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The SSRS Sports Poll captures fandom benchmarks and trends for over 80 different collegiate and professional sports, including college football. With a nationally representative sample backed by the SSRS’s Opinion Panel, and trending data that goes back to 1994, Sports Poll is a unique source of intelligence. We turn to Sports Poll to anticipate how many new Hoosier fans there might be after Indiana’s historic win in the college football championship game Monday night.

Since 2000, every team that has secured a college football national championship has then experienced a growth in fandom the following year. On average, teams that win the championship experience a 41% increase in team fandom. The largest jumps in fandom occurred when Oklahoma fandom grew by 96% following their 2000 championship win, and then after Texas secured the 2005 championship and saw a 97% increase in fans. “Fans” for a school are those who name the school as their favorite college football team.

This year’s champion, Indiana University, starts at an unusually low number of fans nationally. The completion of their incredible worst-to-first storyline over the last two years under coach Curt Cignetti and quarterback Fernando Mendoza, puts them in prime position for a major fandom leap.

Edison Research recently joined SSRS, combining decades of expertise to provide valuable insight into the world of sports and entertainment. This is only a small example of the wide variety of data the SSRS Sports Poll captures regarding fandom. All data is based on the US population 12+ and collected continuously from January to December each year. Contact our team today to learn more about the SSRS Sports Poll and see all the sports related insights available.

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