A new study was recently released that looked into NFL fans across the country to determine how lingering ‘heartbreak’ from their favorite team’s worst losses compares to past breakups.
The study had some interesting findings, determining which teams’ fanbase takes the longest to recover from an emotional loss, and which teams’ fans think about their team’s losses more than their own breakups.
How many Commanders fans take losses worse than breakups?
The study found that 21% of Washington Commanders fans will actually think about the team’s worst loss more often than about past breakups!
Though that may sound like a lot, equating to one out of every 5 Commanders fans, you may be surprised to hear that it’s actually one of the lowest percentages among all NFL fanbases!
The only team whose fanbases spend less time thinking about losses compared to past breakups is the Indianapolis Colts, where just 17% of fans think about bad losses more than past breakups.
Likewise, the average percentage of NFL fans who think about their favorite team’s worst losses more often than about past breakups was 35%.
Which NFL fanbases think the most about their losses compared to past breakups?
Not every NFL fanbase takes losses the same way, and this study was a great reminder of that!
Here are the 10 NFL fanbases that take losses the worst and the percentage of their fans that think about those losses more often than past breakups:
- Detroit Lions – 52%
- Baltimore Ravens – 51%
- Buffalo Bills – 50%
- Green Bay Packers – 47%
- Seattle Seahawks – 44%
- Los Angeles Rams – 43%
- Chicago Bears – 40%
- Minnesota Vikings – 40%
- Dallas Cowboys – 38%
- Arizona Cardinals – 38%
What was this study’s methodology?
The study used a survey of over 2,000 NFL fans across the United States in January of 2026, which means that some of the recent playoff losses may not have impacted the survey.
The respondents were asked to identify their favorite team, and then to identify which type of heartbreak they think of more, a major loss or a past breakup.
The breakdown of respondents was 54% male, 45% female, and 1% non-binary, with a total average age of 43.2 years.