Given how PSU football is bigger than 1,000 Jesus level figures in the state of Pennsylvania, I was shocked and I mean SHOCKED to see who the most popular athlete in the state of Pennsylvania was. It’s not someone who plays at PSU, went to PSU or coached at PSU. I know I’m amazed.
It’s actually someone who didn’t even go to college; and he’s never played for a professional team in the state either.
Take a look at all the charts and maps here, you’ll see Lebron James as the most popular athlete in the Keystone State. From the study’s author Andrew Powell-Morse.
Using Google search volume data, the chart above illustrates the most searched-for athletes in each of the 50 States.
LeBron James dominates the competition, showing up as the most searched athlete in 23/50 states. Next in line is Peyton Manning who claims seven states, then Adrian Peterson and Tom Brady who tie for 3rd with four states. Andrew Wiggins (two states) and Johnny Manziel (one state) are the only athletes to win at least one state despite technically not having made the transition to professional sports yet. Tiger Woods (one state) is the only athlete on the map who doesn’t play one of the “Big Four” North American sports
Blame this on ESPN I guess. Since he is Bristol’s most favorite athlete in the 35 year history of the network. And the World Wide Leader is certainly Lebron’s biggest de facto marketing machine.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on national talk radio. Banks is a former contributor to NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, who’s been featured on the History Channel. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)