Football
It has been a great few years to be a fan of the Michigan Wolverines, and apparently, many people want to be a part of it. According to a marketing research firm, SBRnet, no football program gained more fans last year than Michigan.
SBRnet conducts a survey of college football fans, who either attended or watched a game on television, and asks who their favorite team are.
In 2020, at Michigan’s lowest point for fandom in the survey, 2,756,751 said their favorite team was the University of Michigan. With a win over Ohio State and a Big Ten Championship in 2021, Michigan gained 120,859 fans. After another successful season in 2022, the Wolverines fan base grew more than any other, with an additional 1,568,657 fans now saying Michigan was their favorite team. Still, the nearly 4.5 million fans calling Michigan their favorite team isn’t enough to lead the Big Ten.
Michigan’s biggest rival the Ohio State Buckeyes lead the list, followed by Michigan and Penn State. In fact, those three programs have the most in the nation, with programs like Florida State, Alabama, Georgia, and future Big Ten member UCLA coming in next.
It is no shock to see this poll illustrates some bandwagoning. AL.com compiled the data and worked with SBRnet to analyze it. Darin White, head of the Center for Sports Analytics at Samford, said this.
“When a team wins a championship, they always pick up new fans because people love to associate themselves with winning teams as a way of enhancing their self-esteem,” said White. “This phenomenon is known as BIRGing, or basking in the reflected glory. However, once a team stops winning championships many fans will do the opposite, known as CORFing, or cutting off reflected failure.”
After two decades of dominance, it is not surprising to see the Buckeyes firmly at the top of the fandom poll, but Michigan is gaining fast after the last couple of seasons. What would another Michigan win in The Game, another College Football Playoff appearance, or a National Championship game appearance or win do for Michigan’s fandom?
What we know is 2,756,751 fans were Go Blue no matter at the lowest point in 2020 and more than 1.5 million fans either joined or came back to the fan base with the recent success. Much like Michigan’s football program heading into 2023, the sky really is the limit when it comes to fitting fans on the bandwagon.
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