Dumped or defeated: Which heartbreak lingers longer?

Written By Nick Crain | Last Updated at February 9, 2026

February… the month that, if we’re lucky, gets our hearts racing. If it’s not the thrill of a nail-biting Super Bowl, it’s the (anonymous) admirers making themselves known on Valentine’s Day, or following the action on the best NFL betting sites. But just as quickly as our hearts can leap with happiness, they can also get broken. So which heartbreak lingers longer: losing the big game, or losing the big love?

Main findings:

Ever catch yourself thinking about that big game your favorite team almost won? You’re not alone. In fact, more than one in three NFL fans think about a major loss—like the Super Bowl or the playoffs—more often than a past breakup, as they follow the games and sports betting odds. And it goes even further: 29% say that if they had to choose, they’d rather get dumped on Valentine’s Day than watch their favorite team lose the Super Bowl.

Detroit Lions fans are most likely to dwell on a painful loss

Detroit Lions fans top the list, with 52% saying they think about a lost game more often than a lost love. Baltimore Ravens fans aren’t far behind at 51%, followed by Bills fans at 50%. Colts fans, on the other hand, are more likely to dwell on a past breakup than a painful loss on the field — just 17% say they think about the lost game more often, the lowest percentage of any fanbase.

3 in 10 fans would take a Valentine’s Day breakup over a Super Bowl loss

Two things no one wishes for: watching your favorite team lose the Super Bowl or getting dumped on Valentine’s Day. Still, we asked respondents which one they’d find worse. On average, 29% said they’d rather get dumped on Valentine’s Day than watch their favorite team lose the Super Bowl, with many following the games and sportsbook promos in the background. That percentage is highest among Ravens fans. As many as 45% say they would find it worse to see the Lombardi Trophy slip through their fingers than to get dumped on the most romantic day of the year. Bills fans follow closely at 41%, followed by New Orleans Saints fans at 40%. Commanders fans score lowest here: just one in ten would find losing the Super Bowl worse than getting dumped on February 14.

How long does it take NFL fans to recover from a major loss?

So how long does it take NFL fans to get over their favorite team’s major loss? On average, 21 days, our survey finds, with many following the games—even checking the best sports betting sites here and there. After about three weeks, football fans seem to have moved on. For comparison, NFL fans take an average of 102 days to get over a broken heart.

Among all NFL fanbases, Titans fans take the longest to bounce back from a big loss: an average of 61 days. Cardinals fans follow at 55 days, and Houston Texans fans average 43 days. Vikings and Colts fans, on the other hand, recover lightning fast — in just six days, the quickest of all fanbases.

Methodology

For The NFL Heartbreak Study, sports website The Lines commissioned a survey in January 2026 among 2,000 NFL fans in the United States. Respondents were asked which NFL team they support, which type of heartbreak they think about most often (a major game loss, such as the Super Bowl, or a past breakup), and, if they had to choose, whether they would rather be dumped on Valentine’s Day or watch their favorite team lose the Super Bowl. They were also asked which type of heartbreak they find more painful — a lost love or a lost major game — and how many days, on average, they estimate it takes to get over each. Of all respondents, 54% identified as male, 45% as female, and 1% as non-binary. The average age of respondents was 43.2 years.