Patriots fans just love them some One Direction, study shows
When they’re not cheering on their team, New England Patriots fans are most likely to go see One Direction concerts as their football-alternative form of musical entertainment.
So says a study by StubHub, via the Wall Street Journal, which tracked ticket-purchasing habits of fans from each of the NFL’s fan bases. The online ticket broker studied data back to 2012 on the secondary market and cross-referenced it geographically with what musical acts each team’s fans were most likely to purchase.
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Apparently, the British boy band is just huge in New England — the only NFL region where One Direction was the top-selling act. (What, was Creed not on tour the past three years?)
The recent Beyoncé-Jay Z tour dominated in several NFL cities: tops among the fans of the San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints.
Country music also hit big with NFL folk, with fans scooping up tickets like mad for Luke Bryan (Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers), George Strait (Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans), Jason Aldean (Indianapols Colts, Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Rams), Garth Brooks (Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars) and Zac Brown Band (Cleveland Browns).
It’s not shocking that New York-area fans tended to stick with their own, as Giants and Jets fans still love Bill Joel, although they were not alone — Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles fans also wanted a piece of the Piano Man.
We’re not shocked that Detroit Lions fans stuck to their 8-Mile roots and favored local boy Eminem. And Justin Timberlake is a big enough phenomenon to lock down fans across the country — finding top spots in the east (Buffalo Bills), the midwest (Kansas City Chiefs) and out west (Seattle Seahawks).
But what is it with Paul McCartney leading the way amongst Minnesota Vikings fans? Does Sir Paul have some Scandinavian blood that we’re not aware of? Did he bust out a sweet gjallarhorn solo in the middle of “Penny Lane” or “Got To Get You Into My Life?”
And how about Katy Perry being No. 1 with Denver Broncos fans? Perhaps they were anticipating their appearance at her halftime act at the Super Bowl this coming February and wanted to familiarize themselves with her pop stylings. (Uh, yeah, about that …)
Still, the One Direction thing is the oddest. Perhaps Tom Brady endorsed the band on Facebook and we missed it?
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
