just food for thought MSN ranked cities for sports activity/interest just top 26+ with my additions 1. Boston-Revs 2. Oakland-San Francisco-San Jose-Quakes 3. New York-Long Island-New Jersey-Metros 4. Houston- Great Market no Mexican soccer fans here 5. Los Angeles-Anaheim-Glxy and Chivas(Shaking Head Disdainfully) 6. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-oops , no soccer fans here 7. Detroit -suprisingly strong base of ethnic soccer fans and great sports fans 8. Dallas-Fort Worth-Burn-Burn or whoever (keep the name unless you pick a cool regionally based name) 9. Philadelphia 10. Minneapolis-St. Paul 11. Chicago-Fire 12. Denver-Rapids 13. Atlanta - good drawing/winning A league team needs own stadium, Building I think?? 14. Tampa-St. Petersburg-see miami oops (I think with the right owner and marketing Soccer could work in Florida- how could it not with youth/weather) 15. Seattle see Atlanta but need SSS 16. Indianapolis right stadium/owner why not? nice Cbus rivalry 17. Baltimore-Washington-DC United 18. St. Louis - Strongest candidate 19. Nashville -MCR-Mid Country Region needs a team 20. Phoenix- great sports fans , no mexican followers here either 21. Charlotte-MCR-Mid Country see above 22. New Orleans-pdl good sports town 23. Salt Lake City- (best Marv Albert impersonation YYEESS!) Good call, must work out relation with PSL team Utah Blitz, Super sports fans+owner (Damn you for Tempting/Stealing Boozer) 24. Pittsburgh-psl team drew well in a league and won year before would do GREAT with a SSS Stadium 25. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.- MCR-Mid see above 26. Toronto-Great Town love to visit their on a crew Roadie , rather have a team here than LA(again, i hope Anshultz bent over Chivas and got a huge fee to share his pie in LA, he deserves a founders respect) 39. too low a number Cleveland - Dont count us out, The ownership group while setback is still interested http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/summit/109161195945010.xml?ncounty_summit and were the 16th largest TV/Metro area, with Rabid sports fans, soccers huge on the youth level (20+ yrs) , and there is a growing 35+ base (me) with their own kids, who raised on soccer (as Players still playing/maybe now coaching AND Fans) and a large ethnic fan base I think MLS/US Soccers future is bright, I think its a shame that LA will have two teams while the league still so young and in need of increasing its geographic footprint (its so much easier to root for/follow a close team), making new fans (the game is the most fun watch LIVE) Either way it would appear even A league teams are getting better and running their operations solidly (Rochester, Richmond, Charleston, Portland, Milwaukee, Virginia Beach, Minnesota, and Seattle -seem to have gotten good results and been professionally run teams). Take a friend to a local game near you.
This isn't a ranking of pro sports, I take it. If so, there's no way The SF Bay Area ever rates higher than Chi-town. My list would be something like this: 1. Boston 2. New York 3. Philadelphia 4. Chicago 5. Detroit 6. Dallas 15. Los Angeles 20. San Francisco Bay Area 75. Charlotte 86. Tampa Bay 94. Miami 10016. Atlanta.
http://msn.foxsports.com/story/2631604 the actual list itself "To be included in these rankings, a city must have at least an NCAA Division I basketball team or a Class A minor league baseball team, or it must score in select other categories upon which we base our rankings. Those other categories include being the site of a training camp for a major league or NFL team; a NASCAR Nextel Cup race; an NCAA Division I-A bowl game; a PGA Tour tournament, or a Triple Crown horse race. " (IGNORING MLS AND USL SOCCER Involvement-an oversight i say) "Once a city meets the minimum criteria, we take a 12-month snapshot, roughly from July to July, of the sports atmosphere, putting a heavy premium on regular-season records (from the most recently completed season); playoff berths, bowl appearances and tournament bids; championships; applicable power ratings; quality of competition; overall fan fervor, as measured in part by attendance as a percentage of venue capacity; sports atmosphere and fan knowledge; abundance of teams, though we reward quality over quantity; stadium/arena quality; ticket availability and prices; franchise ownership, and marquee appeal of athletes. Tradition plays a minimal role because this is a 12-month ranking that starts over each year. Likewise, we choose not to delve into sports about which we aren't experts. And, yes, it's true: We have not visited every city on this list in the past 12 months." --I think the list itself while long, excludes some basic sports historical facts, and viability realities. Your thoughts...