Deep in the heart of enemy territory, a group of hardcore Patriots fans can be found watching games every Sunday at the Spitfire bar in downtown Seattle.

In the weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLIX, the group has banded together as one to ward off persecution from the “The 12th Man.’’

“Boston Sports Fan Group of Seattle’’ was founded and continues to be led by Chris Porter, a native New Englander who moved to Seattle for a job opportunity.

“It was 1997 when I moved here,’’ Porter explained. “I went downtown to find a sports bar to watch the game, since out here not all the Patriots’ games are on TV. And it started with just me and three or four other Patriots fans.’’


Porter’s clique grew slowly over time and became a formal group in 2003, when they started an email list for Red Sox and Patriots fans in the Seattle area. Through the email chain and word of mouth, the group continued to grow and officially became BSFGS in 2006.

“We had a group page on Yahoo for a while, and now we’re on Facebook and meetup.com,’’ said Porter. “We have over 1,000 people signed up now.

“Social media, that’s been the biggest thing for growth. Just a few weeks ago I welcomed our 600th member to our Facebook page, and we just went over 700.’’

Porter estimates about 80 percent of BSFGS members are New England transplants like him, but says the group also has people who simply went to school in New England or spent a few years there for a job or military assignment.

“Seattle is in a growth spurt right now. A lot of people have been moving here over the past two years, and a lot of them are from New England,’’ Porter said.

Magdalene Hsu-Li is a Seattle native who came to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music (Boston.com wrote about her in 2008) before returning to Seattle to start her career. She graduated with a degree from the school’s songwriting department, and Hsu-Li also discovered a love for football in her time on the east coast.


“I joined [BSFGS] in 2010, and I found them on Facebook,’’ Hsu-Li explained. “When I came back, I realized I had changed. I’m totally an East Coaster in mentality, but I still love the West Coast lifestyle.’’

Hsu-Li has noticed Seattle’s transition from a young, hip, cultural city to one that is filled with tech people, bigger businesses, and richer inhabitants. Likewise, she’s become fed up with Seahawks fans in her home city.

“All these people who have been Seahawks fans have really only been fans for two years,’’ she said. “This is all new to them and they’re all acting like idiots, honestly.’’

Hsu-Li appreciates that Boston sports fans have been supportive through ups and downs with their sports teams, but likened the Seahawks’ popularity to “infants and toddlers that just discovered football for the first time.’’

Hsu-Li says she and her fellow Patriots fans have dealt with rude Seahawks fans pulling stunts ranging from leaving deflated footballs on desks at work to threatening physical violence. She added that most of these threats are empty and the fans in Seattle just don’t know how to interact with opposing fans in a good-natured way.

“There’s no fan etiquette here,’’ she said. “Seattle people are very soft. They don’t have any backbone. I’ve lived here for years, trust me.’’

Porter said he thinks most Seahawks fans are fine and well-behaved, but Greg King has a classic memory of exposing a bandwagon Seahawks fan at last week’s “Blue Friday’’ event.


“I wore my Deion Branch Pats jersey, with the number 83 on it, from his first run here,’’ King said. “And people gave me a lot of crap until I pointed out he was also a former Seahawk (2006-2010). I was like ‘come on guys, it was five years ago.’’’

King moved from Attleboro to Seattle 15 years ago. A BSFGS member since 2002, King represents the sector of the group that can truly appreciate the recent success of the New England sports franchises.

“Those of us who have been around for a while, we remember the bad years,’’ King said. “But these kids that are coming in in their mid-twenties have pretty much seen them have success their whole life.’’

Nathan Bean is a New Hampshire native who moved to Seattle to start a new life in the early 2000’s. He says all credit for the growth of BSFGS is owed to Porter.

“It’s all been Chris Porter. He’s the Governor,’’ Bean declared. “I met him at a bar in 2004, and I just kept in touch with him and he’s got this great gift for networking.’’

Bean helped organize a trip around Seattle where Patriots fans clad in jerseys, hats, and other apparel took pictures with famous landmarks in the city. Bean’s favorite spot was the Fremont Troll.

Aside from trolling with trolls, Bean appreciates BSFGS because it offers a taste of home during sporting events.

“When we’re watching games together, that’s three or four hours where I know I’m on home turf,’’ he said. “It’s like going home, they’re like my family. We have everything except Dunkin Donuts.’’

Deflategate has given enemy fans an easy target to attack BSFGS members with, but Bean does what he can to tune out the noise.

“That’s part of my job, to create a culture of winning,’’ Bean said. “If you’re a winner, you don’t really give a s*** what the other guy is saying.’’

Porter credits the venomous nature of some Seahawks fans on the mantra of their football team. The Seahawks don’t play modest on or off the field, and “the loudest fans in the world’’ fall in line with that attitude.

“The current team has a lot of swagger, and I think that rubs off on the younger fans,’’ Porter said. “Some fans that I’m friends with who are lifetime season ticket holders, they’re really rolling their eyes a little bit.’’

For the Super Bowl, Porter said the group will rent a party space at a venue called 1927 Events, which can house upwards of 200 fans. The reservation list filled up in less than 48 hours.

“We get between 50 and 100 people just for regular season games at Spitfire, and then about 120 for the playoffs,’’ Porter said. “We’re in the unique situation now where our team is playing the hometown team, and we needed more space because it’s the Super Bowl. The bars here can’t just kick out the Seattle fans to accommodate us, so we had to find our own space.’’

Bean calls this Super Bowl “the most unique and exciting experience of his life as a Patriots fan,’’ and he’s getting a thrill out of going downtown into enemy territory to watch the game.

“If the Pats win, I don’t know how I’m getting home,’’ Bean laughed. “If I take a beating and it’s because the Patriots won the Super Bowl, I think I’ll be okay with it.’’