Being a hated team in sports gets more of a bad rap than it should. It’s better to be hated as a sports team than to be irrelevant and not talked about (think Los Angeles Angels or Atlanta Falcons). Below are the most hated teams in American sports:
Dallas Cowboys
They are the most popular team in the most popular sport in America, the highest valued sports franchise in the world, and the most hated team in sports. The Cowboys get talked about so much despite not having accomplished anything notable in the past 30 years. That’s an easy team for fans to hate.
New York Yankees
The evil empire. The championships. The pinstripes. The Yankees are an iconic franchise. People all over the world wear their hat to the point that their logo is more so a fashion statement and representation of New York City than just a sports team. Even though they have underwhelmed the past decade plus, they will forever be near the top of this list.
Duke Blue Devils Basketball
Much like the teams above them, no matter how good or bad Duke is any given year, their reputation automatically makes people hate them. An elite university and elite basketball program that wins so much is the perfect villain college basketball needs.
Alabama Crimson Tide Football
They are an absolute juggernaut of a program, having dominated college football the past 15 years. Even with Nick Saban leaving, this is a team that everyone will circle on their schedules and fans will live to see them be mediocre.
New England Patriots
The Pats went 4-13 last year, and not a single person outside of New England felt bad after they dominated the most competitive league in sports for two decades. The success they’ve had combined with some “cheating,” has made them one of the most hated teams in America.
Houston Astros
They are newer to this list than most of the other teams on it. The sign stealing scandal is still fresh in so many minds, that they will be hated for years to come.
Texas Longhorns Football
They suffer from a similar “curse” that the Cowboys do. Texas Football is such a big brand, despite not winning a national championship for almost 20 years and people can’t stand it.
Michigan Wolverines Football
Before this year, Michigan was similar to Texas in that they hadn’t won a title in a long time, but were still talked about so much. This year, their cheating scandal combined with their dominating season gives football fans more fire to fuel their hate.
Philadelphia Eagles
This is a rare one, where people mainly hate this team because of how terrible their fans are. Philly easily has the worst fans in sports and it’s on full display at Eagles games.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs are starting to suffer from what the Pats have, where their success is breeding hate. That combined with all of the complaining they do every time the refs don’t bend the rules in their favor, makes them easy to hate.
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