LSU is bigger and has better fans because it has 100 years of football excellence. But don't knock on the "new Saints fans" because they are the majority with the franchise like the Saints and before these past few years, there was nothing to root for. I've been a Saints/LSU fan as long as I've been in Louisiana. But only within the past few years have I embraced the Saints like I do LSU. And it's not fair to compare attendance records because most of the people go to the LSU games for the atmosphere (tailgating, drinking all day, and to relax on the weekend). You don't go to NFL games for that. Having said all that, the Saints are an easier team to market because they are a business looking to make $$. The true test would be to see how many Saints fans are in Miami for the Super bowl compared to how many LSU fans would be in Miami for the Orange Bowl if it was the national championship game. To me, it's LSU no contest.
Ohio has two NFL teams. The states to the north, west, and east of Ohio all have NFL teams as well (Lions, Colts, Steelers). With the Saints, they are the only NFL team between the Texas teams and the team in Atlanta (which is three states to the east). Many people in Mississippi (which has no NFL team) are huge Saints fans, especially since two of the best players in Saints history are from Mississippi--Archie Manning (the Saints all-time passing leader) and Deuce McAllister (the Saints all-time rushing leader). Of course, not many people in Mississippi are big LSU fans. I've been on the Saints forum for years, and only a fraction of them are LSU fans (about 33% to 37% on the polls I've seen there). Check out this map to see how the Saints fan base covers both Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as parts of Arkansas and Alabama (neither of whom have an NFL team either): http://www.commoncensus.org/maps/nfl_1280.gif Also, check out this map to see how geographically isolated the Saints are from other NFL teams compared to the two NFL teams in Ohio...
Jee, thank you captain obvious. Never knew these fascinating tidbits without your in depth breakdown.
The Saints have a loyal fan base that is crazy dedicated. But the majority of the people doing the "who datting" are fans who only care when the team is 15 minutes away from playing in the Super Bowl. LSU has a more widespread group of dedicated fans imo. Whereas in areas like Shreveport, Lake Charles, etc.., there is a strong tie to the Texas professional sports teams.
The Saints played in BR following Katrina and you couldn't pay people to go, b/c they were miserable. Let LSU play in New Orleans and the Dome will be full, no matter the team's record.
and the Dome didn't during the bag heads? 90,000 more difficult to fill than 60,000. I remember the Saints barely sold out a PLAYOFF GAME in the Aaron Brooks days when they played the Rams.
The Saints have been less successful than LSU. Of course the Saints didn't sell out as many games as LSU did. Had it been vice-versa, with LSU not being as successful as the Saints, then LSU wouldn't have sold out as many games as the Saints did.
But that's not the question -- the question is who is bigger in Louisiana and in part because of LSU's success, they are bigger to Louisiana, mostly in part because the "LSU season" is 12 months from football to baseball, etc..., whereas the Saints season just an autumn/winter thing.
and there is a reason they don't expand it for Saints games. it's the same reason that the Jaguars put tat massive tarp across the upper deck of their stadium. no guarantee of a weekly sellout with the larger capacity.
