When rooting for their favorite NFL team few football fans are considering human geography definitions but that doesn’t mean they don’t apply. A region is defined as an area that is tied together by a physical or cultural trait, supporting your favorite team can be an example of this.  Earlier this week Facebook released a map they compiled using their data to identify the rooting interests of fans in each county. As you can see below, the most common pattern that emerged, not surprisingly, is that fans will root for the home team.

While a quick glance at this map would lead to the simple, and relatively accurate conclusion that fans root for the team closest to them, a deeper analysis reveals that there are several glaring exceptions to this rule and other observations of note.

• The Oakland Raiders don’t have nearly the same support as the San Francisco 49ers with whom they share the Northern California market. Their primary support base is located in Southern California where they played from 1982-1995. There is even speculation that they might move back to Los Angeles as the city is desperate to bring back an NFL team.
• The Denver Broncos have the widest land area of fans although much of that area is sparsely populated.
• The Dallas Cowboys truly live up to their nickname “America’s Team.” Not only are they dominant in a wide area immediately around them, they also have fan bases dispersed throughout the country.
• The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers both have pockets of fan bases around the country. Not surprising as both of these teams were highly successful in the 1960s and 1970s when the NFL saw a meteoric rise in its popularity.
• Lastly, the poor Jets. They share the New York, Northern New Jersey, and Western Connecticut market with the Giants. The Giants have always been viewed as the superior franchise and having grown up in this area I can vouch for the fact that most people consider the Jets to be an afterthought.

On a personal note, for those of you wondering who I root for, I am a fan of the Buffalo Bills. Having grown up in New Jersey and later moving to Miami I actually lived in the home areas of their biggest rivals. As I always tell my students, “exceptions don’t break rules, they prove them by standing out so much.” I assure you having lived in areas where people supported the Giants, Jets, or Dolphins not only was I an exception, but for most people, I was the only Bills fan they knew. It was not until the age of 31 that I finally befriended another Bills fan, and yes, he is originally from the Buffalo area.