No matter which NFL team wins the Super Bowl, it is a thrilling moment for millions of fans around the globe.
But a Super Bowl championship would mean just a little more to some fanbases than others.
There is no scientific way to quantify this. But here is one writer’s attempt at stacking up the 32 teams according to how much joy their fanbases would extract from watching their team hoist a Lombardi.
Tier 8 (Recent winners with consistent success)
32. New England Patriots
With six titles and four additional Super Bowl appearances in just the last 25 seasons, Patriots fans have enjoyed enough success to last at least three or four lifetimes.
31. Los Angeles Rams
Rams fans aren’t the league’s most dedicated bunch, given that they only recently moved to a new city and are consistently outnumbered by opposing fans in their own stadium. So, their fans would care less about a championship than most other NFL fanbases in general, and when you throw in the fact that they just won in 2021, there isn’t much at stake here.
30. Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks are reigning Super Bowl champions and now have two titles since 2013. As rabid as Seattle fans are, they’ve been well-fed, so another title wouldn’t be life-altering.
29. Kansas City Chiefs
I’ll put Kansas City over Seattle since the Seahawks won more recently, but let’s be real: These fans are spoiled at this point.
28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bucs fans got to see a title in 2020, and prior to that, their 2002 victory was relatively recent, so they should be happy for now.
27. Philadelphia Eagles
The borderline unhealthy obsession that Philadelphia has with the Eagles is enough for me to put them slightly over the other five teams in this tier, but since they have seen two championships in the last nine seasons, Eagles fans are satisfied for now… or, at least, they should be, but are Philadelphians ever happy?
Tier 7 (Consistently successful franchises that last won in the late-2000s/early-2010s)
26. Denver Broncos
Denver’s 2015 title is very recent compared to the rest of the league, and they also enjoyed titles in 1997 and 1998, so Broncos fans should appreciate what they’ve been given. Still, the team’s 2016-23 run was brutal, so it’s enough to push them into Tier 7.
25. Green Bay Packers
The Packers’ trophy cabinet has four Super Bowl titles and 13 total titles, while the franchise routinely makes the playoffs and wins playoff games, but their last title was now 15 years ago, so the Cheeseheads are getting a little hungry.
24. Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh fans should be happy with a league-high six Super Bowl titles and routine playoff appearances, but the franchise hasn’t won a title since 2008 or even a playoff game since 2016, so people are getting a little restless in western Pennsylvania.
23. Baltimore Ravens
For a franchise that debuted in 1996, the Ravens’ two Super Bowl titles and 18 playoff wins are plenty, but frustration has grown since the team’s last title in 2012, as numerous championship-caliber Baltimore teams failed to get over the hump.
Tier 6 (Last won in mid-2000s to early-2010s, mediocre since)
22. New Orleans Saints
The Saints’ legendary 2009 championship was followed by plenty of playoff runs under Drew Brees, but they couldn’t get back to the big game (although they should have in 2018), and the 2020s have been marked by mediocrity that was familiar in Louisiana pre-Brees.
21. Indianapolis Colts
Indy last won in 2006 and fell to the Saints in 2009. Since then, the Colts have been mostly mediocre outside of Andrew Luck’s short run of success.
20. New York Giants
The Giants’ 2011 title is more recent than the Colts and Saints, and they also have four titles all-time, more than Indy and New Orleans combined. However, the Giants have been one of the NFL’s absolute worst teams post-2011, building up more pain that is waiting to be alleviated than Colts and Saints fans.
Tier 5 (Young ring-less franchises)
19. Carolina Panthers
Carolina fans have dealt with plenty of pain in their relatively short 31-year history, but they have made two Super Bowls, which is more than many teams. And since they are only 31 years old, many teams have longer title droughts, including some whose last title occurred before the Panthers existed.
As this list goes on, we will see plenty of teams with at least one Super Bowl who are ranked higher than young, ring-less franchises who have not existed long enough to have a drought as long as some of the NFL’s older franchises.
18. Tennessee Titans
The Titans have no Super Bowls despite being around since the inception of the big game, but they have only been in Tennessee since 1997, so their current fans have not suffered as much as some of the older teams.
17. Houston Texans
Houston is the youngest franchise in the NFL, arriving on the scene in 2002, but since they haven’t even made a conference championship game yet, they deserve to be higher than Tennessee and Carolina.
16. Jacksonville Jaguars
Like Carolina, Jacksonville has played 31 NFL seasons, and they have even sniffed a title multiple times, making their way to three conference championship games.
However, Carolina has been more successful, with Jacksonville reaching zero Super Bowls and consistently finishing with five wins or fewer, so Jaguars fans have suffered more pain. Not to mention, there is a certain sense of added pride that would come with bringing a title to a lesser-known market like Jacksonville, which doesn’t have any other Big 4 sports teams.
15. Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers are an interesting team to rank, because the makeup of their fanbase is less cut-and-dry.
If you have been a fan of the Chargers since deep into their San Diego days, you could make a case for the top spot on this list. The Chargers have been around since 1960 and have yet to win the Super Bowl. Along the way, they have had some of the most heartbreaking moments in the NFL.
However, the franchise’s 2017 move from San Diego to Los Angeles alienated a large section of the original fanbase. The team is routinely outnumbered by opposing fans at home. For these reasons, a Chargers championship would not have the same overall impact as many teams ranked higher on this list. But for long-time Chargers fans, it would certainly mean as much as nearly any team.
Tier 4 (Historically great franchises who have struggled since the 1990s)
14. San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco is one of the most successful franchises in NFL history, and their fans have still enjoyed plenty of success since the team’s last title in 1994, losing three Super Bowls and four conference championship games.
However, with a title drought that has now reached 31 seasons, those types of finishes start to become more painful as they stockpile. The next Niners championship will be extremely rewarding for multiple generations of fans who were not around to see the last title and have only been exposed to one playoff heartbreak after another.
13. Washington Commanders
Like San Francisco, Washington is a historically great franchise that last won it all in the 1990s, with the Redskins claiming glory in 1991 for their third title in a 10-year span.
Since then, the Redskins/Commanders have undergone a much different road than the 49ers. While San Francisco has consistently flirted with winning another title, Washington has been mostly incompetent; after 1991, they went 32 straight seasons without a conference championship appearance, not breaking that streak until 2024.
As much as it is painful to lose playoff games, I argue that it is more enjoyable for fans to lose deep in the playoffs than not get there at all. At least fanbases like San Francisco had plenty of memorable moments prior to their heartbreaks; fanbases like Washington have spent most of the last three decades sulking.
12. Dallas Cowboys
You can make the case for putting Washington over Dallas. The reason I have the Cowboys here is that the team’s outrageous spike in popularity during the 1990s straddled the franchise and the fanbase with absurdly unrealistic expectations that will loom over them for all of eternity. Nothing but Super Bowls will ever please Cowboys fans.
Tier 3 (Long title droughts/No title)
11. Arizona Cardinals
When it comes to historical failures, Cardinals fans can go toe-to-toe with anybody. Their .426 win percentage in the Super Bowl era (1966-present) ranks 31st in the NFL. They’ve made it to just one Super Bowl and won none.
A Cardinals championship would mean everything to many of their fans. However, I have the Cardinals this low since their fanbase simply isn’t as large or rabid as some of the more pain-stricken fanbases above them on this list.
Phoenix is known as more of a fair-weather pro sports market due to the large population of out-of-state transplants who move into the area. You never see Cardinals fans tearing down their city the way that people in Philadelphia, New York, or Cleveland have when their teams pushed through.
According to this chart from December 2025, the Cardinals rank 30th in cumulative followers across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, which is lower than every other team ranked above them on this list (only Tennessee and Jacksonville are lower).
A Cardinals championship just wouldn’t make the same impact as any other team ranked in the top 10 here. That isn’t to say it wouldn’t mean a lot to many, many individuals, but as we move up on this list, it’s hard to argue that Cardinals fans, as a whole, would make more noise over a championship than any of these other fanbases.
10. Miami Dolphins
Dolphins fans are a dedicated bunch, routinely packing MetLife Stadium for Jets games 1,260 miles up I-95. Their dedication has persisted despite a 52-year championship drought and a 25-year drought of no playoff wins.
Things have been boiling in Miami for a long time. A Fins title would certainly make waves.
9. Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders’ last championship (1983) is 10 years more recent than Miami’s (1973). However, over the last 23 seasons (2003-2025), the Raiders’ .351 win percentage is second-worst in the NFL, and they’ve won zero playoff games.
Their extremely low lows have created just a bit more pain than Miami fans (who have typically been confined in mediocrity), and they are also known as a more die-hard fanbase, so I’m giving Raider Nation the slight edge.
8. Chicago Bears
The Bears are a tough team to rank because the sheer size and passion of their fanbase make me think they should be higher than some teams that may have been less successful historically. The way the city rallied behind the Bears during their recent playoff run was a sight to behold.
However, given that the Bears did win a Super Bowl in 1985, make it to one in 2006, and reach the conference championship game in 2010, they’ve still done more over the past four decades than some of the teams above them on this list. So, I can’t put them too much higher than this.
With that said, an earthquake will hit Chicago when the Bears win their next title.
Now, we move on to the fanbases that would flood their cities with tears of joy.
Tier 2 (Title-less teams who have flirted with Super Bowls, only to meet painful heartbreak)
7. Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings should have at least one title. They’ve played in the sixth-most playoff games (53) since 1966 and have never gone more than four straight years without being in the dance. Their .563 regular season win percentage since 1966 ranks fourth-best in the league.
However, Minnesota leads the NFL with 32 playoff losses in the Super Bowl era. Vikings fans have been teased with realistic dreams of glory more than any other franchise, which is why Minnesota fans would be over the moon if their team reached the promised land.
6. Cincinnati Bengals
Bengals fans have dealt with a unique combination of near-misses and pure awfulness. They’re 0-3 in the Super Bowl, losing by a combined 12 points, and they have also had a whopping 17 seasons with four wins or fewer.
A passionate midwestern fanbase, Bengals fans’ lives would be complete if the team ever won a Super Bowl.
5. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons have never won a Super Bowl since their inception in 1966. But we only need three digits to justify their top-five ranking:
28-3.
Atlanta’s 2016 Super Bowl collapse is arguably the most painful experience that a sports fanbase has ever been subjected to. For that reason alone, the Falcons’ first title will bring fans a degree of relief that only they could truly understand.
4. Buffalo Bills
The Bills won a pair of AFL championships in 1964 and 1965, but they have never won the Super Bowl. That’s despite four straight appearances from 1990 to 1993 and a six-year stretch from 2020 to 2025 in which they had the NFL’s best regular season record (.730).
Bills Mafia has a strong case to be the most passionate fanbase in the NFL. These people will jump through flaming tables and show up shirtless in negative temperatures just to beat a Brady Cook-led Jets team in Week 18. Buffalo as we know it might come to an end if the Bills ever get over the top.
However, for all the pain Bills fans have gone through, and for all the passion that Bills Mafia displays, nothing can compare to the horrors suffered by our top three fanbases.
Tier 1 (Endless suffering)
Here’s the thing about the other 29 teams on this list compared to our top three…
You can picture the Bills winning a Super Bowl. Many times, they have been a legitimate threat to get the job done.
You can even picture the Falcons, Bengals, and Vikings pulling it off. Again, they have all been on the precipice of it. We have seen with our own eyeballs that those franchises can come within arm’s reach of the Vince Lombardi Trophy. So, it feels realistic to envision each of them delivering that one final kick to knock the door down.
For these top three teams, though, our eyeballs haven’t even seen them reach the sidewalk leading up to the front door, let alone begin kicking it down. There are only two places where these fanbases have seen their teams flirt with championship glory: their dreams, and Madden.
Without further ado, I give to you the top three NFL fanbases who would draw the most elation from watching their team win a Super Bowl.
3. Cleveland Browns
In the Super Bowl era, Cleveland has the fourth-worst win percentage in the regular season (.430) and the second-worst win percentage in the playoffs (.304). They have not reached a single Super Bowl.
Most of their success in this span occurred pre-1990. Across the last 36 seasons (1990-2025), the Browns are last in regular season win percentage by a longshot (.348), winning 48 fewer games than the 31st-ranked Cardinals. Their two playoff wins over this span are a league-low.
All Browns fans know is pain. Even mentioning them in the same sentence as the Super Bowl is enough to provoke laughter from many football fans.
Watching the Browns win a Super Bowl would be a dream come true in the most accurate sense of the term. In fact, Cleveland fans might be more baffled than excited; it’s that hard to fathom.
2. Detroit Lions
Even Browns fans cannot understand what Lions fans have gone through. Until recently, no Detroit fan, regardless of age, had ever seen the team resemble anything but a laughingstock.
Detroit’s three playoff wins since 1966 are the fewest among NFL teams, half of any other franchise. Yet, two of those came in 2023. Before then, the Lions had one playoff win in a 56-year span (1966 to 2022).
One. Playoff. Win. In. Fifty. Six. Years.
It would take a special type of misery to top that…
1. New York Jets
To understand the Jets’ No. 1 ranking, you have to think beyond the statistics.
Numbers-wise, the Browns and Lions have the Jets beat in the pain department. Even teams like the Cardinals could make a case for being less successful than the Jets throughout their history.
For all of the laughs at the Jets’ expense, they have won 12 playoff games since 1966. That’s more than 11 other franchises. Even their .434 regular season win percentage in the Super Bowl era is good enough to rank 27th, keeping them out of the bottom five.
What separates the Jets’ despair from the Lions and Browns is the pure cruelty of it. There’s losing a game, and then there’s losing in a “Jetsy” way that pushes fans into deep philosophical thought about why they became a sports fan and why they cannot escape their attachment to the billion-dollar organization that continuously ruins their Sundays.
Throughout their entire history, the Jets have always found innovative ways to make their fans suffer three times as much as they should, given the context. That is what puts them over the top.
Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles injury. Vinny Testaverde’s Achilles injury. The fake spike. Mo Lewis paving the way for Tom Brady. Hiring Adam Gase. The Butt Fumble. Geno Smith getting punched in the face. Kenbrell Thompkins’ drop. Bill Belichick’s napkin. Ben Roethlisberger’s third-down scramble. Doug Brien’s missed field goal. Rich Kotite. Zach Wilson. Christian Hackenberg.Seeing Ghosts (only for that man to win a Super Bowl).
How many teams have as many iconic moments of hilarious ineptitude?
Lots of teams lose games. No team embarrasses itself in the process of losing like the Jets. Their role in the eyes of most NFL fans is the comic-relief character who only comes on stage to provide a little chuckle and get out of the way, never to be taken seriously as a character who might undergo a legitimate development arc.
That’s why a Jets championship would generate a more euphoric reaction from their fanbase than a championship by any other NFL team.
Decades of loyalty would be vindicated instantaneously. All of that pent-up frustration would exit the body, leaving Jets fans in a state so euphoric that it has probably never been experienced in human history; therefore, I cannot think of adjectives or metaphors that would accurately encapsulate it.
The only recent title victory that is remotely comparable is the Chicago Cubs’ 2016 World Series victory, although, even then, it’s hardly similar. The Cubs struggled for much longer than the Jets, but they lost quietly—”lovably,” even. The Jets are the NFL’s punching bag.
When Jets fans get a chance to punch back, it will be something the sports world has never seen before.
