# A tibble: 6 × 8
date_utc timestamp title text subreddit comments url team
<date> <dbl> <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <chr> <chr>
1 2025-10-11 1760158929 Was in Vegas the o… <NA> 49ers 59 http… 49ers
2 2025-10-11 1760147812 My Prediction for … "OFF… 49ers 4 http… 49ers
3 2025-10-11 1760144118 Yes the Bucs are a… <NA> 49ers 90 http… 49ers
4 2025-10-10 1760139633 Mac Jones is avera… "Hap… 49ers 62 http… 49ers
5 2025-10-10 1760137442 Apologies if this … <NA> 49ers 18 http… 49ers
6 2025-10-10 1760131708 My New Cocktail Tu… <NA> 49ers 7 http… 49ersNiners vs. Steelers Analysis
Question 1
“If an elite running back is considering both the San Francisco 49ers and the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency, which team’s fan base expresses a sentiment profile that suggests a more stable, trustworthy, and positive environment?”
I found this very interesting because a free agent’s decision is influenced by the perceived stability and positiveness of the new team’s environment. Analyzing the emotional pulse of the fan base via NRC Lexicon allows us to find this intangible factor. We hypothesize that a team with a higher relative presence of emotions like Trust and Joy indicates greater fan satisfaction and organizational confidence, making it a more appealing destination than a team characterized by higher levels of Anger and Fear.
Data Used
I am using a single, non-tidy CSV file named nfl_url_master.csv that contains data from Reddit comments for the 49ers and Steelers, collected from their respective Subreddits. I parsed URL’s on 10 different pages for both teams and then combined all of the data into one in order to create this csv. The key columns used were the fans comments and the team (Niners or Steelers). I chose these two teams because I am a Steelers fan and I was interested in the 49ers overall fan base as my brother is a fan. Below are a few rows of the data I scraped through the 1981 rows of fan reviews:
Sentiment Analysis
The bar chart displays the relative frequency (percentage) eight core emotions found in the Subreddits of 49ers and the Steelers. We hypothesized that higher Trust and Joy suggest a better environment, while higher Anger and Fear suggest instability for a Free Agent’s decision. The data strongly supports a finding that the 49ers offer a more emotionally positive and stable environment at the moment based on fan language. The 49ers have a high level of joy, anticipation, and surprise compared to the Steelers which gives them an up on optimism and positive momentum. The Steelers on the other hand, express higher levels of anger and fear, despite having the highest score in trust. This shows the frustration that the fans are experiencing but does show enduring loyalty with trust being their highest emotion.
Based purely on the emotional pulse of the fan bases, a elite running back would find a more stable and positive environment with the 49ers. While the Steelers demonstrate high fundamental trust and loyalty, their high levels of anger and fear indicate significant current turmoil that could create a challenging and high-pressure environment for a new player.
Question 2
“How has the overall sentiment of the 49ers and Steelers fan bases trended over the last 2 months, and are there any specific events/games that drove significantly daily spikes or dips?”
Having this chronological sentiment analysis is critical because it transforms abstract fan feelings into quantifiable trends over time, providing direct insight into NFL players. This analysis allows a free agent to evaluate the long-term emotional environment of a team. By tracking daily sentiment using AFINN lexicon, I precisely linked significant dips or spikes to specific games throughout the last 2 months. This chronological component is a powerful diagnostic tool for finding public opinion momentum, which is huge for both the athlete and the team’s public relations.
The chronological analysis of the daily average sentiment scores reveals that the emotional environments of the two fan bases are diverging significantly over the last two months, proving crucial insight for a free agent running back’s decision. The most critical finding is the divergence of the smooth trend lines between mid-November and December. The 49ers (Red) show a clear, sustained positive upward trend over the entire month, indicating steadily rising fan morale and optimism toward the team’s direction. In sharp contrast, the Steelers (Blue) trend line shows a distinct negative decline from mid-November onward, falling below the neutral zero line and ending in the negative territory. This indicates the Steelers are facing sustained fan frustration.
This directly obviously correlates with the teams performance. The Steelers drops align with their blowout losses to the Buffalo Bills last week along with their loss to the Chicago Bears the week before. these deep, sustained drops in the daily sentiment suggest that the Steelers environment is currently more high-pressure and emotionally negative after setbacks (losses).
Question 3
“Which specific words associated with either positive or negative sentiment are most distinctively discussed by the 49ers fan base versus the Steelers fan base, as revealed by TF-IDF analysis?”
This analysis is significant because it pinpoints the unique brand attributes that define each fan base, moving beyond generic word counts to find truly distinctive language. This method reveals the specific focus of fan passion or frustration for each team, providing actionable intelligence for the front office and PR departments.
This analysis reveals the most unique and central words in each fan base’s discussions, confirming differing brand identities. The 49ers are uniquely defined by positive, deeply committed language, with “faithful” as the most distinctive word. This comes from their motto “Faithful to the Bay” referring to be faithful to their San Francisco Bay area where the stadium is. Suggesting an enduring, loyal, and supportive emotional foundation. On the other hand, the Steelers most distinctive words are overwhelmingly negative attributes such as “mediocrity”, “mediocre”, “lack”, “jerk”, “garbage”. This indicates that their fan base is preoccupied with the current perceived shortcomings of the team. This highlights that the 40ers enjoy a protective layer of long-term loyalty, whereas the Steelers as of lately have been characterized by painful discussion regarding the quality of play. the 49ers uniquely positive lexicon signals a more embracing ad stable environment for the elite free agent running back.