Buffalo one of best cities for football fans in U.S. Do you think it is rated high enough?

Posted by author February 4, 2025 Football

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Buffalo Bills fans might be a little less than pleased when they find out their city isn’t in the top 10 of WalletHub’s newly released ranking of the best cities for football fans.

The study compared 250 cities with at least one college or professional football team across 21 key metrics, such as the number of NFL and college football teams a city has, stadium capacity and fan engagement.

“Living in one of the best football cities means much more than attending games and watching your hometown team on TV every weekend in the fall,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo says. “Faithfully following your team on social media, spending big on tickets and merchandise and taking part in local traditions are just some of the factors that make the best football cities stand out.”

Here’s how cities in New York fared.

Buffalo misses top 10 placement in WalletHub’s ranking

Drum roll, please! Buffalo comes in at No. 17, which, oddly enough, just so happens to be the same number Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen dons.

The Queen City has a total score of 37.37, a professional football rank of 17 — there’s that number again — and a college football rank of 204.

Most obviously, Buffalo is home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, but the western New York city also has three college football teams: the University at Buffalo Bulls, Buffalo State University Bengals and the Erie Community College Kats.

What do you think? Should Buffalo have been ranked higher on the best cities for football fans list? Share your thoughts with us below!

Which other NY cities made it on WalletHub’s list?

New York City: Ranked No. 6, home to the New York Giants and New York Jets, which both play in New Jersey, Columbia University Lions and Fordham University Rams
West Point: Ranked No. 33, home to the Army Black Knights
Hamilton: Ranked No. 43, home to the Colgate University Raiders
Albany: Ranked No. 145, home to the University at Albany Great Danes
Poughkeepsie: Ranked No. 147, home to the Marist University Red Foxes
Stony Brook: Ranked No. 148, home to the Stony Brook University Seawolves
Ithaca: Ranked No. 150, home to the Ithaca College Bombers and the Cornell University Big Red
Syracuse: Ranked No. 164, home to the Syracuse University Orange

WalletHub’s top 10 cities for football fans

Every city in WalletHub’s top 10 is represented by at least one NFL team. Here’s which cities are the best for football fans, according to the report:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Dallas, Texas
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Boston, Massachusetts
Kansas City, Missouri
New York, New York
Los Angeles, California
San Francisco, California
New Orleans, Louisiana
Miami, Florida

How WalletHub determined football fan-friendliness

WalletHub compared 250 U.S. cities across these key metrics:

Number of NFL/college football teams
Performance level of NFL/college football teams
Number of NFL/college football championship wins
Number of NFL division championship wins
Number of college football conference championship wins
Number of Hall-of-Fame head coaches, both NFL and college football
NFL franchise value
Average ticket price for an NFL game
Minimum season-ticket price for a college football game
NFL/college football fan engagement
Number of coaches in past 10 seasons, both NFL and college football
NFL attendance
NFL/college football stadium capacity
NFL popularity index

Data used to create the ranking was sourced from multiple entities, including the U.S. Census Bureau, Team Marketing Report, ESPN, NCAA, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Sports Reference, SportsCasting, GiveMeSport, Forbes, Fanalytics and each team’s website and social media accounts.

Emily Barnes reports on consumer-related issues for the USA TODAY Network’s New York Connect Team, focusing on scam and recall-related topics. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Get in touch at ebarnes@gannett.com.