NHL and NFL fans are some of the most passionate in the world. But which cities are the best places for travelling fans to visit?
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NHL and NFL fans are some of the most passionate in the world. From travelling across countries to support their team to creating an entire shared community and culture around, the energy of fans, when their team is playing, is electric.
But which cities are the best places for travelling fans to visit? Tons of fans combine a match day with a vacation to make the most of their visit, with sports tourism becoming a huge market.
We’ve taken a close look at the facts to discover the best cities for game day across No, analyzing a number of factors including stadium capacity, the number of Super Bowl or Stanley Cup wins, percentage of wins, followers of each team on social media, and the average cost of a ticket and a hotel in each city.
Best Cities for Ice Hockey Fans
When it comes to the best cities for NHL fans, Pittsburgh takes the crown. That’s thanks to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ strong engagement with followers on social media making for a real buzz on game day, plus the very reasonable costs for hotels in the city. The PPG Paints Arena’s got a solid capacity as well, seating 18,387, and with a win percentage of 56%, there’s a pretty even chance that fans of either the home teams or the challengers will be heading home happy.
Other winners include Toronto, home of the Maple Leafs, coming in second with 13 Stanley Cup wins under their belt and a 63%-win rate. With 3.4m total fans on Twitter (X) and Instagram Maple Leafs fanbase is certain to make the stadium buzzing on gameday.
Coming in the bottom, unfortunately – but perhaps not coming as a huge shock – we find the Arizona Coyotes of Tempe. The oldest team in the NHL to have never made it into the Stanley Cup, their home of the Mullet Arena only seats 4,600. And with a 35% win rate, the atmosphere in Tempe might not always deliver the electric atmosphere that hockey fans are looking for.
Best Cities for NFL Fans
The top city for game day is Arlington – home of the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys can boast 5 Super Bowl wins to their name, and with more than 9 million fans across Instagram and Twitter, any game day in Arlington is sure to be a memorable one. Hotels and game tickets aren’t especially expensive or cheap compared to the rest of our ranking, but the excitement from all of the Cowboys fans makes it well worth the trip.
In second place, we find Pittsburgh again, ranking well for the NFL as well as the NHL. If you’re a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers as well as the Penguins, then heading to Pittsburgh for a sporting holiday is a no-brainer. Like the Penguins, the Steelers have a solid win percentage of 58%, and with 6 Super Bowl titles, you’ll definitely be in for a good show. Similarly to Arlington, hotels and game tickets are in the mid-range of our ranking, but with 7.3 million fans following them, the energy in the city is worth stumping up for a ticket.
Up next, there’s the reigning Superbowl champs. The Kansas City Chiefs come in at a very respectable third place in our ranking. With their home ground of GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City holding 76,416 fans and a highly impressive 80% win rate, watching a game here is sure to be a memorable experience.
At the time of writing, the favorites for this year’s Super Bowl are the San Francisco 49ers – who made it all the way to 8th in our ranking. With 5 Super Bowl wins to their name, a respectable win rate of 59%, and a total follower count of 5,616,473, a game day in their home of Santa Clara is sure to be a good time.
Are you planning a trip to any of these cities for a game this season? Before you set off, make sure you place your bets with Betway Canada and find the best odds for NHL and NFL games. For more rankings, reports, and essential information about the best teams, head to the Betway blog.
Methodology
We ranked all cities that have an NFL and/or NHL team, based on how good they are for their fan experience. To do this different factors were used, which were then normalized and scored. The locations were then ranked from highest to lowest, based on their total scores. For any cities that had multiple NFL teams, an average of the teams score was used.
The factors used are as follows:
- Stadium Capacity – The maximum number of supporters each stadium can hold.
- Stadium Rating – The average Google review rating for the stadium of each city’s NHL team, out of 5.
- Super Bowl/Stanley Cup Wins – The number of times each city’s NFL/NHL team has won the Super Bowl/Stanley Cup.
- Performance Level – The win % of each city’s NFL/NHL team using data from 2020 – 2023. This includes the regular season and playoffs.
- Cost of Ticket (NFL data only) – The average ticket price (USD) for one game of each city’s NFL team as per the fan cost index.
- Cost of Hotel – The average cost of a hotel (USD) in each city from Oct-Jan 2024.
- Total Fan Engagement – The number of followers each city’s NFL/NHL has on Instagram & Twitter.
All data is correct as of 12/01/24. The ranking data shown is a compilation of multiple data sources and may not be representative of real life. All data is accurate with regards to the sources provided.
