On the eve of America’s biggest football game a survey reveals what cities and towns are the best for fans and Pittsburgh came out on top.
As for this year’s top NFL teams, home of the San Francisco 49ers came in No. 8, while the Kansas City Chiefs’ home is ranked No. 21.
Miami, the city where Super Bowl LIV will take place on Sunday, is No. 7 on the list of 245 large American cities studied. Brookville, New York came in dead last.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, conducted the survey and wrote about how the picked the winners and losers:
For many people, football is far more than just a game: it’s a sacred American tradition. These fans aren’t just spectators but are also participants. They do more than just proudly wear a team’s jersey, perfect game-day chili or tailgate with fellow fans. They show their passion by roaring in approval when their team scores a touchdown or crying out in disappointment when they fumble their way to failure.
Football is by far Americans’ favorite sport to watch, with more popularity than basketball, baseball and soccer combined. In fact, 62 percent of Americans consider themselves either a fan or “somewhat” of a fan of professional football, and 54 percent say the same for college football.
But to show your passion for the sport, you need the best seats in the house. With Super Bowl LIV upon us, WalletHub compared more than 240 U.S. cities with at least one college or professional football team across 21 key metrics. Our data set ranges from number of NFL and college football teams to average ticket price for an NFL game to fan friendliness.
The survey also rates each city for college football fans — Clemson, South Carolina; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and Fargo, North Dakota came in one, two and three in that category.
The best American mid-sized cities for football fans are, from one to three, Green Bay, Wisconsin; Buffalo, New York; and Glendale, Arizona.
Coming in last as a mid-size city for fans at No. 62 — Providence, Rhode Island.
Other findings of the survey include:
- Buffalo, New York has the lowest average NFL ticket price, followed by Cleveland, Ohio, and Jacksonville, Florida.
- The cities with the highest priced NFL tickets are Los Angeles with the most expensive entry price followed by Boston, Massachusetts, and Chicago, Illinois.
- The lowest minimum season ticket price for college football games are Cookeville, Tennessee the lowest followed by Worcester, Massachusetts and Richmond, Kentucky.
- The highest priced college football tickets are, from one to three, South Bend, Indiana; Columbus, Ohio; and Columbia, South Carolina.
- Green Bay, Wisconsin has the most accessible NFL stadium and New York, New York the worst.
As for the most engaged and enthusiastic NFL fans, the No. 1 spot goes to Green Bay, Wisconsin, followed by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Boston, Massachusetts.
College towns with the best fans are, from one to three, Clemson, South Carolina; State College, Pennsylvania; and Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
“In order to determine the best and worst cities for football fans, WalletHub compared 245 U.S. cities based on 21 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for football fans,” the website says of its methodology.
“For our sample, we chose cities with at least one professional football team (NFL) or at least one college football team (NCAA, including FBS and FCS). We then grouped the cities by division — “Pro Football” and “College Football” — and assigned weights to each divisional category based on its popularity among fans,” the website says.
Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample,” the website says.
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