The Best, Worst Cities for Football Fans

Super Bowl LIII is set to take over Atlanta this weekend as the NFL season culminates with the crowning of a new champion. WalletHub recently compared more than 240 U.S. cities with at least one college or professional football team across nearly two dozen key metrics, including the number of teams in town, performance level, ticket cost, fan friendliness and more. Here are 20 of the best and worst places for football fans in 2019.

Pittsburgh is the number one American destination for football fans, boasting the country's most engaged fans, the fourth-most accessible NFL stadium in Heinz Field and the third-best performing NFL team in the six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

The New England Patriots are playing in their ninth Super Bowl in 17th years and the five-time champions boast the third-most engaged fans in the league, according to WalletHub's research. Even though the team plays its home games more than 20 miles away in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Boston is where the seemingly biennial Super Bowl parades take place.

Green Bay, or Titletown USA as its sometimes referred to, boasts not only the most iconic stadium in the NFL (Lambeau Field) but also the most accessible along with the most engaged fan base, based on WalletHub's data. That's enough to overcome its lack of college football excitement.

Regardless of whether the Dallas Cowboys are America's Team, they've reached the playoffs in three of the past five seasons and boast one of the most impressive stadiums in the entire country in AT&T Stadium. They also have a passionate fan base that can be seen all over the U.S.

New York's pro football teams are beloved even if they have struggled in recent seasons and the Big Apple is also home to the NFL Experience at Times Square. Nonetheless, it's home to some of the least engaged college football fans in the country, WalletHub found.

Miami is the only city to rank inside the top 10 for both pro and college football, checking in at eighth and seventh, respectively. While the product on the field hasn't lived up to expectations of late, gorgeous weather, beautiful beaches and unrivaled nightlife make this is an appealing destination for football fans regardless of who they're rooting for.

The New Orleans Saints' past two seasons have ended in absolute heartbreak but the team is only one decade removed from a Super Bowl championship and has some of the most passionate fans in the country. The sites and food here aren't too bad either.

Oakland ranks high for pro football thanks to its rabid Raiders fans. It might not matter for much longer though as the franchise is set to leave for Las Vegas soon. It's safe to say that Oaktown is destined to plummet in these rankings in the years to come.

Philadelphia sports fans are notorious for making their voices heard and their beloved Eagles finally won a Super Bowl in 2018. Interestingly, the city ranks better for college football (10th) than it does for pro football (17th). It also hosted the last two Army-Navy Games with two more to come in 2019 and 2020.

Similar to Pittsburgh and Miami, Seattle ranks well in terms of both pro and college football as both the Seattle Seahawks and University of Washington Huskies have proven to be perennial contenders. The Seahawks have even won a Super Bowl as recently as 2014 and boast one of the loudest crowds in the NFL.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, Portland is a tremendous city but football fans seeking entertainment on the gridiron should look elsewhere. There's no NFL team here and Oregon's two top college football teams play more than an hour away in Eugene and Corvallis.

Another city without an NFL team and little college football success to speak of, Charleston is a charming and romantic destination with plenty of history and other exciting things to offer even if it doesn't appeal to football fans.

So far, there's no NFL team based outside of the mainland U.S. so visitors to Honolulu will have to settle for watching games on TV. Nonetheless, the Hawaiian capital is not totally without football as it's home to the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors college football team.

Of the large cities that WalletHub analyzed, only Portland, Oregon and San Jose, California ranked worse than El Paso. This city of nearly 700,000 people is best known for its University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Miners, a team that finished 1-11 in 2018.

Kentucky is another state without an NFL team and the state's two major college football programs reside in Louisville and Lexington, leaving Bowling Green with little to brag about to passionate football fans.

West Lafayette was one of only 10 of the 244 cities WalletHub analyzed to fail to score at least a 10 by WalletHub's metrics. The home of college football's Purdue Boilermakers is located a little over an hour northwest of Indianapolis (11th) though, so it's not all that bad.

There are currently four NFL franchises based out of California and two in Los Angeles. Sadly, the state capital has been devoid of pro football and ranks a measly 174th for college football.

Tulsa is an exceptional city, especially if you love spending time outdoors. Unfortunately for football fans, there isn't a whole lot to cheer for here as Tulsa ranks just ahead of Honolulu among the country's worst large cities for the sport.

Delaware's capital city is great for museum-goers and NASCAR supporters but football fans will have to look elsewhere as Dover ranks just 229th out of 244 cities that were compared.

Montana certainly isn't alone when it comes to states in the Great Plains lacking a professional football team so it's far from a surprise that Bozeman doesn't fare well by WalletHub's metrics. But neither of the Dakotas nor Wyoming or Idaho have an NFL team either.