Denver Named One of the Best Sports Cities in the U.S.

Here in Colorado, we tend to take our sports pretty seriously, especially our beloved professional sports teams in Denver.

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As a massive Broncos fan myself, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen rabid fans take to social media to crown the team Super Bowl champions after a big win and the worst thing to ever step foot on the gridiron when we lose.

Truly, every Broncos fan has a little bit of Brandon Perna of That’sGoodSports locked within them somewhere, waiting to talk about that week’s New Worst Game Ever™. 

This passion extends to pretty much all other sports (except one in particular), and when a Colorado sports team is good, being here is like nowhere else.

With that being said, each year, WalletHub creates a comprehensive list of 400 U.S. cities that are the best for sports fans.

As it would turn out, Denver did pretty good for itself in this year’s ranking.

Denver a Top 15 Best Sports City in the United States

For the study, WalletHub looked at over 50 key metrics in the big five sports in the United States to find which city has it the best. Each sport is ranked and a final score is given to each city. 

Those sports are football, baseball, basketball, soccer, and hockey, and Denver just so happens to have all of them.

Denver does quite well on the list in general, getting high marks across the board. Our lowest ranking is for soccer at 27th, and right afterwards it’s baseball at 26th. 

To be honest, given the Rockies’ misfortunes along with a sort of lack of interest by Coloradans, I’d like to say that’s pretty good. 

Shockingly, they place Denver as the 20th best city for football, which to me feels like a crime. 

You’re telling me a city that has had a sellout at every NFL game since 1970 places 20th for football? Do they know how bad the Broncos were in some of those years, yet how fans kept backing out both iterations of Mile High? Ludicrous stuff, if you ask me.

We rank higher in basketball at 17th, but what truly beefs up our ranking is hockey.

Denver ranks as the 4th best city for hockey fans. This makes sense, because Coloradans bleed burgundy and blue.

This gives Denver a total score of 35.94, good for 12th on the list. While I think it’s a little low, we’ll take what we can get.

What Are the Best Sports Cities in the United States?

The top three for the best sports cities honestly do make a good amount of sense. 

Pittsburgh comes in at 3rd place with a score of 49.46, powered by a first place ranking in football and a 2nd place finish in hockey. If you know people from Pittsburgh, you know they’re deadly serious about the Penguins and particularly their beloved Steelers. They also have arguably the prettiest ballpark in the country with PNC Park. An elite sports city, no doubt.

Then you have Boston at 2nd with a score of 50.84, which honestly feels like a no-brainer. While their fanbase can be pretty brutal, the Bruins, Celtics, and Red Sox are all teams dripping with American sports history. They’ve all got plenty of titles, too.

However, ranking 5th for football is pretty controversial to me. You mean to tell me just because the Patriots won 6 titles under Brady and Belichick that I’m supposed to forget the years they couldn’t pack their stadiums? To me, Broncos fans are way more loyal.

In first place is Los Angeles with a score of 52.16. LA is certainly helped by having three sports with two teams each in football, baseball, and basketball.

However, you can’t ignore the undeniable history and success of iconic teams like the Dodgers and Lakers.

I have one gripe, however, and of course it has to do with football. They gave Los Angeles a 4th place ranking in the sport, which to me feels wild considering they couldn’t keep teams around. 

They had the Raiders and Rams at one point, both of which left. Then the Chargers randomly moved there in a move that is still baffling to this day. To be fair, the Rams did come back and win a Super Bowl, so at least there’s that. 

To be fair, they do have the historical college football powerhouse in USC as well, so that might play a role in the decision as well.