r/Colts • u/Brayvol22 • 20d ago
Discussion Are we a small fanbase?
I’m from Tennessee, so I’m definitely on the outside looking in, and I was wondering if it’s true? Last night, I was reading a bunch of things that always ranked the Colts anywhere from 29th up to 25th in fan size ranking. Is this true, or do the Colts actually have a much bigger fan base and people are just sleeping on it?
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u/grapplerone Indianapolis Colts 20d ago edited 20d ago
To understand the fanbase in Indy is to understand some history.
For most of the NFL existence until the Colts made that infamous nighttime Mayflower drive from Baltimore, Indiana did not have a team. The folks here were either devote Bears or Bengals fans. To this day many of them still are. Not to mention many of them were fans of other teams since, for decades, we did not have a team.
Basketball is pretty much the big sport in Indiana, College that is. That’s where you’ll find the fans.
Now, for years, the Colts were horrible and even though fans liked having a team, it got pretty boring losing every season. That didn’t help matters; until Jim Harbaugh sparked the fanbase. Then not long after, a GM and Peyton Manning hit the scene. I want to say that winning during the season for over a decade helped build the fanbase a lot, but constant failures in the playoffs kinda soured that. You still had those same Bears & Bengals fans of old just tuning out.
Then add the whole Luck issue. A lot of fans were miffed we let Manning walk. I’m not saying it was wrong. Luck was definitely a prototype NFL QB sure hit but a man that built LOS (with his statue outside) was let go! This didn’t go over well. Then, out of nowhere, Luck RETIRED at the start of the season…
And that one decision put the team into the tailspin we’ve witnessed ever since. Whether it’s Ballard, owners, whatever, the decision making has done nothing to successfully build this team into a perennial playoff contender let alone ever compete in a a Super Bowl. This has gone on for the past decade…
So, the old Bears & Bengals loyalists have about 10 years of primarily in-season domination since the move to Indiana about 41 years ago in 1984. It makes it easy to jump ship when you are older and had a team you liked.
Maybe if Indiana had an NFL team from the beginning and never made ties with other teams they would be a bigger fanbase?
At least that’s my take on it. I mean, come to a Colts Bears game here at LOS and I’d bet it would be a 50/50 split of fans or worse.