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SEC Teams ranked by most Fans
Posted on 8/14/25 at 4:17 pm
Posted on 8/14/25 at 4:17 pm
I used Instagram College Football Program follower count which I think is a good proxy to measure fanbase, at least fans that care enough to follow their favorite team to get posts/updates which should be a bare minimum threshold to count as a fan.
1 Alabama - 1.5 million
2 LSU - 1.2 million
3 Georgia - 1.1 million
3 Texas - 1.1 million
5 Tennessee - 795k
6 Oklahoma - 594k
7 Florida - 527k
8 Auburn - 385k
9 Texas A&M - 372k
10 S Carolina - 325k
11 Ole Miss - 305k
12 Arkansas - 281k
13 Kentucky - 227k
14 Missou - 210k
15 Miss St - 189k
16 Vandy - 76k
The most impressive to me here is LSU. Bama has 5 mil population in their state, but their streak from 2008 to 2023 means a lot of bandwagon fans and just people who want to follow the best program of that period will follow them. Louisiana population is 4.6 mil. Georgia is 11.2 mil. Texas is 31.3 mil. For LSU to have more fans than UGA and UT is a statement considering 1/3 Georgia Population, and near 1/8th Texas population.
How these compare to the lowest NFL Franchises:
LSU and Bama have more fans than Jags, Titans, Colts, Chargers, Jets, Cardinals, maybe Commanders. Georgia and Texas have more fans than Jags, Titans, Colts.
Jacksonville Jaguars - 998k
Tennessee Titans - 1 mil
Indianapolis Colts - 1 mil
LA Chargers - 1.2 mil
New York Jets - 1.2 mil
Arizona Cardinals - 1.2 mil
DC Commanders - 1.3 mil
Atlanta - 1.4 mil
Denver Broncos - 1.5 mil
Cleveland Browns - 1.6 mil
MN Vikings - 1.6 mil
Chicago Bears - 1.8 mil
Tampa Bay Bucs - 1.6 mil
1 Alabama - 1.5 million
2 LSU - 1.2 million
3 Georgia - 1.1 million
3 Texas - 1.1 million
5 Tennessee - 795k
6 Oklahoma - 594k
7 Florida - 527k
8 Auburn - 385k
9 Texas A&M - 372k
10 S Carolina - 325k
11 Ole Miss - 305k
12 Arkansas - 281k
13 Kentucky - 227k
14 Missou - 210k
15 Miss St - 189k
16 Vandy - 76k
The most impressive to me here is LSU. Bama has 5 mil population in their state, but their streak from 2008 to 2023 means a lot of bandwagon fans and just people who want to follow the best program of that period will follow them. Louisiana population is 4.6 mil. Georgia is 11.2 mil. Texas is 31.3 mil. For LSU to have more fans than UGA and UT is a statement considering 1/3 Georgia Population, and near 1/8th Texas population.
How these compare to the lowest NFL Franchises:
LSU and Bama have more fans than Jags, Titans, Colts, Chargers, Jets, Cardinals, maybe Commanders. Georgia and Texas have more fans than Jags, Titans, Colts.
Jacksonville Jaguars - 998k
Tennessee Titans - 1 mil
Indianapolis Colts - 1 mil
LA Chargers - 1.2 mil
New York Jets - 1.2 mil
Arizona Cardinals - 1.2 mil
DC Commanders - 1.3 mil
Atlanta - 1.4 mil
Denver Broncos - 1.5 mil
Cleveland Browns - 1.6 mil
MN Vikings - 1.6 mil
Chicago Bears - 1.8 mil
Tampa Bay Bucs - 1.6 mil
This post was edited on 8/14/25 at 5:23 pm
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Posted on 8/14/25 at 4:29 pm to Saunson69
quote:
I used Instagram College Football Program follower count which I think is a good proxy to measure fanbase, at least fans that care enough to follow their favorite team to get posts/updates which should be a bare minimum threshold to count as a fan.
What percentage of college football fans, who are majority male & 40+ years old, have Instagram?
quote:
9 Texas A&M - 372k
This ranking can’t possibly be anywhere near accurate, just based on the size of their student body & number of alumni alone.
Posted on 8/14/25 at 4:30 pm to Saunson69
Dang now I gotta download ANOTHER app
Posted on 8/14/25 at 4:31 pm to Saunson69
Pretty laughable data-set
Posted on 8/14/25 at 4:46 pm to CharlotteSooner
yeah 4 million people in Oklahoma. About the same size as Alabama I'm not buying that they have 3 times more fans in their own State than OU does in theirs. Especially adding in Auburn to the equation.
Posted on 8/14/25 at 4:50 pm to Tuscaloosa
quote:
This ranking can’t possibly be anywhere near accurate, just based on the size of their student body & number of alumni alone
A&M has very few sidewalk fans compared to most big schools.
Posted on 8/14/25 at 4:54 pm to Saunson69
I bet with the demographics of this place, if memory serves over 55% of users are over age 45, a lot of people here don’t have instagram accounts and a lot that do aren’t very active.
Posted on 8/14/25 at 4:58 pm to Tuscaloosa
quote:
What percentage of college football fans, who are majority male & 40+ years old, have Instagram?
The share of old people on insta is the same share regardless of school. I'd push back on majority over 40 years old, but regardless 75 year olds are just as likely or not to be on instagram whether they are Tennessee or Oklahoma fans. It's the ranking that matters.
To encapsulate complete fanbase, you can do a multiplier for fans who aren't on it, but this is just more to show you the ranking, and how much some schools have more than others
This post was edited on 8/14/25 at 5:00 pm
Posted on 8/14/25 at 5:04 pm to Saunson69
The most impressive to me here is LSU. Bama has 5 mil population in their state, but their streak from 2008 to 2023 means a lot of bandwagon fans and just people who want to follow the best program of that period will follow them.
Louisiana population is 4.6 mil. Georgia is 11.2 mil. Texas is 31.3 mil. For LSU to have more fans than UGA and UT is a statement considering Louisiana has 1/3rd Georgia's Population, and near 1/8th Texas population.
Texas A&M is the most dissapointing. They have like 70,000 grad each year, in a state with 31.3 million people. Come on now. To have 1/3rd LSU fan base, yet 8x the amount of people, almost yields LSU having a 24x better per capita, although I know TAMU has to split with Texas while LSU doesn't.
Louisiana population is 4.6 mil. Georgia is 11.2 mil. Texas is 31.3 mil. For LSU to have more fans than UGA and UT is a statement considering Louisiana has 1/3rd Georgia's Population, and near 1/8th Texas population.
Texas A&M is the most dissapointing. They have like 70,000 grad each year, in a state with 31.3 million people. Come on now. To have 1/3rd LSU fan base, yet 8x the amount of people, almost yields LSU having a 24x better per capita, although I know TAMU has to split with Texas while LSU doesn't.
This post was edited on 8/14/25 at 5:06 pm
Posted on 8/14/25 at 5:05 pm to Saunson69
quote:
The share of old people on insta is the same share regardless of school.
Insta is the problem itself.
This is like walking into a Starbucks and doing political polls. Just throw the whole thing out. There’s no way to judge something like this based on Instagram.
Posted on 8/14/25 at 5:07 pm to Saunson69
quote:
3 Georgia - 1.1 million
3 Texas - 1.1 million
5 Tennessee - 795k
Just based off state pop. and the relative lack of in state competition should tell you that these numbers are way off
Posted on 8/14/25 at 5:08 pm to Saunson69
Social media can be all over the map though.
SkullSparks is a company that tracks social media followers for all football teams.
Colorado ranks #4 on instagram (ahead of all SEC teams except two), but come on at #28 in Twitter/X followers.
USC comes in at #25 on instagram, but a terrible #58 on twitter and an abysmal #106 on facebook (they should fire their social media manager).
SkullSparks is a company that tracks social media followers for all football teams.
Colorado ranks #4 on instagram (ahead of all SEC teams except two), but come on at #28 in Twitter/X followers.
USC comes in at #25 on instagram, but a terrible #58 on twitter and an abysmal #106 on facebook (they should fire their social media manager).
Posted on 8/14/25 at 5:11 pm to Tuscaloosa
I'd say it's a pretty good way to base it. If you're a fan of a team and on instagram, you're probably going to follow them. Of course not every fan is on Instagram especially those over 40, but I think the general percent of each SEC fanbase older than 40 will be consistent school to school. It may differ a little, but not like Oklahoma will have 95% of fans over 40 on Instagram, but Ole Miss have 4% of fans over 40 on Instagram.
It also defines a real fan base. Texas A&M has huge crowd attendance, but not much on Instagram follower count. That means a lot of their massive student body may attend, but just not care. Lot of Houston alumni go to see friends at games, but just not care enough to follow on Instagram.
It also defines a real fan base. Texas A&M has huge crowd attendance, but not much on Instagram follower count. That means a lot of their massive student body may attend, but just not care. Lot of Houston alumni go to see friends at games, but just not care enough to follow on Instagram.
Posted on 8/14/25 at 5:19 pm to Tuscaloosa
quote:
This ranking can’t possibly be anywhere near accurate, just based on the size of their student body & number of alumni alone.
Well it was historically a small school and was still a small school in the 1960s. It grew slowly throughout the 70s and 80s to catchup with others. And was similar size as others in the 90s and 2000s. Then blew up in the 2010s.
But was not historically a large school. Not even close.
Posted on 8/14/25 at 5:21 pm to Saunson69
How these compare to the lowest NFL Franchises:
LSU and Bama have more fans than Jacksonville, Titans, Colts, Chargers, Jets, Cardinals, maybe Commanders
Jacksonville Jaguars - 998k
Tennessee Titans - 1 mil
Indianapolis Colts - 1 mil
LA Chargers - 1.2 mil
New York Jets - 1.2 mil
Arizona Cardinals - 1.2 mil
DC Commanders - 1.3 mil
Atlanta - 1.4 mil
Denver Broncos - 1.5 mil
Cleveland Browns - 1.6 mil
MN Vikings - 1.6 mil
Chicago Bears - 1.8 mil
Tampa Bay Bucs - 1.6 mil
LSU and Bama have more fans than Jacksonville, Titans, Colts, Chargers, Jets, Cardinals, maybe Commanders
Jacksonville Jaguars - 998k
Tennessee Titans - 1 mil
Indianapolis Colts - 1 mil
LA Chargers - 1.2 mil
New York Jets - 1.2 mil
Arizona Cardinals - 1.2 mil
DC Commanders - 1.3 mil
Atlanta - 1.4 mil
Denver Broncos - 1.5 mil
Cleveland Browns - 1.6 mil
MN Vikings - 1.6 mil
Chicago Bears - 1.8 mil
Tampa Bay Bucs - 1.6 mil
Posted on 8/14/25 at 5:22 pm to Saunson69
Its literally just a ranking of SEC schools by number of instagram followers
Posted on 8/14/25 at 5:25 pm to Saunson69
Why would you compare instagram instead of X?
Posted on 8/14/25 at 5:27 pm to StopRobot
This methodology is absolutely idiotic.
Posted on 8/14/25 at 5:27 pm to Saunson69
quote:
Kentucky - 227k
Something tells me no UK fan here is in that 227 k
Posted on 8/14/25 at 5:28 pm to RoscoeHarper
quote:
A&M has very few sidewalk fans compared to most big schools.
Yep no one would CHOOSE to be a fan of A&M unless they were undeniably linked to the school somehow.
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