When the San Francisco Giants defeated the Detroit Tigers in four games in the 2012 World Series, it was not difficult to call the Giants the best team in baseball. Ranking the best sports cities in America, however, is a bit more subjective. But don’t tell that to the fans in New York, Boston, Dallas, Chicago and Philadelphia.
Those places were named the “Top Five Sports Cities in the US” and do the best at “building a culture of sports,” according to a new study released by online ticket broker TicketCity.
The Austin, Texas-based firm said it focused on 15 cities/metro areas that have MLB, NFL and NBA teams. It said the NHL was not included because it would have cut the total of potential locations down to 11 cities.
Rankings were based on ticket sales (including total number of tickets sold on the secondary marketing), average media ticket price on the secondary market, stadium or arena capacity and media interest during the 2012 NFL and MLB and 2012-13 NBA seasons.
New York and Boston were the only cities to place among the Top Five in the NBA, MLB and NFL, according to TicketCity. New York ranked first in hoops (Knicks), third in baseball (Yankees and Mets) and fourth in football (Giants and Jets).
Boston ranked No. 1 in baseball (Red Sox), third in football (New England Patriots) and fourth in basketball (Celtics).
Dallas ranked first in football (Cowboys), lending some credence to their label as “America’s Team.” The Texas Rangers earned Dallas second place in the MLB category.
Chicago was third in both the NBA (Bulls) and NFL (Bears) but the Cubs and White Sox could not push the city into the Top Five in the MLB category. According to TicketCity, the Bears had the highest average ticket prices in the NFL last season, but also were one of just seven NFL teams to sell out above their stadium capacity.
New York will garner even more attention in the coming year with both the MLB All-Star Game (in Citi Field in July) and Super Bowl XLVIII (in MetLife Stadium in February) taking place in the region.
Some cities recorded Top Five spots in just one of the three sports. Miami, for example, was second in the NBA thanks to the Heat, but sports siblings in the NFL (Dolphins) and MLB (Marlins) were nonexistent. Detroit placed No. 5 in MLB (Tigers) but not in the NFL or NBA. Washington DC was No. 5 in NFL (Redskins) but fell short in MLB (Nationals) and NBA (Wizards).
Cities with no rankings in the Top 5 included Denver, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Houston, Atlanta and Phoenix. Among other major sports cities, Los Angeles does not have an NFL team and San Francisco does not yet have an NBA team (the Warriors will move back to San Francisco from Oakland in 2017).
See the full report at TicketCity.
Barry Janoff is director of sports media marketing initiatives for PromaxBDA. He also is the executive editor for NYSportsJournalism.com, which covers national sports marketing, business and media news; and a contributing writer for Yahoo! and MediaPost.
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