Tuscaloosa ranked one of the best sports cities in the nation by WalletHub

It’s no secret Alabama loves football, so it’s not surprise Tuscaloosa was ranked one of the best sports cities in the nation by WalletHub. Read on to learn about the other cities that made it to the top of the list and how these rankings were determined.

Let’s give it up for Tuscaloosa

I don’t know about you, but when I think about Tuscaloosa, I think of sports. With a population of 100,000-300,000 people, Tuscaloosa ranked as the fifth midsize city in the nation. The top 10 best sports midsize cities include:

Overall, Tuscaloosa ranked 32 out of all of the spots—regardless of population size—for best sports cities. Are you curious about who made it on the list? The top 10 include:

1. Los Angeles, CA
2. Boston, MA
3. New York, NY
4. Pittsburgh, PA
5. Dallas, TX
6. Miami, FL
7. Philadelphia, PA
8. Denver, CO
9. Washington, DC
10. Atlanta, GA

The methodology

How exactly were these 392 cities across the nation ranked? WalletHub looked at their results from previous rankings and assigned each sports category a weight that corresponds with the total percentage of adults in the country who claim to follow that particular sport. Here are the percentages:

• Football – Total Weight: 54 Percent
• Basketball – Total Weight: 16 Percent
• Baseball – Total Weight: 13 Percent
• Soccer – Total Weight: 11 Percent
• Hockey – Total Weight: 6 Percent

Plus, each category was graded on a 100-point scale—100 represented the best condition for sports fans. These weighted averages across all sports categories were used to determine the overall score for each city. The easiest way to look at the scores is to think about if a city has local teams that make it easy for fans to root for their favorite sports.

“There is no one formula, but I would say the easiest way is if a team is considered the primary draw for people to attend. For example, it is hard to imagine people visiting Green Bay without doing something Packers-related. This creates a year-round economy where cities are deeply invested in the fate of the local team.”

Andrew C. Billings, Executive Director of the Alabama Program in Sport Communication, The University of Alabama

Whew, we’re glad we have all-star teams in Tuscaloosa and the rest of Alabama that make it easy to cheer them on.

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