Well, to round out my posting for today, I have to voice my hope that the Pittsburgh Steelers cream the San Diego Chargers later this afternoon! Since moving to Pittsburgh–and to the great surprise of my sister–I’ve become a big Steelers fan.
Given that this is the Feminist Law Professors blog, I would be remiss if I didn’t note here that the Steelers have, by far, the largest female fan base of any professional football team. According to a 2007 report, 34% of women living in this area identify themselves as Steelers fans. Green Bay came in second “with 29.4 percent, but no other market surveyed had even one-quarter of its women identify themselves as fans.”
-Tony Infanti
As a feminist and dual-loyalty Packers & Steelers fan, I’m pleased to learn this fact.
There are plenty of female STEELER fans in NY too :)
Here we go Steelers Here we go !!
Interesting facts. I wonder why that is? I assume it has to do with marketing of the team? Or is there something about Pittsburghers that region-wide, regardless of sex, have a stronger association with the Steelers than other areas do? Any thoughts on this?
Honestly, I have no idea why this is. Clearly, there is a strong connection between this community and the team, as you can see from Pasqua23’s comment. There are Steeler bars all over the country for people who have left Pittsburgh, but remain loyal to the team. But I’m not sure what carries that connection across genders.
The Steelers have known for years their fan base included countless women – that was evidenced by all the pink official team jerseys they sell and the hundreds who attend their female training camp each summer.
“The Steelers have the most women fans because we’re passionate about our families, and because we come from Pittsburgh, part of family life is enjoying the good the great football and great players and coaches the Rooneys have given us over the years. And yeah, I have to say it: the Steelers have some of the hottest guys around. — Kathy Graden – ex-Burgher in Phoenix, Arizona”
pons1595 – putting aside the hotness part of your comment, I understand the points about Pittsburgh and families and enjoying football, but my question is what makes Pittsburgh so different than other NFL cities in these regards?
It’s worth noting that the Steelers are also the only NFL team without cheerleaders. I never was a football fan until I moved to Pittsburgh, but they got me too. No cheerleaders, a non-imperial name, and at least some notion of a commitment to a community and region certainly stands out with this one team. Also, unlike the Pirates, they’re not terrible.