Data Analysis: The Most Foul-mouthed & Negative Sports Fandoms

Data Analysis: The Most Foul-mouthed & Negative Sports Fandoms

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In connection with the International Cursing Day on the 9th of November, VegasInsider has updated its analysis of the most foul-mouthed and negative fandoms to find out which fandoms swear the most and on the contrary, which fandoms are the most polite and positive. 

In the latest update, data of all the major sports leagues fandoms was combined, the data was refreshed in order to include new fan comments from the past 12 months and the list of swear words was expanded in order to get as accurate results as possible. 

Overall, the data analysis was based on more than 9 million Reddit comments exploring more than 150 fandoms from the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL & MLS. 

THE TOP 5 MOST FOUL-MOUTHED SPORTS FANDOMS

  1. Dallas Mavericks (NBA) - 17.071% of the fandom’s comments included profanity.
  2. Indianapolis Colts (NFL) - 16.383% of the fandom’s comments included profanity.
  3. Memphis Grizzlies (NBA) - 16.326% of the fandom’s comments included profanity.
  4. New York Yankees (MLB) - 16.115% of the fandom’s comments included profanity.
  5. Cincinnati Bengals (NFL) - 15.915% of the fandom’s comments included profanity.

According to the results of the analysis, Dallas Mavericks (NBA) turned out to be the most foul-mouthed fandom: 17.071% of their comments included swear words. 

Indianapolis Colts (NFL) and Memphis Grizzlies (NBA) are the second and third most foul-mouthed fandom, respectively. 16.383% of Indianapolis Colts’ comments included swear words while 16.326% of Memphis Grizzlies' comments included swear words. 

New York Yankees (MLB) and Cincinnati Bengals (NFL) are in fourth and fifth place as the most foul-mouthed fandoms, respectively. 16.115% of New York Yankees’ comments included swear words while 15.915% of Cincinnati Bengals included swear words. 

THE TOP 5 MOST POLITE SPORTS FANDOMS

  1. CF Montréal (MLS) - 6.696% of the fandom’s comments included profanity.
  2. Seattle Kraken (NHL) - 8.739% of the fandom’s comments included profanity.
  3. Los Angeles FC (MLS) - 9.018% of the fandom’s comments included profanity.
  4. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS) - 9.123% of the fandom’s comments included profanity.
  5. Utah Mammoth (NHL) - 9.396% of the fandom’s comments included profanity.

On the other hand, the fandom which turned out to be the most polite since they had the lowest amount of profanity in their comments are CF Montréal (MLS) - only 6.696% of their comments included swear words. 

Seattle Kraken (NHL) and Los Angeles FC (MLS) are the second and third most polite fandom, respectively. Only 8.739% of Seattle Kraken’s comments included swear words while only 9.018% of Los Angeles FC’s comments included swear words. 

Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS) and Utah Mammoth (NHL) are in fourth and fifth place as the most polite fandoms, respectively. Only 9.123% of Vancouver Whitecaps’ comments included swear words while only 9.396% of Utah Mammoth included swear words. 

THE TOP 5 MOST NEGATIVE SPORTS FANDOMS

In addition to profanity, the sentiment of the fans’ comments was analyzed too to determine which fandoms are the most negative. 

According to the results of the analysis, all the top 5 spots for the most negative fandoms belong to NBA fandoms with Dallas Mavericks at the top of the list. 

  1. Dallas Mavericks (NBA) - 31.921% of the fandom’s comments were classified as negative.
  2. New Orleans Pelicans (NBA) - 30.113% of the fandom’s comments were classified as negative.
  3. Memphis Grizzlies (NBA) - 30.103% of the fandom’s comments were classified as negative.
  4. Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA) - 29.855% of the fandom’s comments were classified as negative.
  5. Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) - 29.493% of the fandom’s comments were classified as negative.

THE TOP 5 MOST POSITIVE SPORTS FANDOMS 

On the other hand, the top 5 most positive fandoms are: 

  1. Utah Jazz (NBA) - 53.899% of the fandom’s comments were classified as positive.
  2. Real Salt Lake (MLS) - 53.826% of the fandom’s comments were classified as positive.
  3. Utah Mammoth (NHL) - 53.110% of the fandom’s comments were classified as positive.
  4. Brooklyn Nets (NBA) - 53.017% of the fandom’s comments were classified as positive.
  5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL) - 52.436% of the fandom’s comments were classified as positive.

In the table below you can find the top 3 fandoms per sports league in each of the categories mentioned above. 

CategoryRankNBANFLMLBNHLMLS
Most Foul-mouthed1Dallas MavericksIndianapolis ColtsNew York YankeesDallas StarOrlando City SC
Most Foul-mouthed2Memphis GrizzliesCincinnati BengalsMiami MarlinsBoston BruinsPortland Timbers
Most Foul-mouthed3Philadelphia 76ersDallas CowboysDetroit TigersVegas Golden KnightsAtlanta United FC
Most Polite1Washington WizardsLA ChargersLA DodgersSeattle KrakenCF Montréal
Most Polite2Utah JazzBuffalo BillsColorado RockiesUtah MammothLos Angeles FC
Most Polite3San Antonio SpursHouston TexansToronto Blue JaysCarolina HurricanesVancouver Whitecaps FC
Most Negative1Dallas MavericksCincinnati BengalsMiami MarlinsDallas StarsOrlando City SC
Most Negative2New Orleans PelicansDallas CowboysNew York YankeesNew Jersey DevilsAtlanta United FC
Most Negative3Memphis GrizzliesIndianapolis ColtsCleveland GuardiansBuffalo SabresInter Miami FC
Most Positive1Utah JazzTampa Bay BuccaneersBaltimore OriolesUtah MammothReal Salt Lake
Most Positive2Brooklyn NetsArizona CardinalsPittsburgh PiratesChicago BlackhawksSporting Kansas City
Most Positive3San Antonio SpursDenver BroncosSeattle MarinersSan Jose SharksVancouver Whitecaps FC

MOST POPULAR SWEAR WORDS PER FANDOM 

In the following table you can find the most popular swear words of all the fandoms. 

DETAILED DATA BREAKDOWN

You can also have a look at the data in all of the categories for all of the fandoms in the searchable interactive table below. 

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METHODOLOGY

  • In total, 9,429,340 comments from 154 subreddits of various sports fandoms (NFL, NBA, MLS, MLB & NHL) were analyzed, looking for comments that contained swear words.
  • In total, 1,228,353 swear words were found.
  • Each fandom was assigned a percentage value based on the % of the comments on their subreddit that contained swear words. 
  • Additionally, the emotional tone of each comment was assessed and categorized as either negative, positive or neutral — comments with a compound score below -0.05 were categorized as negative.
  • Minimum number of comments collected per fandom: 4,000, Average number of comments collected per fandom: 61,000.
  • The analysis was carried out in November 2025.