Comparison and Contrast between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers Essay

The rivalry between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers of the National Football League is a tale of two iconic franchises engaged in a figurative war. No guns or bullets, just pigskin and gridiron. The tussle between these two major leagues has been long going and is one of the longest in the National Football League. While the Bears seem better advantaged with their 92 wins, 88 losses and 6 ties against the Green Bay Packers, Packers have won in all their last six encounters with the Bears since 2011. What reinforces the rivalry even further are the more Superbowls, NFL titles and the Conference titles the Packers have clinched in comparison with the Bears. The rivalry may seem long lasting and is expected to last even longer, but these two rivals share similarities. Both the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers were each established in 1919. The Bears franchise was founded in Illinois in 1919 before moving to Chicago in 1921. On the other hand, the Green Bay Packers is currently based in Wisconsin and was founded in 1919. Together with the Bears, the Packers are among the oldest franchises in the NFL. Considering their location, both franchises are members of the same division of the NFC (National Football Conference) in the National Football League (diffen.com). When it comes to differences both the rivals have a number of differences than similarities. One difference is in ownership. The Bears is privately owned with Virginia McCaskey and her family controlling 80% of the franchise, Patrick Ryan, the chairman of Aon Corp, and Andrew McKenna, Aon director, 19.7% of the franchise. On the other hand, the Packers is a non-profit, community owned team, the only professional sports team with such ownership in the United States. Yet another difference between the two rivalries is with their team colors. Pride of any team is with their team colors. The team colors of the Bears are Navy blue, burnt orange, and white while the Packers are noticed with their Dark green and yellow. It is a law that no two teams in the NFL should have the same team colors for ease of identification and to foster sense of belonging among the team fans. For these two rivals, their team colors are a black and white affair, a sky-earth phenomenon considering that the team colors of the Bears is bright compared with that of the Packers that is rather dull. With such colors, one would understand the rivalry (diffen.com). A final difference between the two rivalries is with regard to their fan base. The Bears are reputed a having the most devoted fan base as compared with the Packers. Research places Bears at the sixth place regarding their Fan Equity rankings, which is basically a measure of brand equity centered on fans enthusiasm to financially support the team. The Packers on the other hand have an equally good Fan Equity rankings, but not as much as Bears, this according to research. While the Packers are highly placed in analysis on the NFL Social Media Equity, the Bears do not appear anyway in the top five. In conclusion, apart from their similarity in terms of their respective founding dates and their placement in the same division, both teams also share the similarity of having a penchant for competition. From their respective successes, it is evident that both rivals are highly competitive in setting records. They would stop at nothing in their bid to outperform each other. This fact makes for a better rivalry that is expected to last and make their meets eagerly anticipated and talked about. References Diffen. Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers. Accessed on 25 November 2014. Retrieved from http://www.diffen.com/difference/Chicago_Bears_vs_Green_Bay_Packers Source document