It’s an age-old battle: The Chicago Bears vs. the Green Bay Packers. It is the NFL’s longest standing rivalry. For 94 years, these two teams have fought for supremacy in what some call the greatest rivalry in all of professional sports. Both franchises have fought tooth and nail at the hands of NFL greats: Vince Lombardi, Sid Luckman, Reggie White, Dick Butkus, Brett Favre, Walter Payton — the list goes on and on.

However, what has kept these two organizations as two of the most recognizable brands in all of the sports world is the fans.

Bears and Packers fans are some of the most passionate fans in the NFL — and for the most part, they hate each other. This is what makes the games between the two teams that much more enjoyable. We’re not talking fair-weather fans or fans like those of newer expansion teams, these are fans that live and die by their team on the gridiron.

Another age old question is which fanbase is better? It’s almost impossible to answer such a question. But, a better question that  may actually be verifiable is, which fan base is more loyal? The answer lies within a recent study conducted by Emory Sports Marketing Analytics.

This study, which was released earlier this week, combines statistics that measure loyalty and engagement among fans of NFL organizations. The Bears’ fanbase finished an impressive sixth out of 32 — just one spot above, you guessed it, the Packers. Here is the explanation of how the calculation was made, courtesy of NBC Chicago:

“The Steelers and Packers have great fan followings. The Seahawks are slowly developing a great fanbase. And these teams will do better when we switch to non-financial metrics such as social media following. But for the current “revenue premium” model these teams just don’t price high enough. In a way, these teams with massive season ticket waiting lists are the most supportive of their fans.”

Packers fans have nothing to be ashamed of finishing seventh among 32 teams. It’s rather impressive. This should not ruin the day of anyone.

What should ruin the day of Packers fans is that they came up just short of the navy and orange, which proves one thing — Bears fans are simply better.

Ryan Heckman is a writer for www.RantSports.com covering the NBA and NFL. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

 

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