Arizona Cardinals: No Fandom 250 for Birdgang
By Scott Allen
FanSided’s Fandom 250 piece came out earlier this week and Arizona Cardinals fans were nowhere to be found on the list
Birdgang is a strong and loyal bunch. The passionate Arizona Cardinals fans are one of a kind and are loved but are not amongst the top 250 fan bases in America according to FanSided’s Fandom 250 released this week.
There were 16 NFL teams that made the cut. That is half of the NFL. So the Cardinals aren’t the only NFL team to not make the cut but should we be surprised?
In a largely fair-weather town, the Cardinals are already behind the eight-ball when trying to draw up any kind of fan support. That being said, the fan base has grown tremendously over the years.
To be a little bit of a homer here, this does sting a bit. I would have expected the popularity of the Cardinals to be able to make this large list. However with any sports team in the Phoenix-area it is always what have you done for me lately.
It hasn’t hurt the Cardinals in the stands. They continue to sell out every game. There are plenty of awesome Cardinals fans at the tailgates. There is plenty of Cardinals chatter on social media.
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So while it isn’t a huge shock the Cardinals fans didn’t make this year’s cut, there is still some surprise and disappointment. With many people transplanted from other areas, even winning on a consistent basis likely won’t get the Cardinals fan base to be in the mid to upper half of the NFL.
So is there anything, other than winning, that can get the Cardinals on this list in 2018? There aren’t too many complaints with many of the fan bases.
The Cleveland Browns fans have stayed loyal. They haven’t had a winning season since 2007. They’ve had just two winning seasons since re-joining the NFL as an expansion team in 1999.
They are passionate though. They’ve stuck with their team through thick and thin. The Cardinals? Fans come and go. You’d think even with transplants here now years, even decades, there would be more support as big as the metro area is now.
Are there deeper issues? Let us know what you think. Are the Cardinals doomed to never appear on this list no matter how well they consistently perform moving forward?