Are the Dallas Cowboys hated by other team’s fan bases as much as they are loved by their own? Most Cowboys fans would probably agree that this is true. As Cowboy fans, we have all been subjected to choruses of boos at opposing teams stadiums, relentless trolling on social media, and a litany of insults from our peers. We are perceived as a bandwagon fan base (even though our team hasn’t won a championship in 25 years). We are often labelled as fair weather fans; And, everyone else seems to be annoyed that our team is always on prime time television and that seemingly at every away game, half of the stadium consists of Cowboys fans. It would therefore be very surprising if it were revealed that the Dallas Cowboys are anything other than public enemy #1.
Interestingly enough, a recent study conducted by the Action Network revealed which U.S sports teams are the least-liked and to my great shock and surprise, the Dallas Cowboys were ranked a lot lower than I had anticipated. In fact, they were not even the most hated team in the NFL according to this study. In order to determine which teams were the least-liked, the folks at the Action Network analysed negative sentiment on social media across all teams from the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS over the past year. The teams that had received the highest rate of negative posts ranked at the top of the list. Here are the top 10 ranking NFL teams:
As you can see here, the Dallas Cowboys rank far below the #1 ranked Las Vegas Raiders on this list and sit 5th overall. Here is where the Dallas Cowboys rank across all U.S based professional sports teams:
| Rank | Team | Negative sentiment | Sports Leagues |
| 1 | Las Vegas Raiders | 14.20% | NFL |
| 2 | Dallas Stars | 9.86% | NHL |
| 3 | Arizona Coyotes | 9.33% | NHL |
| 4 | Philadelphia 76ers | 9.18% | NBA |
| 5 | Chicago Bears | 8.99% | NFL |
| 6 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 8.85% | NHL |
| 7 | Vancouver Canucks | 8.57% | NHL |
| 8 | Buffalo Sabres | 8.29% | NHL |
| 9 | Toronto Raptors | 8.08% | NBA |
| 10 | Denver Broncos | 7.96% | NFL |
| 11 | Orlando Magic | 7.70% | NBA |
| 12 | CF Montréal | 7.70% | MLS |
| 13 | LA Galaxy | 7.56% | MLS |
| 14 | Milwaukee Bucks | 7.44% | NBA |
| 15 | Edmonton Oilers | 7.42% | NHL |
| 16 | Denver Nuggets | 7.40% | NBA |
| 17 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 7.28% | NHL |
| 18 | New York Islanders | 7.22% | NHL |
| 19 | Minnesota United FC | 7.01% | MLS |
| 20 | Utah Jazz | 6.92% | NBA |
| 21 | Houston Texans | 6.92% | NFL |
| 22 | Miami Heat | 6.88% | NBA |
| 23 | Calgary Flames | 6.82% | NHL |
| 24 | Atlanta United FC | 6.79% | MLS |
| 25 | Chicago Fire FC | 6.78% | MLS |
| 26 | Los Angeles Clippers | 6.48% | NBA |
| 27 | Dallas Cowboys | 6.46% | NFL |
| 28 | St. Louis Blues | 6.46% | NHL |
| 29 | Seattle Sounders FC | 6.46% | MLS |
| 30 | New York Jets | 6.45% | NFL |
| 31 | Seattle Kraken | 6.43% | NHL |
| 32 | Houston Rockets | 6.39% | NBA |
| 33 | Buffalo Bills | 6.38% | NFL |
| 34 | San Jose Earthquakes | 6.37% | MLS |
| 35 | Ottawa Senators | 6.30% | NHL |
| 36 | Portland Timbers | 6.25% | MLS |
| 37 | New York Knicks | 6.25% | NBA |
| 38 | Orlando City SC | 6.25% | MLS |
| 39 | Real Salt Lake | 6.19% | MLS |
| 40 | FC Dallas | 6.14% | MLS |
| 41 | Atlanta Falcons | 6.11% | NFL |
| 42 | Nashville SC | 6.10% | MLS |
| 43 | Montreal Canadiens | 6.05% | NHL |
| 44 | Minnesota Wild | 5.91% | NHL |
| 45 | Columbus Crew | 5.81% | MLS |
| 46 | Miami Dolphins | 5.78% | NFL |
| 47 | New Jersey Devils | 5.77% | NHL |
| 48 | Winnipeg Jets | 5.77% | NHL |
| 49 | Sacramento Kings | 5.71% | NBA |
| 50 | San Jose Sharks | 5.70% | NHL |
For more information and to explore the top 10 for each sport, please visit the site here: https://www.actionnetwork.com/general/public-enemy-no-1-the-least-liked-sports-teams-in-the-us
These results are surprising indeed. They do not reflect my experience as a Cowboys fan; such as, the constant abuse that I am subjected to on social media, at the work place, or when watching games live in various stadiums across the country or at the local bar. I am sure many of you have had similar experiences over the years as Cowboys fans. Perhaps this can only be explained because disdain for the Dallas Cowboys should not be measured merely by the number of negative comments there are, but by how fiercely negative those comments actually are. It is a question of quality and not quantity. Because, while may be true that the Las Vegas Raiders are more widely disliked across the country; there is no doubt in my mind that there is no NFL team that is more passionately hated than the Dallas Cowboys are hated.
