The Philadelphia 76ers may have lost 4-2 to the New York Knicks in the opening game of the NBA Playoffs, but Gotham is winning in the greater Philadelphia area, at least when it comes to basketball hotbeds.
Philadelphia, New York area ranks in top 10 for basketball fans
WalletHub rated and ranked 295 basketball cities based on the “most favorable conditions for basketball fans,” according to the company's Best and Worst Cities for Basketball Fans study.
“We then calculated an overall score by determining a weighted average for each city across all metrics, and used the resulting scores to rank the sample.”
The Philadelphia region was ranked No. 6 overall, considering its rich history in Big 5 college basketball and the 76ers' historic fan base. New York ranked 10th.
Here are WalletHub's overall Top 10 Best and Worst Cities for Basketball Fans:
- Los Angeles
- boston
- San Francisco
- salt lake city
- miami
- Philadelphia
- Washington DC
- milwaukee
- new york
- san antonio
“Basketball is one of America's most beloved sports and you can watch it from anywhere, but there's something truly special about living in one of the best cities for basketball fans,” said WalletHub. analyst Cassandra Happe said in a statement. It was attached to the survey results. “It's a great experience to see a top team in a huge arena with so many passionate fans.
“The best cities promote basketball not only at the professional level but also at the collegiate level.”
The Philadelphia 76ers are among the best teams. 76ers and Knicks somehow have the 'least' involvement from NBA fans
Although the results are somewhat contradictory, WalletHub ranks the 76ers as the third-best NBA team behind No. 1 Phoenix and No. 2 Milwaukee. The Knicks didn't finish in the top five.
Interestingly, the Knicks and Sixers fan bases rank as the “least engaged” of all NBA fans.
Philadelphia was 25th in this category, and New York was last.
Philadelphia's standing is probably due to a series of early playoff losses, as the Sixers haven't made it past the second round of the playoffs since Allen Iverson's 2001 team lost to the mighty Lakers in the Finals.
WalletHub did not elaborate on the apparent malaise gripping New York Knicks fans.
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Damon C. Williams covers trends and regional developments for PhillyBurbs.com. Please support our journalism by subscribing.