We're #1!
By Benjy Lipsman in News on Aug 2, 2006 3:26PM
We're as sick of all these "best cities for ____" lists as the rest of you, but today Chicagoist is waving our big foam finger in other cities' faces. Why's that? Because The Sporting News named Chicago as the #1 sports city in their ranking of the top 99 cities. Take that, New York! See ya, and wouldn't wanna be ya, Miami! Boston's overrated!
The criteria used by TSN include:
- regular-season won-lost records (from the most recently completed season);
- playoff berths, bowl appearances and tournament bids;
- championships;
- applicable power ratings;
- quality of competition;
- overall fan fervor as measured in part by attendance as percentage of venue capacity;
- abundance of teams, though we reward quality over quantity;
- stadium/arena quality;
- ticket availability and prices;
- franchise ownership;
- marquee appeal of athletes.
With those criteria, it's clear to see why Chicago won. We've got teams in all four major pro sports (and two in baseball!), plus a number of additional pro and college teams in the area. The White Sox won the World Series. The Bears won their division. The Bulls made the playoffs. Northwestern played in a bowl game. We have nice stadiums, and fans filled 'em up -- for the most part. Guess we weren't docked too much by the Blackhawks' attendance, ownership, losing records, etc.
Chicago jumped 14 places to claim the top spot this year. With the White Sox hoping to repeat, the Bears looking like a Super Bowl contender, and the Bulls looking better and better, Chicago looks poised to remain on top for at least another year.