Pro sports fans are unwavering in their passion–for better or worse. You can usually gauge the mood of a fanbase by how their team is playing.
All fanbases have positive and negative elements, but some are definitely rougher than others. A new study from CCN.com, a website specializing in crypto and Bitcoin, has attempted to quantify the most and least “toxic” fanbases in sports by analyzing more than 700,000 comments across NFL, NBA, NHL, and Premier League fan communities.
“Using a natural-language processing model trained to detect aggressive, insulting, obscene, or otherwise toxic language, CCN scored every single comment to rank the best and worst fanbases in sports,” the study says.
The results may surprise you. According to the findings, the Dallas Mavericks have the most “toxic” fans, with 52% of all comments being flagged for toxic language.
The 10 most ‘toxic’ fanbases in sports, per CCN
- Dallas Mavericks – 52.0%
- Colorado Avalanche – 49.7%
- Calgary Flames – 49.1%
- Memphis Grizzlies – 48.5%
- Edmonton Oilers – 39.9%
- Ottawa Senators – 39.7%
- Boston Bruins – 39.7%
- Toronto Maple Leafs – 39.1%
- New York Giants – 38.8%
- New York Jets – 38.7%
Mavs fans top the list, with the Memphis Grizzlies, the other NBA representative, in fourth place. Six of the top 10 most “toxic” fanbases come from the NHL.
Both New York area football teams round out the top 10, which makes sense considering the recent run of the futility their fans have had to endure. Premier League fans are less toxic overall, with not one club’s fans featured in the rankings.
Why are Mavs fans so mad?
The answer to his question back 10 months ago, to the night of Feb. 2, 2025. Just before midnight, the Mavericks shocked their fanbase by trading homegrown superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Angry fans never forgave general manager Nico Harrison for the deal. There were immediate protests, and “Fire Nico” chants and signs became commonplace at games. Things became so untenable that the Mavs had no choice but to fire Harrison last month amid continued backlash.
With Doncic thriving in LA and Dallas off to a 7-15 start this season, it’s no wonder Mavs fans are mad online and letting everyone know about it.
You can find the full results of CCN’s pro sports fanbase study here.
