It’s almost always a home game for the Pittsburgh Steelers with a fan base that travels better than any team in the league. If you have felt that the Steelers have an unusually strong home field advantage when playing at Acrisure Stadium, it turns out you are correct. Sharp Football Analysis put numbers to that feeling, and it turns out the Steelers have the biggest home-field advantage in the NFL.
Sharpe Football Analysis cobbled together several data points to reach this conclusion, highlighting a few key areas that were weighted heavier than the rest: penalty advantage, pre-snap and offensive holding numbers, and home/away comparisons for penalties.
Not only did Pittsburgh rank No. 1 in this study, but it was comfortably atop the list, according to Joe Gibbs.
“Boasting arguably the largest and most loyal fan base in the NFL, the Steelers’ top ranking should come as no surprise,” Gibbs wrote. “Pittsburgh not only ranks No. 1 in raw numbers for both home-field penalty advantage and generating pre-snap and holding penalties on visiting teams, but it did so in convincing fashion.”
Gibbs’ data shows a 37-21-1 (63.8 percent) home record since 2018 and the No. 1 home-field penalty advantage with 42.5 percent of opponent penalties being offensive pre-snap or holding calls.
Their assertion is that crowd noise influences a ref’s behavior to make more favorable holding calls for the home team, and they have data dating back to 2020 to back that up. The pre-snap penalties, like false starts, are directly attributable to crowd noise and the necessity of silent counts.
“No team came close to the Steelers’ home-field penalty numbers, and it’s an underappreciated element that contributes to Pittsburgh’s consistency,” Gibbs wrote. “Ultimately, Acrisure Stadium and the Steelers presented the biggest challenge for road teams in the NFL’s toughest division, resulting in Pittsburgh capturing the No. 1 overall ranking by [a wide] margin.”
This is perhaps even more exciting when considering the Steelers haven’t been among the most competitive teams in the league since 2018. They’ve qualified for the playoffs four times, but they haven’t managed to win a postseason game during that span. The fan base has remained engaged and influential on the outcome of the game despite not having much to cheer for at times.
Directly following Pittsburgh on the list are the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, the two teams that appeared in the Super Bowl last season. Notably, the entire AFC North was in the top half of the league rankings.
When someone asks you who has the best fan base in the league, it’s pretty obvious. Just look at the data!
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