Chicago tops Sporting News list of Best Sports Cities
With the Stanley Cup-winning Blackhawks and fast-rising Bulls leading the way, Chicago is No. 1 in Sporting News' 17th annual Best Sports Cities rankings.
Chicago dethroned Pittsburgh, a first-time winner in 2009, which fell to and No. 12 in 2010's rankings. Rounding out the top 10 are:
Ÿ No. 2 Boston
Ÿ No 3. Los Angeles
Ÿ No. 4 Philadelphia
Ÿ No. 5 Dallas/Fort Worth
Ÿ No. 6 New York
Ÿ No. 7 Phoenix/Tempe
Ÿ No. 8 Atlanta
Ÿ No. 9 Denver/Boulder
Ÿ No. 10 Detroit/Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti.
For Chicago, the top ranking on the SN list is the city's third, trailing only Boston with four.
Legendary Bears linebacker and Chicago native, Dick Butkus on what makes Chicago the Best Sports City: “The Bears have had some down years, but they always sell tickets. You go to a Blackhawks game, whether they're good or bad, the fans are there. The Bulls sucked for a while until Michael Jordan came, but we still had the team and the people would go. ... And Cubs fans ... are they nuts? Why do they go there? I'll tell you why, because they represent their city. ...There's plenty to do in Chicago, too. The people there don't have to go through the hassle of attending games, but they always do anyway.
This year's list is based on the 12 months from summer 2009 to summer 2010 and features 402 cities and towns in the United States and Canada.
The rankings are based on a variety of factors, including each city's number of teams and their regular-season won-lost records, postseason appearances, bowl appearances and tournament bids, championships, applicable power ratings, attendance, fan fervor and more.
Sporting News began its Best Sports City rankings in 1993. Past winners:
2009: Pittsburgh
2008: Boston
2007: Detroit
2006: Chicago
2005: Boston
2004: Boston
2003: Anaheim/Los Angeles
2002: Boston
2001: New York
2000: St. Louis
1999: New York
1998: Detroit
1997: Denver
1995: Denver
1994: Cleveland
1993: Chicago
Note: There was no Best Sports City in 1996 as the ratings were expanded and refined.