Dallas Cowboys named most popular sports team in America

Whether people within the NFL and sports communities love or hate the Dallas Cowboys, the perception is that such individuals cannot stop talking about what's known as "America's Team" before, during, and after seasons. There is now new data to prove that point. 

As mentioned by outlets such as KTSM out of El Paso and KDAF from Dallas, a recent study completed by Sports Betting New York claims to show that the Cowboys are the most popular club in the NFL and also the most popular professional sports franchise in the United States. 

"The Cowboys, who are often referred to simply as 'America’s Team,' have amassed a combined fanbase of more than 16.6 million followers across their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages," that study says. "They are searched the most in Texas where the team was founded, at an average of 2,240,000 monthly searches – the equivalent of 7.6% of Texas' population Googling the team once every month." 

Per Google search data over the past 12 months for each of the so-called "big four" North American sports leagues and also Major League Soccer, the Cowboys were the most searched-for-team in seven different states -- Texas, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Virginia. 

To compare, the Atlanta Braves of MLB, the NBA's Boston Celtics, and the Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings of the NFL were the most searched teams in three states each. 

As the Sports TV Ratings Twitter account pointed out, it's hardly a coincidence or accident the NFL and television executives routinely feature the Cowboys in highly-watched windows, such as when Dallas opened the season with a 19-3 "Sunday Night Football" loss to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 11: