Which team is your state searching for the most? We’ll give you a hint, it’s not the Lakers…
If you’re anything like us, then you’ve always got sport on the brain. And with America offering such a rich sporting history, you may have wondered – which is your state’s favourite sports team?
Here at Sports Betting NY, we analyzed Google search data over the past 12 months for all 152 major league sports teams across the NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL and MLS to find out the major league team each state is searching for the most.
Dallas Cowboys
NFL global megastars, the Dallas Cowboys, were the most popular sports team in America, ranking as the most searched in seven states; Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Virginia and their home state of Texas.
The Cowboys, who are often referred to simply as ‘America’s Team,’ have amassed a combined fanbase of more than 16.6 million followers across their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
They are searched the most in Texas where the team was founded, at an average of 2,240,000 monthly searches – the equivalent of 7.6% of Texas’ population Googling the team once every month.
From here, four different teams were the most searched in three states each.
Atlanta Braves
MLB East Division team the Atlanta Braves came out top in three states: Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia. The Braves were the most searched in their home state of Georgia, receiving 1,220,000 searches every month on average – the equivalent of a staggering 11.3% of Georgia’s population searching for the team once every month.
Boston Celtics
NBA team the Boston Celtics were the most searched sports team in three New England states: New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and their home state of Massachusetts. Massachusettans search for the Boston Celtics the most, at an average of 450,000 monthly searches, the equivalent of 6.4% of the state’s population Googling the team once every month.
Denver Broncos
NFL team the Denver Broncos were the most searched in three neighbouring Western states: Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. The Broncos were the most searched in their home state of Colorado, where they receive 450,000 searches per month on average, the equivalent to 7.7% of the population searching for the team once a month.
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings were the most searched in three states: North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. The Vikings were the most searched in their home state of Minnesota, where they receive 368,000 searches every month, the equivalent of 6.4% of the state’s residents Googling the team per month.
The Most Searched Sports Team in Every State
| State(s) | Most Popular Team | Number of States |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas Idaho Mississippi New Jersey New Mexico Texas Virginia | Dallas Cowboys | 7 |
| Alabama Georgia South Carolina | Atlanta Braves | 3 |
| Massachusetts New Hampshire Rhode Island | Boston Celtics | 3 |
| Colorado Montana Wyoming | Denver Broncos | 3 |
| Minnesota North Dakota South Dakota | Minnesota Vikings | 3 |
| Maine Vermont | Boston Red Sox | 2 |
| Illinois Indiana | Chicago Bears | 2 |
| California Hawaii | Golden State Warriors | 2 |
| Kansas Nebraska | Kansas City Chiefs | 2 |
| Pennsylvania West Virginia | Pittsburgh Steelers | 2 |
| Alaska Washington | Seattle Mariners | 2 |
| Maryland | Baltimore Ravens | 1 |
| New York | Buffalo Bills | 1 |
| North Carolina | Carolina Panthers | 1 |
| Iowa | Chicago Cubs | 1 |
| Kentucky | Cincinnati Reds | 1 |
| Ohio | Cleveland Browns | 1 |
| Michigan | Detroit Tigers | 1 |
| Florida | Miami Heat | 1 |
| Wisconsin | Milwaukee Brewers | 1 |
| Louisiana | New Orleans Saints | 1 |
| Connecticut | New York Yankees | 1 |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma City Thunder | 1 |
| Delaware | Philadelphia Eagles | 1 |
| Arizona | Phoenix Suns | 1 |
| Oregon | Portland Trail Blazers | 1 |
| Missouri | St Louis Cardinals | 1 |
| Tennessee | Tennessee Titans | 1 |
| Utah | Utah Jazz | 1 |
| Nevada | Vegas Golden Knights | 1 |
Most Popular Sports League in America
It seems that football remains America’s favourite sport: With the most popular team in 26 of the 50 states competing in the NFL. Baseball ranks second most popular, with the most searched team in 13 states competing in MLB. Basketball places as the third most popular with 10 states searching for an NBA team the most. Only Nevada searched for an NHL team the most, and no MLS teams came out on top state-wide.
Methodology
All 152 teams that play in the NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, and MLS leagues were included in the analysis. Google’s Keyword Planner was used to find which of the 152 teams were the most searched in each state between July 2021 – June 2022. For cases where average monthly searches were tied, ‘Three month change’ in searches was used to determine the most popular. For cases where ‘Three month change’ was tied, ‘Year on Year change’ was used to determine the most popular team in that state.
Sources: Google’s Keyword Planner; NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, MLS
