re: Why is CFB way more popular in the south than NFL?

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You can say oh it’s because these states don’t have a pro team but most actually do and CFB is still way more popular.

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They may NOW, but those were all expansion teams or franchise moves.

Earliest I can think of is Atlanta, 1966, Saints a year later. Tennessee Titans were 1997, used to be Houston Oilers. Carolina and Jacksonville were 1995, Tampa Bay 1976.
You can't really count the Miami Dolphins, as Miami is more of an East Coast/international city with Caribbean flavor, and not "Southern".

So, I'm old, mid 50's. Saints and Falcons formed a couple years before I was born... but we can all recite many LSU/SEC historical events from before the mid 60's. LSU has a title in 58, Billy Cannon won the Heisman in 1959.

All the classic rivalries way pre-date the Falcons. There's just a ton of history and tradition.

Now, in the North the NFL came up around the same time period as the Big 10 teams and Notre Dame, but you can make an argument that the college teams are still more popular (it's different on the East Coast, because there never really was a team out there. Even Penn State is Western Pa, not the Philly area. There are no NYC colleges).