say that they are beginning to establish themselves as an English football powerhouse.

After years of living in the shadow of cross-town rival Manchester United, Manchester City’s recent success has allowed them to differentiate themselves as a club and claim some of the market for themselves. Establishing a presence in one of the most competitive regions of English football (the northwest) has given them additional access to fans and revenue, something to build upon in the future. Lead by Belgian midfielder, Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City looks to stay among the top in the Premier League and make a splash in the Champion’s League in the near future. Read on to find out what makes them FanWide’s #9 European soccer team.

Visit FanWide.com to find a Manchester City game watch party or fan club near you.

Basketball, Sports Data, Sports Fan Data

Introducing the Top Ten NBA Teams

Posted on by Michael Wang

On an international stage, the United States of America dominates in basketball. With five gold, three silver, and four bronze medals, with a 123-27 overall record, it is without a doubt that the best players across the world rush to play in America. Almost every park, neighborhood, and school has a basketball court. It can be deemed as an essential piece to building a community. With the strong presence of basketball in the USA, it is no surprise that the NBA is one of the most competitive and watched sports leagues in the world. Although the current NBA was formed in 1976, with the merge of the ABA and NBA, fan support for the thirty teams does not lack in power.

FanWide’s rankings are not based solely on success on the court nor success off the court. Rather, the rankings consider both in order to get the most wholesome analysis of each team. This balance in the rankings creates a broader field of data that allows for a ranking that is original and meaningful as it also uses proprietary data from FanWide fan clubs which is not available elsewhere. Read below to see the factors that were used to rank NBA teams based on data that was not limited to on-court success.

Fan Data, Soccer, Sports Data, Sports Fan Data, Top 10

Top European Soccer Teams: #8 Juventus FC

Posted on by Steven Freidenrich

With the acquisition of Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus FC has all but secured their next term of Italian football dominance. Juventus has been the team to beat in Italy’s Serie A for years, and adding the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has kept them atop the league standings. Ronaldo has done more for Juventus than dominate the pitch. In the 24 hours after Ronaldo’s signing, Juventus sold 520,000 Ronaldo jerseys worth over $60 million. When Barcelona signed Neymar Jr., they sold just 10,000 in the same span. In short, Juventus got what they paid for. There is a reason Ronaldo signed with Juventus. Aside from the $140 million contract, Ronaldo joined Juventus because of their tradition of success. With 34 Italian league titles, Juventus is an established European football powerhouse. Their success on and off the field has landed them the #8 spot in FanWide’s European soccer rankings. Read below to find out what makes them a top ten team, and check out this blog for more information regarding the ranking process.

Visit FanWide.com to find a Juventus FC game watch party or fan club near you.

Baseball, Fan Clubs, Sports Data, Sports Fan Data, Top 10, watch party

Top 10 Baseball Teams: #7 Houston Astros

Posted on by Peter Swope

Number 7 on the Top 10 Baseball Teams list is the Houston Astros. When the ‘Stros switched from the National to American League in 2013, they were in the midst of a lengthy rebuild. In 2015, however, they burst onto the scene, making the playoffs and defeating the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the AL Wild Card game. From there, the Astros cemented themselves as one of the top teams in baseball.

Their lengthy rebuild netted them several top draft picks, such as outfielder George Springer, shortstop Carlos Correa, and third baseman Alex Bregman. In the wake of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the city of Houston rallied around the Astros, and led by MVP second baseman Jose Altuve and newly-acquired ace righty Justin Verlander, a World Series title came to Houston for the first time. Now, as one of the best teams in baseball, the Astros hope to make another World Series run in 2019.

Visit FanWide.com to find a Houston Astros game watch party or fan club near you.

Baseball, Fan Clubs, Sports Data, Sports Fan Data, Top 10, watch party

Top 10 Baseball Teams: #8 New York Mets

Posted on by Peter Swope

The New York Mets claim the eighth spot in FanWide’s Top 10 Baseball Teams competition. As a New York team in the country’s largest market, the Mets are often at the center of attention. Expectations always run high, but the Mets always do their best to deliver. The Mets, and their fans, do what they can to compete with the crosstown rival Yankees, the competitive NL East, and the rest of the league.

Coming into the 2019 season, many predict big things for the Metropolitans. Led by ace right handers Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard as well as young star outfields Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo, the Mets came into the offseason with an already talented roster. However, the blockbuster acquisition of former Yankees star second baseman Robinson Cano and shutdown closer Edwin Diaz might be enough to put the Mets over the top. Combine that with a promising farm system led by first baseman Peter Alonso, who may well be coming to Queens this season, and the Mets have a chance to contend. 2019 may even be the season Tim Tebow makes his long-anticipated MLB debut. The Mets and their fans are hopeful that this year may be the year a World Series trophy comes back to New York.

Visit FanWide.com to find a New York Mets game watch party or fan club near you.

Fan Clubs, Fan Data, Soccer, Sports Fan Data, Top 10

Top European Soccer Teams: #10 Borussia Dortmund

Posted on by Steven Freidenrich

For years, FanWide has collected proprietary data surrounding fan clubs and fan engagement in each of the major sports. FanWide’s fan club network has given us unique access to metrics that measure more than just a team’s success in competition. We can now measure the strength of sports communities. Using its proprietary data, FanWide has announced its rankings for the top ten teams in various sports.

These rankings account for and weigh fan engagement, popularity, historical success, and current relevance. The result? Unique lists, based on facts and statistics, that nobody else has ever been able to cultivate. FanWide is taking its fan club network and using it alongside its deep investment in sports culture in order to bring forth an accurate representation of the sports landscape today. In our analysis of European football, Borussia Dortmund ranked 10th among international football clubs. For more about how the European soccer rankings were created, check out this blog.

FanWide’s #10 Team: Borussia Dortmund

In recent years, Borussia Dortmund has rapidly gained popularity in America. While the German club has been prominent for years in their home country, word of their success has traveled to the United States in part because of star Dortmund midfielder/winger Christian Pulisic. The 20-year-old American has established himself as a key component of Team USA. With all of his success back home, Pulisic has brought along a new wave of American Borussia Dortmund fans.

Time will tell if these fans will remain loyal once Pulisic departs for Chelsea next season, but Dortmund has made an effort to retain the fanbase. Dortmund traveled to America multiple times in the summer of 2018, making stops in Los Angeles to play Los Angeles F.C, Charlotte to play Liverpool, Chicago, and Pittsburgh, near Pulisic’s hometown of Hershey, Pennsylvania. All of Dortmund’s recent publicity is adding up as they become one of the elite European football clubs. Read below to find out what makes Borussia Dortmund a top ten European soccer team.

Visit FanWide.com to find a Borussia Dortmund game watch party or fan club near you.

Fan Clubs, Fan Data, Soccer, Sports Fan Data, Top 10

Introducing the Top European Soccer Teams

Posted on by Steven Freidenrich

It’s the most popular sport in the world, and second place isn’t even close. Soccer dominates everything from street corners to professional pitches across the globe. While the sport continues to grow on the professional level in the United States, mainstream soccer fandom lives elsewhere. Since its inception, each and every World Cup winner has come from either South America or Europe.

Currently, the talent is coming from these two continents, but in league play, European soccer dominates in almost every metric, in part because of their willingness to pay unprecedented amounts of money for top talent. Seeing this, FanWide began evaluating over 100 soccer clubs across 5 leagues. Eventually, we took the consensus 15 most prominent clubs from the English Premier League of England, La Liga of Spain, Bundesliga of Germany, Serie A of Italy, and Ligue 1 of France, and compiled data that has allowed us to rank the top 10 European soccer clubs.

The top 10 European soccer clubs have consistently succeeded on and off the field, balancing championship hardware and bragging rights with fan engagement and international relevance. No team on this list has one and not the other. Read below to get an inside look at how FanWide cultivated a top ten list that uses its proprietary fan data to rank teams based on more than just production on the field.

FanWide's Top 10 Euro Teams

Baseball, Fan Clubs, Sports Data, Sports Fan Data, Top 10, watch party

Top 10 Baseball Teams: #9 Toronto Blue Jays

Posted on by Peter Swope

Coming in at number 9 in FanWide’s Top 10 Baseball Teams competition is the Toronto Blue Jays. Though the Expos have long since left Montreal, baseball remains a key piece of Canadian sports culture due to the lasting devotion of Blue Jays fans. The Jays draw fans from across Canada as well as the U.S. Passionate crowds fill the Rogers Centre for every home game, but the Jays also have a reputation for strong road showings, especially in FanWide’s home city of Seattle. With an impressive collection of young talent headlined by top prospects Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette (sons of former big leaguers Vladimir Guerrero and Dante Bichette, respectively), the future is bright in Toronto. The team will truly thrive, however, on the strength of the Blue Jays fan base, which earned them the ninth spot on the list.

Visit FanWide.com to find a Toronto Blue Jays game watch party or fan club near you.

Analysis, Fan Data, Football, NCAA, Sports Data, Sports Fan Data

Football: America’s Favorite Sport, is it Yours? (Survey)

Posted on by Matt Carwin
Photo courtesy of Sandro Schuh

Football is the number one sport in America, but what makes football so special? Is it the action? The strategy? Even the commercials? FanWide is the world’s largest fan club network, promoting over half a million game watch parties every year for almost 13,000 pro and college fan clubs nationwide. Visit www.FanWide.com to find a local sports meetup wherever you live or travel. At FanWide, we value our fans’ opinions and we want to learn more about what makes football such a popular sport here in the United States. Please take this short, 2-minute survey about what you love, and don’t love, about the game. We greatly appreciate your time and keep a lookout for our next blog post with our results.

LINK: https://fanwi.de/FootballSurvey