Providence Ranked as 38th Best City for Hockey Fans in US
Thursday, June 09, 2016
Providence has been ranked as the 38th best city for in the US for hockey fans, according to a recent study done by WalletHub.
Providence has an NHL rank of 23 and a college rank of 21.
Bowling Green, Ohio and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan rank ahead of Providence at 36 and 37 respectively while Lewiston, New York and Ithaca, New York rank behind Providence at 39 and 40 respectively.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHow Hockey Stacks up Nationally
According to WalletHub, hockey is the fourth most followed sport among US adult fans and it has climbed one spot in the top 10 every year since 2012.
When compared to the NBA, WalletHub says that the NHL has sold to more arena's then the NBA and that fans are willing to pay 15% more to see a hockey game than an NBA game.
WalletHub's Rankings
While Providence ranks 38th, the top city for hockey is Detroit, Michigan, home to the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and Chicago round out the top five.
Note that four of the top five cities are home to the NHL's original 6 teams, Pittsburgh being the odd one out.
Find out where other cities rank using the map below.
The Method
To find the best city for hockey fans, WalletHub's analysts compared 72 of the most populated US cities across two divisions including NHL and College Hockey. WalletHub chose cities with at least one college or professional team.
WalletHub then compiled 17 relevant metrics and gave each one a corresponding weight. Each metric was given a value between 0 and 100, with 100 representing the most favorable conditions.
In order to determine the weight for each division, WalletHub surveyed teams in each division's Facebook account, summed the number of "likes" and calculated the proportions that each league represented in total. The weight attributed to each division was based on its popularity.
WalletHub then calculated the overall score for each city using the weighted average across all metrics and ranked the cities accordingly.
The metrics WalletHub used are as follows:
NHL (Division I) – Total Points: 90
- Number of Teams: Full Weight (~12.00 Points)
- Performance Level: Full Weight (~12.00 Points)
- Note: This metric was calculated by dividing the number of wins by the total games played. The past three seasons’ average was used for this calculation.
- Number of Stanley Cup Wins: Full Weight (~12.00 Points)
- Number of Division Championship Wins: Half Weight (~6.00 Points)
- Franchise Value: Half Weight (~6.00 Points)
- Note: This metric measures the team’s estimated value in $million.
- Minimum Season-Ticket Price for a Game: Full Weight (~12.00 Points)
- Fan Engagement: Full Weight (~12.00 Points)
- Note: This metric was calculated by adding the number of Twitter followers to the number of Facebook “Likes” per capita.
- Stadium Capacity: Half Weight (~6.00 Points)
- Note: This metric was calculated by dividing stadium capacity by city population.
- Attendance: Half Weight (~6.00 Points)
- Note: This metric was calculated by dividing average home-fan attendance by arena capacity.
- Popularity Index: Half Weight (~6.00 Points)
College Hockey (Division I) – Total Points: 10
- Number of Teams: Full Weight (~1.67 Points)
- Performance Level: Full Weight (~1.67 Points)
- Note: This metric was calculated by dividing the number of wins by the total games played. The past three seasons’ average was used for this calculation.
- Number of Championship Wins: Full Weight (~1.67 Points)
- Number of Regular Season Championship Wins: Half Weight (~0.83 Points)
- Minimum Season-Ticket Price for a Game: Full Weight (~1.67 Points)
- Fan Engagement: Full Weight (~1.67 Points)
- Note: This metric was calculated by adding the number of Twitter followers to the number of Facebook “Likes” per capita.
- Stadium Capacity: Half Weight (~0.83 Points)
- Note: This metric was calculated by dividing stadium capacity by city population.
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