Missouri's most-loved team? Viral post says Chiefs beat Cardinals

FILE – Fans sit inside Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs, before an NFL football game, Dec. 12, 2021, in Kansas City, Mo. A coalition of professional sports teams is backing a new proposal to put the legalization of sports betting on Missouri’s 2024 ballot. The group spearheaded by the St. Louis Cardinals also includes the Kansas City Chiefs and all four of the state’s other major sports teams. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel File)

by: Joey Schneider

Posted: Oct 19, 2023 / 04:28 PM CDT

Updated: Oct 19, 2023 / 04:29 PM CDT

ST. LOUIS — The Show Me State is home to six professional sports teams, including the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the popular St. Louis Cardinals.

But one viral post is stirring up the debate on which team is king of Missouri sports.

All Sports Culture, a sports-centric social media platform, shared a post that went viral on Instagram earlier this week, naming the “Most Loved Team” in every US state and Canadian province.

The creators behind the post claim to have done research, but didn’t disclose much behind the methodology.

The “most-loved teams” selections include a variety of teams from each of the Core 4 sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA) plus some colleges well known for their football teams.

Among the omissions were the two MLB teams with the most World Series titles — the New York Yankees (27) and the St. Louis Cardinals (11). Neither was deemed the most-loved team for their respective states.

According to All Sports Culture, the Kansas City Chiefs top the St. Louis Cardinals as the “most-loved team” in Missouri. The Chiefs also took the same honor in Kansas.

With not much known about the methodology, it’s possible that recent success gave the Chiefs a boost among Missouri teams. Kansas City has won two of the last four Super Bowls and seems poised for its eighth consecutive playoff bid.

A special bond between Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and star Taylor Swift has also given the Chiefs more hype nationally in recent weeks.

And looking at the Cardinals recently, or at least the 2023 season, it was far from the standard. St. Louis finished with one of its worst records in decades at 71-91.

Google Trends would seem to support the Chiefs being more favored than the Cardinals over the last month.

Over the last three months, with a highest daily peak possibility score of 100, the Chiefs have had five peaks of at least 70 while the Cardinals have only had two peaks over 70. A peak score of 50 is considered to garner half as many Google searches as the day that measured at 100.

The Chiefs were one of several teams to take the title as the “most-loved team” in multiple states. The Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks also took honors in two US states.