The franchise has the strongest brand in its local market of any North American team in the major sports leagues, according to a consumer survey of thousands of fans.

"What this is saying is the following the Packers have is more intensely loyal to supporting the Packers than any other team," said Len Perna, president and chief executive of New Jersey-based Turnkey Sports & Entertainment, which released the 2008 Turnkey Team Brand Index on Monday.

"What this basically says is that all other things being equal, a sponsor gets more value in sponsoring the Packers than any other team."

The Packers ranked first among 122 team brands in the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball. Some 12,000 fans in 47 U.S. and Canadian markets participated in the second annual survey in June by the market research and executive search and recruiting firm.

The study also measured a team's following among fans outside the local market. The New York Yankees ranked No. 1, followed by the Packers, Boston Red Sox, Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Lakers.

The Red Sox were second in the local market survey, followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers , who topped last year's list. The Packers, the only publicly owned team in major professional sports, were fifth in the survey a year ago. Three of the top 10 teams were from the Boston area, and each had something in common: a recent championship.