Touchdown! Glendale is one of nation’s best football cities
Feb 3, 2017, 1:40 PM
(AP Photo/Ralph Freso)
When fans in Glendale, Ariz. watch the Patriots and Falcons square off in Super Bowl LI on Sunday, they can boast they’re doing so in one of the best football cities in the country.
That is, at least, according to Wallethub.com, which used 17 metrics to determine the best and worst cities for football fans. Glendale, a former Super Bowl host itself, ranked No. 9 on the list of 244 cities hosting either an NFL or NCAA team.
These quantitative metrics, which put Green Bay, Wisc. in the No. 1 spot on the list, included factors like performance, ticket prices, fan friendliness and stadium accessibility, among others. They were then combined to produce a “total score” for each city.
“On the NFL popularity index, the Cardinals are about third right now, especially when it comes to attendance,” Wallethub spokesperson Jill Gonzalez said. “In Glendale, […] there’s a huge home fan attendance, and the stadium capacity is actually third-highest in the country.”
Among NFL cities only, Glendale ranked sixth.
Because they each are home to either an FBS or FCS college football team, Tempe (No. 118), Flagstaff (No. 124) and Tucson (No. 130) also appeared on the list.
The Cardinals’ University of Phoenix Stadium also ranked third among NFL stadiums for accessibility.
KTAR News’ Jeremy Foster contributed to this report.