The Green Bay Packers may not be aware of their best asset yet.
In a research conducted by Nielsen Scarborough, as featured on Forbes, 84 percent of adults living in Green Bay, Wisconsin, are fans of the Green Bay Packers. The statistics mean that the remaining 16 percent are those that have not yet watched or listened to the NFL team play in the past season.
According to ESPN.com, Forbes Magazine described Green Bay residents as the "Best Fans in the NFL". Other fan base that made the top five include those of the Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots. The Forbes ratings were based on a number of factors such as the crowd reach in each team's hometown, Nielsen TV ratings over a span of three years, social media reach according to each area's population, merchandise sales through the NFLShop.com and the percentage of stadium capacity.
Although Green Bay is the smallest market in the league with a metro population of only 306,241, the Packers' supporters on social media, however, is huge. There are 4.4 million fans on Facebook and 701,000 on Twitter, the ESPN report added.
In a report by ABC News, one of the reasons why the Packers remain popular even outside their hometown is their winning record, having won a total of 13 championships throughout the franchise's existence. Based on the results of the study, fans of the Packers garnered the highest scores in every category except for merchandise where it ranked only 7th and TV ratings, where it got 2nd place.
Social media helped a lot in boosting a team's fan base. The Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers enjoy having more fans on social media than their local population. In a report by Fox Sports, all 32 NFL teams were included in the study. The Colts ranked 6th overall while the Steelers and Cowboys tied for 7th place overall.
In a feature on Acmepackingcompany.com, the Green Bay Packers are set to play against the Oakland Raiders at 7:00 p.m. CT on August 22, 2014, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. A number of Oakland Raiders started their NFL career with the Packers and will be facing their former comrades in the preseason game.
Charles Woodston, in particular, is returning as a Raider after playing with the Packers for seven years. The Packers last played against the St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans for their first two preseason games. Green Bay lost against the Titans with a final score of 20-16 but bounced back against the Rams with a winning score of 21-7.