In a recent study by personal finance website WalletHub, Cincinnati was ranked the No. 4 best "midsize city" for soccer fans in America and the No. 12 city overall for soccer fans. Perhaps a somewhat mediocre set of rankings, but keeping on brand with our Cincy sports teams' performances, we'll take it. (Although we wouldn't attempt to tell anyone in The Bailey that FCC and their fans aren't No. 1.)
And what does this ranking even mean??
The study evaluated over 280 U.S. cities with at least one professional or college soccer team and ranked them across five divisions (e.g. Major League Soccer (Division 1 Men's), National Women's Soccer League (Division I Women's), etc.) using 52 key metrics. Each category was scored based on the same criteria, including number of championship wins, franchise value, stadium capacity, minimum season ticket price and fan engagement.
Coming in at No. 1 for overall sports team was Los Angeles, followed by Orlando and Salt Lake City. Cincinnati was preceded by Chicago and Dallas followed behind.
Regardless of ranking, our city has a whole lot of love for its hometown soccer team, FC Cincinnati, who triumphantly entered the MLS franchise last year. With a new stadium coming to the West End, the Queen City will be an even better city for fans.
See what's on the menu for the forthcoming FC Cincinnati stadium concessions or check out the mock-ups of the stadium design.
And here's some weird little interactive map to play with that shows you different city rankings for soccer fans:
