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Chart: Measuring a surge in Sixers interest

    by Rich Hofmann
    Published 
Mike Kern wrote something Wednesday about how the start of Eagles training camp is in the near future, and once that happens, everything else in Philadelphia sports will suddenly be in the shadows, again. Which got me to thinking.
There are tons of ways to measure fan interest in a sport. One is to go on Google Trends and look at their measurement of search interest over time. When you look at the Philadelphia measurement over the last 12 months, it tells a fairly predictable story — that the Eagles are on top, followed by the Phillies, Sixers and Flyers, with the Union well below the rest. Still, the variations in the charts are fascinating.
The Eagles (green line) do, in fact, reach heights that none of the other teams reaches, starting with training camp and ending with the last game of the season. There are bumps along the way, but they are bumps above where the other teams typically are. Eagles uber alles is, indeed, a thing — and it includes noticeable spikes for the start of free agency and the draft, too.
The Phillies (gold line) fell last summer as the team faded and Eagles training camp began. But they have spiked several times this spring. As things stand today, they are the hottest thing in town. Their line on the graph is currently higher than at any other time in the last 12 months. Then again, they and the Union are the only teams in town currently playing.
The Flyers (red line) bumped along, doing what they do, and then saw a big spike in April. Two things happened in April — they made the playoffs and team founder Ed Snider died. The spike was as predictable as the news, then.
The Sixers (blue line) are, to me, the most interesting — and not only because they are more popular in the off-season than they are in the regular season. Overall, interest in the team is clearly surging. You feel it anecdotally, in just talking to people, just hanging around town, and whatever value this chart might be, it reaffirms that feeling.
Here is another, Sixers-only chart, that breaks down their search interest since 2004.

The thing pretty much speaks for itself. However simplistic this might be as a tool for measuring interest, the Sixers clearly are surging. They are the only team in town with a graph like this one.

    RH
    Rich Hofmann
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