Football season is in full swing, and as always, music is playing a big part, blaring in stadiums to pump up home crowds (and keep the “Gangnam Style” horsey dance alive and well). To find out what each fan base was bumping, Billboard hit up Facebook’s data crunchers, who looked at the music pages liked by fans of each NFL team, and then identified those liked by a higher proportion of each fan base when compared with all football fans as a whole. Check out what they discovered below.
NFC East
Drake makes the perfect sad-boy songs for the Super Bowl-less Eagles fans. Oddly, Cowboys’ fans’ hips don’t lie — but those Tony Romo interceptions are “La Tortura” for them. The New York Giants have one of the league’s oldest and most loyal fan bases, so choosing a suit-clad, cigar-puffing NYC icon like Jay Z is a smooth move. D.C. can’t claim a rapper of the same mystique, but in latching onto arguably their most famous product, Washington stays winning.
NFC North
Chicago fans somehow did not back the 1985 Bears Super Bowl Shufflin’ Crew for the “Super Bowl Shuffle” — but picking Michael Jackson, another vintage pop phenom, was a smart call. Vikings fans could have followed on the mid-80s pop megastar tip and gone with a prominent native Minnesotan also known for wearing purple, but alas, they settled on a hard rock band from nearby Australia. Lions loyalists know how to keep it local, while Packers fans are somewhat understandably stuck in 2011. The same year LMFAO topped the Billboard Hot 100, Aaron Rodgers was hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
NFC South
“Exit light, enter night…’ Tampa Bay Bucs players reportedly murmured Metallica lyrics to themselves during their 56-14 shellacking by the Falcons on Sept. 18. Elsewhere, the three teams that actually stand a chance in the NFC South in 2014 reaffirm the region’s love of hip-hop. Lil Wayne is adored by his hometown Saints (too bad he’s a Packers fan himself), Atlanta keeps it real by repping T.I., and Panthers fans settle on a fellow ATLien, Ludacris.
NFC West
Most of the NFC West teams love their hometown heroes like E-40 for San Francisco — and then Arizona fans have Pitbull, a hero in any hometown. Dale! In earlier times, we’d be admonishing the Seahawks’ faithful (you know, the ones that pre-date 2013) for not going grunge, but hey, Macklemore loves Seattle and Seattle certainly loves him. Rams fans haven’t had much to bank on since hits from their hometown hero soundtracked the Greatest Show on Turf years, but Nelly’s recent career revival offers hope. With the Sam Bradford experiment likely over, maybe they should just name one of the dudes from Florida Georgia Line starting quarterback.
AFC East
The East has been ruled by New England and chord away by Buffalo for years. On the other hand, Bills fans like the Beatles and Pats fans like Akon. So who’s the real division winner? Well, it’s definitely not the Dolphins, who despite boasting celebrity fans like Rick Ross, Jimmy Buffett, Jennifer Lopez, and even Darius Rucker, inexplicably went with the Black Eyed Peas. The Jets, on the other hand, keep it real like the Giants and go with a battle-tested New York City rapper.
AFC North
Surprise! Usher beats out Wiz Khalifa in his hometown, while fans of the bitter rival Ravens are shouting “Black and Yellow” for some reason. We’re not too sure of the connection between Cincinnati and Waka Flocka, but hey, it’s not like the National would make good tailgate music. And if there’s anyone who’s going to stay loyal to the Browns after so many terrible seasons, it’s a native Clevelander like MGK. Now that LeBron James has returned home, maybe he can refocus his vitriol and dedicate a mixtape to the budding Brian Hoyer/Johnny Manziel quarterback controversy.
AFC South
Houston keeps it Texan with George Strait. Meanwhile, liking T-Pain makes sense for Jaguar fans, whose team hasn’t been good since Auto-Tune was invented. And you probably shouldn’t tell them that he’s already recorded a fight song for the cross-state Dolphins. Like the Texans, the Nashville-based Titans rep country by sticking with Jason Aldean. And Colts fans? Maybe they could duke it out (figuratively, please!) with fans of the NHL’s Calgary Flames for who adores Southeastern Alberta native sages Nickelback more.
AFC West
Listening to Bob Marley gives San Diego fans a Zen-like abilityy to get over those heartbreaking playoff losses. Get up, stand up, Phillip Rivers — there’s always next year, and you’ve got football’s chillest fan base behind you (photographic/video evidence of an angry Chargers fan is still yet to surface) so every little thing is going to be alright. We don’t have any smarmy lyrical puns for the Raiders’ love of Snoop Dogg, but Dr. Dre and NWA famously made their apparel a top-selling item in the late 1980s (back when the team called the L.A. Coliseum home) so to them, we tip our retro Mitchell & Ness snapbacks. We understand Chiefs fans getting behind Kansas City native Tech N9ne, but those Broncos fans with Maroon 5? Apparently the Denver-based Fray aren’t even their hometown’s number one lite-rockers.