Two Texas Cities are Among the Best for Basketball Fans
Sure, football is king in Texas, but we love basketball here, too.
And when it comes to the NBA, each of the three teams that make up the “Texas Triangle” has won at least one championship.
The San Antonio Spurs have been the most successful with five championships, the Houston Rockets won two back-to-back in the 90s, and my beloved Dallas Mavericks won their lone championship in 2011.
Now that the NBA Playoffs are underway, the financial website WalletHub decided to run the numbers to figure out which U.S. cities were best for basketball fans.
Of course, top-performing teams are going to move the needle when it comes to a city being more basketball-friendly. But, it’s also up to the city itself to entice fans to support their teams.
So, researchers compared over 290 cities using metrics such as the level of performance of NBA and NCAA Division 1 basketball teams, stadium accessibility, and ticket prices.
Personally, I was a little disappointed that Dallas didn’t fare well in the study, ranking in the bottom half at Number 18. It’s kind of a head-scratcher seeing as the Mavericks are ranked 3rd in average attendance in 2022, according to ESPN. But I guess having plenty of fans in the seats doesn’t necessarily equate with a city being basketball friendly.
The Spurs and Rockets, however, were both ranked in the Top 10 as well as our neighbors to the north in Oklahoma City.
Top 10 Cities for Basketball Fans
- Los Angeles, CA
- Boston, MA
- Salt Lake City, UT
- San Francisco, CA
- Philadelphia, PA
- Miami, FL
- San Antonio, TX
- Washington, DC
- Houston, TX
- Oklahoma City, OK
Get the full results of the study at this location.