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Eagles or Phillies: Who has more fans?

Part 3 of a series about Philadelphia sports fans.

Part 3 of a series about Philadelphia sports fans.

Do the Eagles really have the most fans of any franchise in Philadelphia?

"There is no question - none - that the Eagles rule the city," says Angelo Cataldi, lead talker mornings at SportsRadio 94 WIP. "Even in 2008 [when the Phillies won the World Series], the Eagles were a notch above the Phillies in fan interest. It changes according to the fortunes of the teams, but never to the extent where the Phils surpass the Eagles."

Opinion also leaned toward the Eagles in a Philly.com poll that asked, "Who has more fans, the Eagles or the Phillies?" More than 7,500 fans voted, and the top answer was "The Eagles, by far," with 26 percent, followed by 16 percent for "Eagles, by 5 to 15 percent."

Actually, "It's close" (picked by 17 percent) is the best answer, according to a new survey.

The Phillies even have an edge by several measures, including one crazy stat shows that pro football fans here bought more Major League Baseball caps and clothes than NFL apparel.

Apparently it's an easy mistake to assume that more intensity (as measured by the volume of talk-show calls or online page views) translates to "more fans."

The Phillies fanbase may be more laidback, but it's at about as large these days.

Sixty-two percent of adults 18 or older in the Philadelphia media market told Scarborough Research they had "watched, attended or listened to" at least one Phillies game in the previous year, while 58 percent said they had "watched, attended or listened to" at least one Eagles game.

The responses, from about 210,000 people across the country, were collected from August 2011 to September 2012, and made available in February. They filled out detailed questionnaires about all sorts of consumer interests and habits, including sports.

See "Philly overrated as a sports town?"

See "Eagles fans average in the NFL?"

See "20 Ways Philly fans made history"

Both teams have had higher numbers in recent years, with Phillies far more competitive than a decade ago, according to Bill Neilsen, head of Scarbough's sports marketing division.

The Phillies were up to 69 percent in the survey released a year ago - higher than Eagles' peak in 2005, the year they reached the Super Bowl, Nielsen pointed out.

The Eagles do have a more rock-solid base, he said. For more than a dozen years, they've had at least half the market, with 1999's 51 percent exceeded every year since. The Phillies were down to 38 percent in 2001, three years before the team moved from Veterans Stadium to Citizens Bank Park.

"This stuff moves quite a bit," Nielsen said.

A weakness of this yardstick is that it counts non-fans attending or viewing to be with friends or family. With 10 times as many home games, the Phillies would likely benefit more - except maybe when the Eagles make the Super Bowl.

Indeed, such suspicions are apparently confirmed by another stat: Slightly fewer people, 61 percent, expressed any interest in Major League Baseball than experienced a game (62 percent).

The reverse is true with football. Sixty-six percent of local adults expressed an interest in the NFL - an extra 8 percent. That segment, though, could include local fans of other teams, like the Cowboys and Giants, along with people who watch just the Super Bowl.

Factor in a measure of passion, and - surprise - baseball vs. football becomes a statistical dead heat here.

When asked about being "very interested," 31 percent of area residents said yes for the NFL, while 30 did so for MLB.

Interestingly, that makes Philly a so-so football town (No. 26 among 77 media markets for avid NFL fans), but a great baseball town (No. 2 behind only St. Louis), corroborated by the Phillies finishing No. 1 in attendance last season.

Further, with 45 percent of area adults "very interested" in at least one of the four major pro sports, but only 31 percent avid about football, that means 14 percent of the populace is avid about a team other than the Eagles.

No way it's all the Flyers, since "very interested" in the National Hockey League garners 11 percent here, far shy of baseball's numbers, though higher than the 7 percent for the National Basketball Association. (Philly ranks No. 6 for avid interest in the NHL, well back of the 24 percent for No. 1 Pittsburgh. For the NBA, Philly's No. 59, San Antonio No 1 with 25 percent.)

Scarborough's stats about apparel, though, might be the most surprising - and the most Phillies-favoring of all.

Forty-eight percent of avid Phillies fans bought Major League Ball apparel with a team logo in the previous year, far beyond the 29 percent of avid Eagles fans who bought any NFL team apparel.

Shocking, though, is that MLB apparel was favored by avid fans of all three other major teams in town. Eagles: 33 percent of avid fans bought MLB apparel. Flyers: 46 percent MLB to 44 percent NHL. Sixers: 33 percent both MLB and NFL, 20 percent NBA.

Longer season? More choices of colors? Less turnover of key players? Better marketing? Scarborough's data doesn't delve into the many possible reasons.

Scarborough also asked about interest in season tickets and found that 20 percent of avid baseball fans were interested for baseball games (about four times the national rate) while 14 percent of avid football fans were interested for football games (about twice the national rate).

Let's not try to translate that into some measure of passion, since baseball offers partial-season plans and football is great to watch at home, thanks to high-def, instant replay, and highlights from around the league.

Next part in the series: Which fans drink more?