If you’re looking for proof that Bills Mafia travels loud, watches closely and shows up everywhere, Nielsen just handed Buffalo a clean bill of fandom.
The company’s new study says Buffalo is the NFL’s most intense market, putting the Bills at No. 1 overall after looking at 30 NFL markets across eight different categories. Nielsen said the point of the exercise was to measure something bigger than simple TV ratings.
“It's just trying to really get deeper into that, you know, deeper level fandom,” said Jon Miller, senior director of Nielsen Insights Lab, who led the study.
Buffalo finished first in four areas: general interest level, streaming habits, live-event attendance and radio listenership. The Bills were also second in apparel purchases, social media engagement and linear television viewership. The one category where Buffalo was not near the top was betting intent.
Miller said the outcome made sense to him. He lives in Northern Vermont and said he is surrounded by Bills fans and friends who are part of Bills Mafia.
“I was not surprised,” Miller said. “But, you know, Kansas City was very close behind. Green Bay was up there.”
He also pointed to the team’s recent run of success, including a playoff berth every year since 2019. Because Nielsen updates the numbers several times a year, the rankings can shift depending on how the Bills are playing.
“Buffalo has been really successful with the Josh Allen era,” Miller said. “You have a new head coach, you have new optimism. What will it look like at the end of this year?”
And if the Bills were to finish the job with a Super Bowl, Miller left the door open for an even bigger statement from the fan base.
“If we win a Super Bowl, do we go to number one in every category except betting?” 7 News' Michael Wooten joked with Miller.
"That would be historic," Miller replied. "That would be very exciting."
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