The NBA is the top professional league in the United States for Basketball and subsequently the highest standard of the sport in the world, amassing millions of fans both at home and abroad. Whilst team performance undoubtably has a significant effect on supporters’ moods, have you ever wondered how results might affect their eating habits?

A new report from Bookmakers.com reveals how the on-field performances of all current NBA teams has influenced fans’ calorie consumption. Through the utilisation of findings from Cornil and Chandon’s (20131) academic paper, ‘From Fan to Fat’, Bookmakers.com has highlighted the NBA’s biggest comfort eaters.

To understand the data, the average adult in America eats around 3,6002 calories a day. Using the Orlando Magic as an example, this means each fan, over the course of the last five years, has consumed on average 1,620,000kcal during NBA game days (450 games played x 3,600 calories each day).

This number (1,620,000kcal) acts as the comparison point for revealing the calorie change and percentage change for the team – an example of the working can be found in the methodology below.

The Orlando Magic Top of the Table!

With the research suggesting that fans are more likely to overeat when their team loses (10% increase), it’s not good news for Orlando Magic and New York Knicks fans. With some of the worst records in the NBA, both sets of fans were likely consuming more game day calories than any other team – over 4.4% more than the national average, in fact. This equates to around 70,000 additional calories over the course of the last few seasons.

The research also reveals that fans are inclined to cut out calories by 5% after their team wins. This means Golden State Warriors fans experienced the healthiest game day calorie count. Even with an impressive record over the last five years, Golden State Warriors fans, on average, have each eaten 6,120 (0.3%) more calories than the typical American.

The table below shows each NBA team in order of greatest calorie % change vs. average:

RankTeamW-L-DCalorie Change vs. AverageCalorie % Change vs. Average
1Orlando Magic161-289-0750604.63%
2New York Knicks163-275-0696604.42%
3Detroit Pistons168-267-0658804.21%
4Chicago Bulls175-261-0624603.98%
5Sacramento Kings178-262-0622803.93%
6Minnesota Timberwolves181-254-0588603.76%
7Atlanta Hawks191-265-0610203.72%
8Phoenix Suns201-259-0570603.45%
9New Orleans Pelicans199-247-0531003.31%
10Charlotte Hornets194-239-0511203.28%
11Memphis Grizzlies208-247-0514803.14%
12Dallas Mavericks208-247-0514803.14%
13Brooklyn Nets210-249-0518403.14%
14Cleveland Cavaliers216-256-0532803.14%
15Washington Wizards217-247-0498602.98%
16Oklahoma City Thunder231-229-0408602.47%
17LA Lakers235-231-0408602.44%
18Indiana Pacers238-223-0374402.26%
19Portland Trail Blazers252-224-0352802.06%
20San Antonio Spurs251-216-0325801.94%
21Miami Heat254-215-0316801.88%
22Houston Rockets276-213-0270001.53%
23Philadelphia 76ers271-206-0253801.48%
24Denver Nuggets279-202-0225001.30%
25LA Clippers284-201-0212401.22%
26Boston Celtics303-205-0192601.05%
27Utah Jazz294-190-0154800.89%
28Toronto Raptors302-189-0136800.77%
29Milwaukee Bucks314-188-0111600.62%
30Golden State Warriors318-176-061200.34%

Further information and the results of other leagues around the world can be found onsite here: https://bookmakers.com/news/matchday-calories-the-biggest-comfort-eaters-in-sport