New research from Realtor.com finds that about one in five NFL followers said team loyalty played an “extremely significant” or “highly significant” role in their home search process. A majority, 55 percent, said that supporting a local team helps them feel more connected to their community and neighborhood.

Among NFL fans surveyed, 18 percent said their loyalty “highly” or “extremely” influenced their search for specific home features, including a covered porch or built-in bar. Twenty percent said the same about house floorplans or rooms, including a basement or theater room, and 18 percent said the same about specific locations, such as a city or neighborhood near a stadium.

The survey found that community plays a significant role in football fandom.

Among NFL fans, 66 percent of surveyed respondents said that having people in their community or neighborhood support the same team makes watching football feel more fun, 61 percent said supporting a local team was important to them, and 55 percent said they feel connected to their community and neighborhood because they support the same team.

“When it comes to NFL fans and the teams they support, a connection to their community is a major driving force and influence,” said Charlie Lankston, executive editor and real estate expert at Realtor.com.

“Creating a home is about so much more than buying a physical property—it is also about the community that we build around it. Our new survey shows that football and the NFL play a vital role in how we see that community. And that team loyalty is actually less important to most people than their home and the people who surround it. So much so that nearly one-third of NFL fans would actually change teams if they moved to a new city or state,” continued Lankston.

Team Loyalty
While good team performance is why most NFL fans cite for supporting a team (44 percent), personal reasons matter almost as much. Among respondents, 40 percent said the team represents the city or state where they were raised, 39 percent said their team loyalty is a family tradition, 38 percent say the team represents the city or state where they currently live, and 29 percent cited their friends or community follow the team.

Where Are They Watching?
The survey found that most NFL fans watch games at home. Of all followers, 67 percent of surveyed respondents watch games in a shared or multi-purpose room (family room or living room), while 29 percent said they have a dedicated space for watching games (finished basement or theater room), and just 4 percent said they don’t watch games at home.

Super Fans
About one in five who follow the NFL are considered super fans, and their fandom was more influential in their home search.

When asked to think back to the last time they searched for a home, 20 percent of respondents were either “extremely” or “highly influenced” to look for a home with a layout or rooms conducive to watching football (with a home theater, basement or multi-purpose room), 18 percent were “extremely” or “highly influenced” to look for a home with specific home viewing features such as a covered porch or built-in bar, and 18 percent were “extremely” or “highly influenced” to look for a home within a specific location (neighborhoods close to stadiums or specific cities).

Generational Loyalty
Gen Z and Millennials who follow the NFL were the “most likely” to say that their fandom influenced their home search. Some 28 percent of Gen Z respondents said they were “highly influenced” to search for specific home features, while 29 percent of Millennials said they were “highly influenced” to look for specific house floorplans or rooms.

Methodology: Realtor.com conducted the online survey from August 22-24, 2024, among a national sample of 2,201 adults ages 18 and older. The data was weighted to approximate a target sample of adults in the U.S. based on gender, educational attainment, age, race, and region.

Image courtesy Pittsburgh Steelers