Browns Fans Are the Best Fans in the World, FanSided Declares

Lord knows Cleveland Browns fans have been through a lot. The franchise’s 70-plus year history is a nasty patchwork of ups and downs. Mostly downs, if we’re honest — sad, sad downs.

But still, beyond all reason, even when the Cavs were the best in the NBA and the Indians went to the World Series, the city’s sports fans wondered what was next for the Browns. Yes, the Browns, who last made a playoff appearance in 2002. Yes, the Browns, who’ve miraculously won four games so far this season. This is the team with whom the Cleveland area can’t get enough.

So it makes sense that when the website FanSided set out to find the best fanbase in all of sports/culture/film/gaming, they settled on Cleveland’s Dawg Pound as No. 1 in the world.

Beating out the also highly-ranked Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers fans, Cleveland’s rowdy bunch of revelers (indeed the same ones who threw a Perfect Season Parade for the Browns when they failed to win one game last year) proved they have what it takes to be the best at something anyway.

Landing the top score of 88 points out of 100, the Browns essentially blew the rest of the competition out of the water. Fanbases were ranked on five key measures: legacy, fansmanship, passion, buzz and magnitude.

As FanSided pointed out: “Few teams can match up to the legacy of the Browns and their fans. While the stadium no longer exists, Cleveland Municipal was one of the true home-field advantages in the game for decades, seeing Cleveland win four consecutive championships in the All-America Football Conference before playing in six straight NFL title games from 1950-55. From then until the present day, Browns fans have showed up in droves, making the franchise one of the most iconic in the NFL.”

The Top 10 fanbases in the world are as follows:
10. Philadelphia 76ers
9. Kansas City Chiefs
8. Fortnite
7. Serena Williams
6. New York Yankees
5. Black Panther
4. LeBron James
3. Boston Red Sox
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
1. Cleveland Browns

See all 250 fanbases ranked right here.

This article appears in Dec 5-11, 2018.