With the NFL draft behind us we thought it would be an appropriate time to run a Fan Optimism Score™ survey to determine what teams’ fans are most excited about the upcoming season, and what fans are already on their proverbial fourth drink before the season has even seen its first kickoff.
In order to determine the Fan Optimism Score, we use the following methodology:
- We poll NFL fans, asking them for their favorite team, and how optimistic they are about their team’s chances in the 2017 season to make the playoffs.
- We compare the past several seasons’ records to see what team are trending positively or negatively.
- We add in Vegas predictions for each team’s record to get a rough estimate of perceived 2017 success.
- We weigh the number of responses from each fan against their favorite team’s recent record to determine sentiment.
- Setting this on a scale of 1-50, we create an Optimism Score for each team’s fan base.
Below are the 2017 NFL offseason results:
| Team | Fan Optimism Score™ |
| New England Patriots | 49 |
| Oakland Raiders | 46 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 44 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 42 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 40 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 38 |
| Green Bay Packers | 35 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 34 |
| Washington Redskins | 32 |
| Carolina Panthers | 31 |
| Detroit Lions | 30 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 29 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 29 |
| Tennessee Titans | 27 |
| Houston Texans | 25 |
| Denver Broncos | 25 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 24 |
| Miami Dolphins | 23 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 23 |
| New Orleans Saints | 21 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 20 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 19 |
| New York Giants | 17 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 15 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 14 |
| Buffalo Bills | 11 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 10 |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 8 |
| Cleveland Browns | 6 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 5 |
| Chicago Bears | 4 |
| New York Jets | 2 |
About: The Fan Optimism Score™ is a proprietary method created by SportFacts to determine fan sentiment about a team’s performance. For more questions about how this works, get in touch!