2020’s Best & Worst Cities for Football Fans

Football fans come in all different categories form the diehard fan that holds season tickets not only for this season but all the seasons of their life. The fans who inhales the game and knows the schedule by heart.

Fans aren’t the only ones enjoying the game. The NFL generated around $15 billion this past season and they are hoping to increase that by $25 billion by 2027. NFL regular-season games, excluding those played in London averaged 15.8 million viewers.

With Super Bowl LIV just days away, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020’s Best & Worst Cities for Football Fans, together with its Super Bowl LIV By The Numbers infographic.

To determine the best places for loving on America’s favorite sport, WalletHub compared more than 240 U.S. cities with at least one college or professional football team based on 21 key metrics. The data set ranges from number of NFL and college football teams to average ticket prices.

Make sure to check out the infographic for cool stats about the biggest sporting event of the year.

Best vs. Worst

• The New Orleans Saints’ performance level, 77.10 percent, is 3.1 times better than the New York Giants’ 25.00 percent.
• Dallas has the highest NFL team popularity ranking, 1st, while Kansas has the lowest at 31st.
• Buffalo, New York, has the lowest average ticket price for an NFL game, $71.08, which is two times less expensive than in Los Angeles, the city with the highest at $141.93.

Expert Commentary

How can the game be adapted to better ensure the long-term health and safety of players?

“On one hand, there should always be the ability to make rules adjustments to help improve the health and safety of players, as well as holding training and information sessions so that players are more aware of the symptoms and risks that come with certain types of injuries,” said Nicholas Masafumi Watanabe, University of South Carolina. “On the other hand, I still have yet to see anyone develop a helmet that protects players from all types of head injuries, and thus, I am not sure how much more football can be adapted in a way that can ensure the long-term health of all players.”

“The NFL has tried to address the issue by penalizing helmet-to-helmet contact,” said Daniel Marburger, Arizona State University. “Vontaze Burfict faces a long-term suspension for being a repeat violator. This is probably a step in the right direction, but it might be insufficient. At the high school and college level, players guilty of targeting are ejected from the game. At the same time, we know that Mike Webster suffered from CTE, but I have to question how much was due to helmet-to-helmet contact, and certainly not at the speed at which a wide receiver might get hit. There is much to be known that we simply don’t know yet. “

Does hosting the Super Bowl economically help or hurt the host city?

“Unlike other "mega-events" such as the Olympics or World Cup, the Super Bowl tends to economically help the host city,” said Joseph Shinn, The State University of New Jersey. “Because the cities that host these games already have the necessary stadium and infrastructure in place, they can reap the rewards of the tourism dollars that come in without needing to incur significant costs.,

“Estimates of the economic benefit from hosting the Super Bowl that are reported in the media are typically far too high,” said Richard J. Paulsen, University of Vermont. “The net impact of hosting the Super Bowl is probably positive but small. Some people who would otherwise visit or spend time and money in a city that hosts the Super Bowl will be deterred from doing so on the weekend of the event, so it is important to consider this displacement when calculating the net impact. Hosting the Super Bowl may bring some prestige and stir some interest in the hosting city, but those effects are likely to be small as well. “

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-cities-for-football-fans/9691