Hanes And Tedy Bruschi Unveil America's Toughest Football Fans And Embark On A Mission To Soften Up Fans Everywhere With Hanes ComfortBlend T-Shirts

Bruschi and Hanes Team Up to Give Away Hanes ComfortBlend T-Shirts to Tough Football Fans Who Tweet @Hanes and #AmericasToughest

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Hanes

Nov 05, 2013, 09:00 ET

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Nov. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Hanes, America's No. 1 Apparel Brand¹, scoured the country for the toughest football fans and the results are in. Oakland has the toughest, most intimidating fans, followed by Green Bay and Philadelphia, according to a recent survey commissioned by Hanes and conducted by Harris Interactive^®. In an effort to reward tough fans everywhere who have a soft spot for their favorite teams, football analyst and former player Tedy Bruschi and Hanes are teaming up to give away thousands of Hanes ComfortBlend t-shirts, the brand's softest ever, online to those who tweet @Hanes with #AmericasToughest and say why they think their city is the toughest during this 14-week program.

"Being a professional football player for 13 years, I've seen my share of tough fans in many different cities," said Bruschi. "And, we all know a tough guy who could use some softening up in his life. Hanes and I are going to have some fun this season and soften up these fans with Hanes ComfortBlend t-shirts."

America's Toughest Football Fans
After surveying more than 6,000 professional football fans online in early October, the results include the following top 10 cities:

1

Oakland

6

Dallas

2

Green Bay

7

New York

3

Philadelphia

8

New England

4

Pittsburgh

9

New Orleans

5

Chicago

10

Cleveland

Disagree with the list? Let the debate begin on #AmericasToughest with @Hanes and for a chance to receive Hanes ComfortBlend t-shirts!

What Defines a Tough Fan?
Fans agreed that tough fans can be characterized with five traits:

Respects the tailgate
- More than four in five professional football fans (84 percent) agree that the toughest fans tailgate in the parking lot hours before AND after home games
- San Diego and Kansas City fans are the most likely to link tough fans and tailgating
Takes to the stands in the coldest of weather conditions
- Almost all (93 percent) professional football fans agree that the toughest fans head to the stadium even in some of the worst weather conditions to support their teams
- Seven of the 10 cities with the toughest football fans can be found in cold climates
Has undying loyalty
- Almost all (97 percent) professional football fans agree that the most loyal of fans continue to stand by their team even after a losing season
- Three in five professional football fans (62 percent) consider themselves die-hard fans of their favorite teams
Is willing to travel the distance to away games
- More than four in five professional football fans (82 percent) agree that the toughest fans hit the road to support their teams at away games
- San Diego, Carolina and Tampa Bay fans are more likely to agree that away game support is linked to tough football fan status
Holds nothing back
- Four in five professional football fans (79 percent) agree that the toughest fans open up their wallets to buy team merchandise and tickets regardless of the economic conditions

What's the Most Interesting Result?
Surprisingly, city rivalries did not play a role in the voting. Many fans picked the rival of their city as the toughest:

San Francisco picked Oakland as the toughest
Minnesota picked Green Bay as the toughest
Washington picked Philadelphia as the toughest
New Orleans had the highest percentage of fans (34 percent) that identify themselves as die-hard.
Both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are in the top four, making Pennsylvania the state with the toughest football fans.

About Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States between Sept. 30 and Oct. 3, 2013, among 6,111 adults aged 18+ by Harris Interactive on behalf of Weber Shandwick via its Quick Query omnibus product. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll® and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers proprietary solutions in the areas of market and customer insight, corporate brand and reputation strategy, and marketing, advertising, public relations and communications research. Serving clients worldwide through our North American and European offices, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us - and our clients—stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

About Hanes
Hanes, America's No. 1 Apparel Brand, is a leading brand of intimate apparel, underwear, sleepwear, socks and casual apparel. Hanes products can be found at leading retailers nationwide and online direct to consumers at www.Hanes.com. Hanes is a flagship brand of Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI).