South Carolina College Town Named Best Sports City In America

It's no secret that the US loves its sports. Whether it's NFL, NBA, MLB, college athletics, NHL, or something else. There are passionate fans everywhere. Anyone who knows me will tell you I definitely fall into that category. But if you love sports there are certainly "better" places to be if you want to be fully immersed in the culture (and a winning one at that). In fact, I'd tell you there are two types of sports fans, those who are fans of teams first, and those that are fans of the game first. Those in the latter are the ones this study is most relevant for. I'd argue that the best sports city to be in is the one where you can see your team play most often. But this study by WalletHub focused on the best overall fan experience. And in that metric, a South Carolina town topped the Best Small Sports City list.

The study compared 392 cities across more than 50 key metrics related to the five largest sports in the U.S.: football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and soccer. This is on both the pro and collegiate levels. They ranked the cities overall as well as in small, mid-sized, and large cities. Below you'll find the rankings across all categories including which South Carolina college town is considered the best sports city. (It pains me to write it and give them this recognition more than I care to admit). In fact, many smaller North and South Carolina cities faired well in these rankings. The larger cities? Not so much. When compared to sports hubs with numerous professional teams, I suppose it's to be expected. Be sure to read until the end to see where the champion small city ranked in the overall results.

Other NC/SC Cities:

35. Greenville, SC

38. Spartanburg, SC

39. Boiling Springs, SC

43. Cullowhee, NC

57. Elon, NC

100. Orangeburg, SC

Other NC/SC Cities:

43. Columbia, SC

62. North Charleston, SC

74. High Point, NC

75. Wilmington, NC

77. Cary, NC

101. Fayetteville, NC

NC/SC Cities:

26. Charlotte, NC

42. Raleigh, NC

A combination of small, midsize, and large cities.

Total Score: 22.57

Football: 31

Basketball: 52

Baseball: 45

Soccer: 43

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 25.09

Football: 13

Basketball: 450

Baseball: 450

Soccer: 450

Hockey: 19

Total Score: 26.31

Football: 25

Basketball: 25

Baseball: 75

Soccer: 41

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 27.27

Football: 23

Basketball: 252

Baseball: 73

Soccer: 40

Hockey: 18

Total Score: 27.3

Football: 21

Basketball: 228

Baseball: 89

Soccer: 102

Hockey: 8

Total Score: 28.49

Football: 26

Basketball: 20

Baseball: 11

Soccer: 112

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 29.67

Football: 30

Basketball: 23

Baseball: 22

Soccer: 38

Hockey: 3

Total Score: 29.69

Football: 16

Basketball: 78

Baseball: 19

Soccer: 94

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 29.97

Football: 24

Basketball: 66

Baseball: 30

Soccer: 23

Hockey: 23

Total Score: 30.44

Football: 14

Basketball: 155

Baseball: 124

Soccer: 108

Hockey: 7

Total Score: 30.75

Football: 29

Basketball: 9

Baseball: 17

Soccer: 15

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 31.93

Football: 8

Basketball: 16

Baseball: 214

Soccer: 450

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 32.52

Football: 18

Basketball: 28

Baseball: 9

Soccer: 245

Hockey: 49

Total Score: 32.76

Football: 3

Basketball: 226

Baseball: 450

Soccer: 137

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 33.23

Football: 10

Basketball: 21

Baseball: 33

Soccer: 35

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 34.24

Football: 11

Basketball: 249

Baseball: 20

Soccer: 5

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 34.55

Football: 27

Basketball: 17

Baseball: 6

Soccer: 12

Hockey: 11

Total Score: 35.83

Football: 17

Basketball: 144

Baseball: 21

Soccer: 2

Hockey: 21

Total Score: 35.95

Football: 9

Basketball: 55

Baseball: 7

Soccer: 22

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 36.58

Football: 12

Basketball: 4

Baseball: 8

Soccer: 202

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 37.34

Football: 20

Basketball: 14

Baseball: 4

Soccer: 8

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 37.48

Football: 22

Basketball: 8

Baseball: 23

Soccer: 6

Hockey: 15

Total Score: 37.75

Football: 15

Basketball: 24

Baseball: 24

Soccer: 18

Hockey: 6

Total Score: 38.54

Football: 19

Basketball: 5

Baseball: 18

Soccer: 16

Hockey: 14

Total Score: 38.84

Football: 7

Basketball 6:

Baseball: 26

Soccer: 14

Hockey: 450

Total Score: 42.38

Football: 2

Basketball: 18

Baseball: 313

Soccer: 19

Hockey: 17

Total Score: 46.48

Football: 1

Basketball: 99

Baseball: 12

Soccer: 31

Hockey: 2

Total Score: 47.09

Football: 6

Basketball: 12

Baseball: 1

Soccer: 7

Hockey: 5

Total Score: 50.88

Football: 4

Basketball: 2

Baseball: 5

Soccer: 13

Hockey: 1

Total Score: 50.91

Football: 5

Basketball: 1

Baseball: 3

Soccer: 1

Hockey: 24

In order to determine the best sports cities, WalletHub combined the results from its previous rankings listed below. Each sports category was assigned a weight corresponding with the total percentage of adults in the U.S. who claim to follow that particular sport, according to Gallup.

Each sports category was also graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for sports fans. Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all sports categories to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.

Our sample includes a total of 392 U.S. cities, categorized according to the following population-size guidelines:

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, TN Bets, Team Marketing Report, ESPN, NCAA, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Sports Reference, Forbes, Minute Media, Sports Business Journal, MLB Advanced Media, Minor League Baseball, YouGov, Sports Reference, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, The National Collegiate Athletic Association, Forbes, Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, NBA, NHL.com, U.S. College Hockey Online, TicketIQ, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, USL, Soccer Stadium Digest, FlashScore, Google Trends, National Soccer Hall of Fame and WalletHub analysis.