That is basically the question, why are people fans of professional teams that are continuously bad, year after year if not decade after decade.

I know the NFL the best. For me the three worst teams in the NFL of all time are the New York Jets, the Cleveland Browns and for the worst...the Detroit Lions. The Browns and Lions have never been to a Superbowl. The Jets were in the Superbowl way back in 1969. The current head coach of the Jets was BORN ten years after this game.

The Jets have had eight winning seasons in the past 22 years. Better than I thought. But the Jets sort of follow a pattern, the teams gets good seemingly a year or two, then fall back to crap. Their seasonal record is like the drunk member of the family who promises to sober up and does for a while and then falls back to intoxication and slips on their mess. Or going into a restaurant and having a wonderful dinner or get served cow plop.

Then their Jersey Boy meathead fanbase always go ape dung on NFL Draft Day because the idiots in their front office always chooses the draft bust when they want the other guy they should have gotten.

Someone else on this board is a Cleveland Browns "fan" who calls them Clowns, and for the most part is a clown franchise. The Browns has had three winning seasons since 2000. Three out of 22. Went 0-16 in 2017 which has only been matched once since by the lovely franchise below. I dont know, maybe because it is Ohio and Ohio people are football fanatics. Or people paying probably at least $50 a ticket to sit in an ice cold stadium watching million dollar players fail yet again.

But the champion of bad is Detroit. The Detroit Lions. The last time the Lions won the NFL Championship was 1957. Joe Biden was in high school and Eisenhower was President.

Five winning seasons since 2000. Five out of 22. Not all seasons were horrid just most of them. The fans blame the owners, who are the Ford family of the automobile fame. Maybe players just dont want to live in Detroit (who does?). I think the Lions are almost an afterthought in the NFL, much like Vanderbilt or Northwestern in college football, they exist so most other teams can get one win. Played on Thanksgiving, which might as well since turkey makes one fall asleep. Maybe the very first step is to change the name. Lions sounds like a European soccer club. Second, I dont know, just fold up shop and quit? I doubt the fans will miss you that much.

Honorable mention, the Washington Redskins, I mean, uh, Commanders. Owned by a man everyone hates worse than Hitler in a ran down stadium fitting for Guatemala and hasnt fielded a decent team since Joe Theismann broke his leg like a twig (if you have never seen this video, watch it, unless you are a recovering junkie, because it might trigger you back to the dope.)
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I dont expect any team to win every year, that would be boring too. But I wouldnt pay $10 bucks and free beer the whole afternoon to watch the above three teams, but these teams turn a profit despite mostly failing.

I would also think because of the advent of home huge movie screen like television and ridiculous NFL "Sunday ticket" "packages" people are just electing to stay home in their warm house. Especially Philadephia fans who dont want to go to a game for fear of getting into a lout fight with mutants posing as Eagles fans. The Eagles might win the Superbowl this year, if the team does, the fans will go amuck, and the gang bangers will just take the night off and hide.

There is a YouTube channel called The Urinating Tree (their name not mine) which critiques the awful professional teams out there.

Way too long for me to read up there, so I’ll just answer the topic question


Why do perenially bad professional teams have fans?

If you’re a true fan of a team you’re a fan of them, be they great, good, mediocre, or bad.

I think a big part of it is "tradition". If you ask the die-hard fans of perennial loser teams "why"...many of them will tell you something like "dad took me to my first 'El Sucko' game." and they have been riding the groove like a phonograph needle ever since. I think some of this has also been reinforced by an underdog mentality (self pity).

I also suspect another aspect might be a different kind of loyalty where the fan feels like a martyr for not jumping ship in favor of some other team just because they win. What is called a "band waggoner" in some circles. Nothing is more pathetic, IMO, than a Yankees fan out in the middle of Nebraska, who has never been east of the Mississippi river. Their affection is strictly based upon their desire to patronize a winner. SO, those who intentionally run contrary to that way of thinking, and instead support a nearby "homer" team, likely feels like a more dedicated fan than his band waggoner neighbor.

And, I also don't think we can completely overlook the value of "corporate comp" tickets. I've moved around the country quite a bit, and the availability of tickets furnished by some local business...as a gratuity.....has almost always been part of the landscape. "Hey, would ya like a couple tickets to the Hawks game tonight?" Furnishing such freebies are part of the corporate culture in some organizations.

And lastly, I guess there is always "hope"...that need to believe that a team is "rounding the corner" and the die-hard fan's years of suffering will be rewarded.

Myself, I'm kind of an ultimate anti-band waggoner. My job moved me to the San Francisco/Oakland area during the summer of 1989....which just happened to be the center of the baseball universe that season. Yet I remained a loyal Tigers fan, attending A's games only when my Tigers were in town.

And, just to add to it, the 49er's happened to be going through their "Threepete" era at that time, as well,...I really felt like I had fallen into a sports fan's heaven.

Since I really don't get that excited over football, it was easy for me to bandwaggon them in their days of glory. Usually each year I don't give a hoot about football until the playoffs. And then at that point pick a "favorite" from whoever is still in contention. Mostly just because it makes watching more exciting..

I bring that up, because it might key into your original question, of how fans sometimes support teams that make little sense. If the sport in question is relatively unimportant to them, then the fact their local team is a loser might not be as big a deal as it would be for an avid fan of the game?

I've often felt that winning is unimportant to fans of the Kansas City Royals for example...couldn't be. Because when they do win,.. it's a fluke

The Cleveland Clowns STILL have fans...and they're not even close to a team!

They'll be 0-17 next year and these same people will go see them lose!

Basically loyalty ! Usually it's your hometown team, the team your Dad, Grand Dad, friends and neighbors rooted for ! Holding unto a hope that they will eventually do well. But even if they don't, support them till the end , no matter what!;)

Cleveland actually had a impromptu parade to celebrate going 0-16. I would have gone. This was the first time in NFL history that happened, it has happened twice, the second being Detroit).

I think too it's important to keep in mind that professional sports teams are a business first and foremost.

I've heard that with league wide revenue sharing and competitive balance perks, some teams actually make a profit despite being totally non-competitive. For them the key is controlling expenses, so putting talented players on their roster defeats their business plan. Happy fans are an unnecessary luxury

They can try and drum up attendance with inane promotions, but that's the entertainment aspect at work

Maybe players just dont want to live in Detroit (who does?).

Who does? I'd say people who aren't ignorant and uneducated about Detroit. Thank you.

The Cleveland Clowns haven't won their division since 1989! They have the biggest deficit in the NFL!

There's 31 NFL Teams, but the Cleveland Clowns aren't one! It's time to end this disaster and fold the franchise!

The Cleveland Clowns haven't won their division since 1989! They have the biggest deficit in the NFL!

There's 31 NFL Teams, but the Cleveland Clowns aren't one! It's time to end this disaster and fold the franchise!

Which is the question of this thread, again, why would anyone from, for example, Cleveland, actually pay money to watch a badly ran franchise? Costs of NFL tickets are expensive. From researching, a Raiders ticket is $150. This is average. Another site says the average NFL ticket is $275. This doesnt include parking. Now that's greedy and fkd up to charge people who have paid literally hundreds of dollars to see a game to have to pay more money to park the car to get to the venue. No wonder owners are so hated.

People now (who have income like that to go sit in a stadium) can sit at (their warm, comfortable) home in front of their big screen TV, and not have to deal with drunken louts, and sitting next to strangers. People can buy an NFL "package" and just stay home and watch any game they want. I guess there might be something to be said about the "in game experience" but unless its in a "skybox" with free liquor and lounge chairs, would rather sit at home.