Ten Best U.S. Sports Cities, and Who Beats Out Denver

A lot of us like to think of Denver as the best sports city in America — especially on a day like today. After all, the excitement is as high for tonight's nationally broadcast Broncos-Chiefs game as if it was taking place in Colorado instead of Kansas City. But while...

By Michael Roberts

September 17, 2015

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A lot of us like to think of Denver as the best sports city in America — especially on a day like today.

After all, the excitement is as high for tonight's nationally broadcast Broncos-Chiefs game as if it was taking place in Colorado instead of Kansas City.

But while the folks at WalletHub acknowledge that the Mile High City is indeed one of America's ten most sports-obsessed communities, they don't rank D-Town at number one.

Where does Denver land? Count down the top ten below, featuring WalletHub data and methodology, illustrated with videos of crazy fan behavior for each metropolis. To see the original post, click here.

Number 10: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Football Rank: 60

Basketball Rank: 43

Baseball Rank: 37

Hockey Rank: 30

Soccer Rank: 22

Number 9: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Football Rank: 10

Basketball Rank: 33

Baseball Rank: 10

Hockey Rank: 45

Soccer Rank: 350

Number 8: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Football Rank: 29

Basketball Rank: 17

Baseball Rank: 84

Hockey Rank: 24

Soccer Rank: 87

Number 7: New York, New York
Football Rank: 39

Basketball Rank: 46

Baseball Rank: 37

Hockey Rank: 26

Soccer Rank: 30

Number 6: Chicago, Illinois
Football Rank: 36

Basketball Rank: 49

Baseball Rank: 45

Hockey Rank: 9

Soccer Rank: 37

Number 5: Washington, D.C.
Football Rank: 30

Basketball Rank: 26

Baseball Rank: 44

Hockey Rank: 20

Soccer Rank: 9

Number 4: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Football Rank: 3

Basketball Rank: 85

Baseball Rank: 2

Hockey Rank: 1

Soccer Rank: 95

Number 3: East Lansing, Michigan
Football Rank: 2

Basketball Rank: 15

Baseball Rank: 66

Hockey Rank: 14

Soccer Rank: 17

Number 2: Denver, Colorado
Football Rank: 4

Basketball Rank: 16

Baseball Rank: 19

Hockey Rank: 8

Soccer Rank: 26

Number 1: Boston, Massachusetts
Football Rank: 9

Basketball Rank: 11

Baseball Rank: 21

Hockey Rank: 5

Soccer Rank: 13

Methodology
To find the best and worst cities for sports fans, WalletHub combined the results from its previous rankings of cities in each of the reports below. The weight assigned to each ranking corresponds with the total percentage of adults in the U.S. who claim to follow that particular sport, according to The Global Sports Media Consumption Report. Because some adults claim to be fans of more than one sport, the sum of all the weights add up to more than 100%.

Football Ranking (Overall) — Total Weight: 49%
Basketball Ranking (Overall) — Total Weight: 31%
Baseball Ranking (Overall) — Total Weight: 28%
Hockey Ranking (Overall) — Total Weight: 15%
Soccer Ranking (Overall) — Total Weight: 9%

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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