More than half of football fans are already nervous about their favorite team's chances during the upcoming NFL season, according to a survey TradeHandle conducted in July 2026 among 3,000 football enthusiasts nationwide. Six out of ten fans do not see their team making Super Bowl LXI—most fans predict that the championship game will be between the Buffalo Bills and the LA Rams.
Key findings:
- Preseason panic? Quite a bit: 56% of football fans are nervous about their team's performance in the upcoming NFL season
- Fanxiety is highest among LA Chargers fans: 75% of them are worried
- Rams fans have the brightest outlook on the new season: only 24% are nervous, the lowest percentage of all NFL fanbases
- Buffalo Bills fans have the highest percentage of fans who are convinced their team will reach the Super Bowl; 84% of Bills fans see this happening
- Las Vegas Raiders fans have the least confidence in a spot in the Super Bowl: only 6% believe they will make it
- NFL fans expect this season's Super Bowl to be played between the Buffalo Bills and the LA Rams
56% of NFL fans anxious for new season
Summer is still in full swing, but football fans are eagerly anticipating the new NFL season. Though general confidence seems to still be on summer vacation as well. More than half of NFL fans are already nervous about how their team will perform in the upcoming season. 56% of fans are suffering from this "fanxiety", a certain form of preseason panic, according to a survey by TradeHandle.
Chargers fans the most nervous, Rams fans the least
That nervousness is highest among LA Chargers fans. Three out of four Chargers fans are worried about how their team will perform this season. At the other end of the spectrum are their crosstown rivals, the LA Rams: at 24%, they have the lowest percentage of anxious fans.
Super Bowl will be played by Buffalo Bills and LA Rams, NFL fans predict
We also asked respondents about their Super Bowl predictions. How do they rate their own team's chances of reaching Super Bowl LXI, which will be played on February 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood? Out of the 32 fanbases, 12 predict that their team will not make the Super Bowl. Most respondents predict that the Super Bowl this upcoming season will be between the Buffalo Bills and the LA Rams. For the Buffalo Bills, that would be their first Super Bowl appearance since 1994. The Rams last won the Super Bowl in 2022.
Bills fans have the most confidence in a Super Bowl spot
Out of all the fanbases, Bills fans have the most confidence in reaching the Super Bowl. According to 84% of them, the Bills will make it to the Super Bowl this season. They are followed by Eagles fans, 71% of whom think their team will reach the championship game, followed by Kansas City Chiefs fans at 69%. Las Vegas Raiders fans have the least faith. Only 6% of them see the Raiders making the Super Bowl. Other fanbases who do not see a bright outlook are fans of the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, and Indianapolis Colts. In each of these cases, only 13% think their team will make the Super Bowl.
Methodology
On July 13, 2026, TradeHandle surveyed 3,000 U.S. football fans nationwide to determine the extent to which fans are anxious about their favorite team’s performance in the upcoming NFL season, as well as their predictions for the Super Bowl. Respondents were asked to identify their favorite NFL team, whether they are nervous about how their team will perform in the upcoming season, and which AFC and NFC teams they believe will reach the Super Bowl. These responses were analyzed to generate a breakdown per fanbase. This breakdown details the percentage of fans reporting anxiety about the new season, the percentage expecting their team to reach the Super Bowl, and each fanbase's prediction for the two teams that will compete in the championship game. Of all respondents, 62% identified as male, 37% as female, and 1% as non-binary. The average age of the respondents was 42.6 years.