In the search for the top football fan club, FanWide has interviewed the leaders of several prominent football fan clubs across the league and across the nation. One such leader is Chris Porter of the Boston Sports Fan Group of Seattle which organizes game watch parties for fans of the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins and New England Revolution. FanWide has hosted several events with this fan club and we were even featured together on TV during NBC King 5’s Evening Show: https://king5.com/entertainment/television/programs/evening/local-startup-brings-out-of-town-fans-together/464940138.
Visit FanWide.com to find any Boston sports game watch party or fan club near you.
FanWide asked him the following questions about what makes his club one of the top clubs in the nation:
1.) What is your name?:
Chris Porter
2.) What city are you from?:
Lowell, MA
3.) Which fan club do you support?:
Boston Sports Fan Group of Seattle
4.) Where does your fan club meet (name, location)?:
- For football and basketball (New England Patriots and Boston Celtics) we gather at Bar Harbor – 400 Fairview Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98119. It’s located in the South Lake Union area of Seattle.
- Occasionally we’ll meet there to watch baseball (Boston Red Sox) and hockey (Boston Bruins) games, but for regular season games for those sports we usually go to:
- Shawn O’Donnell’s (Fremont location – 3601 Fremont Ave., Seattle, WA 98103) for Red Sox games
- The Angry Beaver (8412 Greenwood Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103) for Bruins games.
5.) How many members are in your fan club?:
Over 1500
6.) What makes your fan club unique?:
The volume of members and attendees (over 1500 people in our network, we have anywhere from 50 to 200 people attend Patriots gatherings each week). We’ve also been very successful in fundraising efforts over the years as we have raised over $24,000 for a cancer charity called The Jimmy Fund.
7.) Do you have any connections to the team?:
I’ve met Patriots owner Robert Kraft a number of times and am in touch with members of the team’s marketing and media departments.
8.) What is your favorite memory?:
It’s hard to pick just one. Watching with approximately 200 other Patriots fans to see the team win Super Bowl XLIX over the Seattle Seahawks. We took a lot of crap before and after that game from a lot of people in Seattle. It made that win all the more sweeter. I also have wonderful memories of team owner Robert Kraft and former Patriots players Mosi Tatupu, Sam Cunningham, and Bob Cryder joining us for pre-game parties when the Patriots visited Seattle.
9.) Beside watching the games, what other activities does the club participate in?:
We are involved with annual fundraising for a Boston-based cancer charity called The Jimmy Fund (which benefits Dana Farber Cancer Institute).
The Boston Sports Fan Group of Seattle is special not only because of its size and devotion, but also because of its charitable work and connections to the team. It is a strong contender to be crowned the nation’s top football fan club! We are still accepting entries to be named the Top Football Fan Club – to learn more or enter visit http://fanwi.de/TFFC.