Patiently Waiting - Fanbases of the AFC North

The fanbase analysis continues with the AFC North. This one features two of the more patient fanbases in Baltimore and Cleveland, both of whom waited for years for football to return to their city without selling their allegiance to any neighboring teams. A division full of medium-sized cities, meaning the fans tend to latch onto their own team (or some other team in their city in the Bengals' case).

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens - I've got to confess that I became a little partial to the Baltimore fans after watching ESPN's "The Band That Wouldn't Die". No city had its team more sinisterly ripped from its grasp than Baltimore. Rather than start their own team searches, a good bit of the city waited...and waited...and waited. After finally seeing football return, the fans have been loyal, even adding in a new wave of Ravens fans who weren't around for the Colts days. They're overshadowed in the region by the Redskins, but the smaller fan base has plenty of passion (after all, it had a while to build up)

12/15

Cincinnati Bengals - Unfortunately for the Bengals, Cincinnati belongs to the Reds. The Bengals fans aren't bad. They have a decent attendance record (though OchoCinco had to personally bail them out of a blackout earlier in the season) but you don't get the feel that the fan-base is "all in" with the Bengals. Most of their fans seem to spend more time discussing how cursed they are than actually cheering.

5/15

Cleveland Browns - No fans have supported a worse team more consistently the the Browns. It's not easy to show up to the stadium dressed like a dog while your team spends more time playing dead. Still, the fans are passionate, faithful, and rowdy.  Like Baltimore, they patiently waited after their team was stolen from them.  They have had to scramble to avoid some black outs this year, but can you blame them?  The fact that they've gotten anyone there this year to watch that train wreck is impressive.

12/15

Pittsburgh Steelers - With all due respect to the Pirates, the Steelers are Pittsburgh. The Steelers' fanbase is one of the largest in the NFL. They're known to overtake stadiums when they're the visiting team and have sold out their own stadium for decades. Is there a little bit of bandwagon fringe in the Black and Gold? Sure, but that's going to happen anytime a team is winning.  Outside of those bandwagoners, it's tough to find fault with such a rabid, passionate fan-base.  Even the towels are working for them...

14/15