Getty Image
With the NBA Finals kicking off this week and the league deciding to allow teams to start selling ad space on uniforms, estimated to generate $100 million to $150 million in yearly revenue, personal-finance website WalletHub has released its report on 2018’s Best And Worst Cities For Basketball Fans.
To find the best cities for professional, and college, basketball fans, WalletHub compared more than 290 of the largest cities across 21 key metrics, ranging from the performance level of each city’s NBA and NCAA division one basketball teams to ticket prices to stadium accessibility.
Best vs. Worst…
• New Orleans has the lowest average ticket price for an NBA game, $30.20, which is 3.2 times less expensive than in New York, the city with the highest at $97.77.
• The Golden State Warriors have the highest performance level among NBA teams, 84.15 percent, which is 3.7 times better than that of the Philadelphia 76ers, the team with the lowest at 22.76 percent.
• The Villanova Wildcats have the highest performance level among college basketball teams, 89.35 percent, which is 5.3 times better than that of the Central Connecticut Blue Devils, the team with the lowest at 16.87 percent.
• Miami, Fla. has the highest fan engagement for NBA teams, 47.08, which is 34.1 times higher than in New York, the city with the lowest at 1.38.
Best Cities For Basketball Fans (Overall)
1. Los Angeles, CA
2. Boston, MA
3. Oakland, CA
4. San Antonio, TX
5. Salt Lake City, UT
6. Miami, FL
7. Oklahoma City, OK
8. Chicago, IL
9. Cleveland, OH
10. Philadelphia, PA
Best Cities For Basketball Fans (more than 300,000 people)
1. Los Angeles, CA
2. Boston, MA
3. Oakland, CA
4. San Antonio, TX
5. Miami, FL
6. Oklahoma City, OK
7. Chicago, IL
8. Cleveland, OH
9. Philadelphia, PA
10. New York, NY
Getty Image
Best Cities For Basketball Fans (100,000 to 300,000 people)
1. Salt Lake City, UT
2. Orlando, FL
3. Durham, NC
4. Ann Arbor, MI
5. South Bend, IN
6. Norman, OK
7. Cincinnati, OH
8. Syracuse, NY
9. Provo, UT
10. Madison, WI
Best Cities For Basketball Fans (fewer than 100,000 people)
1. Chapel Hill, NC
2. Lawrence, KS
3. Storrs, CT
4. Bloomington, IN
5. East Lansing, MI
6. College Park, MD
7. Morgantown, WV
8. Cullowhee, NC
9. Kingston, RI
10. Itta Bena, MS
[protected-iframe id=”d2630b41f8afe28e67e45bdff9236ee7-97886205-92827192″ info=”//d2e70e9yced57e.cloudfront.net/wallethub/embed/11034/geochart-basketball.html” width=”640″ height=”399″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]
Worst Cities For Basketball Fans (Overall)
282. Fairfax, VA
283. Jonesboro, AR
284. Lynchburg, VA
285. Colorado Springs, CO
286. Hackensack, NJ
287. Riverside, CA
288. Pocatello, ID
289. Clinton, SC
290. Daytona Beach, FL
291. New Britain, CT
Worst Cities For Basketball Fans (more than 300,000 people)
54. Stockton, CA
55. San Jose, CA
56. Tampa, FL
57. Colorado Springs, CO
58. Riverside, CA
Getty Image
Worst Cities For Basketball Fans (100,000 to 300,000 people)
72. Jersey City, NJ
73. Savannah, GA
74. Jackson, MS
75. Montgomery, AL
76. Santa Clara, CA
Worst Cities For Basketball Fans (fewer than 100,000 people)
153. Hackensack, NJ
154. Pocatello, ID
155. Clinton, SC
156. Daytona Beach, FL
157. New Britain, CT
For the full list of cities, rankings, and commentary from a panel of experts, visit WalletHub.com.