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America’s Worst Cities To Be A Sports Fan
By Tom Van Riper, Forbes.com
Aug 20, 7:55 pm EDT
 
      Buzz Up PrintWhat do sports fans spend the most time grousing about? Above all else, it’s lousy teams or high ticket prices.

Woe is the fan forced to put up with both at once. Who wants to pay premium prices to sit in the stands and watch the losses mount? Fans in Miami know about that. Over the past year, the city’s four major sports teams – the Dolphins, Marlins, Heat and Panthers – have combined to win just 40 percent of their games while fans have forked over money for tickets and accouterments at the seventh-highest rate among 29 major sports metros.

Throw in a $38,632 median household income for the greater Miami area, fifth-lowest of the 29 markets, along with a $292.50 price tag for a family of four to see a game, and the city’s pro sports scene ranks as the worst deal in the country by our accounting. That’s what happens when the NBA Heat and NFL Dolphins combine to go 16-82 during the 2007-08 season, more than offsetting the competitiveness of baseball’s young Florida Marlins.

Lining up behind Miami for the booby prize are San Diego ($300 a game for a family of four; .425 combined winning percentage for the Chargers and Padres), Indianapolis (a lower-income market with middle-of-the-road ticket prices) and New York (second-highest prices in the country for teams that lose just over half their games, the Super Bowl champion Giants not withstanding).

The best deals? You’ll find those in Detroit (only No. 17 in costs for a .612 winning percentage for its four teams, including the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings), Houston (third-cheapest prices for a .565 winning percentage), and the Bay Area (so-so teams, but a high-income market with the ninth-lowest costs).

In figuring the toughest cities in which to be sports fans over the past year, we compared the latest median household income figures from the Census Bureau to the Fan Cost Index for each team compiled by Team Marketing. Those metros with the lowest ratios of income to ticket cost were deemed most expensive for fans. Those ratios were then compared to team performance, with regular season won-lost records and playoff outcomes combined for all teams in a given city.

The formula eliminates a city like Boston, which carries the highest pro sports prices in the country but also the fourth-highest household income. Plus its teams win. Also landing in the middle of the pack is New Orleans, where low prices and an excellent .643 winning percentage (thanks to NBA Hornets’ 56-26 record last season) are offset by the lowest household income of all 29 metros.

Incomes were compiled by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) rather than being restricted to city boundaries, since outlying areas make up a good portion of a team’s fan base. Fan Cost Index represents the typical cost for a family of four to attend a game, based on Team Marketing’s compilations on the prices of four tickets, two small beers, four small sodas, four hot dogs, parking, two game programs and two inexpensive team caps (sure, a family can always cut back a bit by foregoing a few of those little extras, but you get the idea).

The study was limited to the four major sports leagues – the National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League and Major League Baseball. Only the 29 cities with teams in at least two of those four leagues were considered. For football, basketball and hockey results, we used the most recently completed season of 2007-08. For Major League Baseball, now well into its 2008 season, we used the current regular season won-lost records but reverted back to 2007 for the latest post-season results.

The top five:

1. Miami:
2. San Diego:
3. Indianapolis:
4. New York:
5. Cincinnati:

Can I have the minute or so back that it took to read this garbage?

Please?

Would you really rather be a fan in Cleveland?  Buffalo?  Detroit?  DETROIT?  You've got to be kidding me.  I don't live in S. Florida, and have never lived in Miami; but to say that Miami (or S. Florida) is the worst city to be a sports fan seems crazy.

The problem with this is it takes a myopic look at the records of the teams.  A 1 year view, ignoring the history of the teams.   The Dolphins have been to 5 Superbowls, winning 2.  The young Marlins have won the World Series twice and the Heat won the NBA Championship.  The Panthers are a young franchise, but have already been to the Stanley Cup.  Two of the championships have come in the last 5 years. 

I also question the salary demographics.  I wonder if they just considered Miami "proper", ignoring the large suburban areas where incomes are higher. 

QFT.  This is complete and utter bullshit.  Especially considering that two of those five cities are warm weather, three are near the beach, three have plenty of other stuff to do..... the author of this trash doesn't take that into consideration along with what Jim posted as well. 

I might as well make up for use of this lost time... I'll print this article out and use it to wipe my ass next time I take a shit. 

its a terrible place to be a sports fan, if you're a bandwagon hopping fair weathered fan.

If you're a die-hard and committed fan, its a GREAT place to be!

Miami is a special situation, because the city itself is poor, while the wealthy surrounding areas are the ones that support the team.  That's why ticket prices seem strangely skewed.

But, let's not get our panties in a bunch over this article.  I think it's mostly about winning percentage vs. ticket cost for this current year.  And for that, it's hard to argue that we're not the worst.

Exactly Dave. I can't see where anyone can disagree with this article. All that has spewed out of South Florida over the last couple years has been complaints about raising ticket prices, complaints about product on the field/court. Yet when someone outside points it out the rallying begins.

why do you have to have wins to be a fan?  Ticket costs are going to be fairly consistent across the league - I don't think any Miami teams are above the league average for ticket prices.  Just seems grossly skewed.

Yeah, Miami teams suck lately, but if you're only a fan when they win, then you're not really a fan.

It does suck to be a fan of a team that's terrible, Brian.  Duh.

It doesn't mean that you shouldn't be a fan, but it certainly sucks and isn't very enjoyable.  Miami sucks at 3/4 sports right now.  Not that I'm any less of a fan, but even as a fan, it's a lot to ask to pony up top dollar to watch teams that suck and aren't in the playoff chase 1/4 way through the season.

any coincidence that the greatest sports cities are also some of the most boring places to live? yea boston & philly might be great sports towns, but thats all you have to look forward to because of the terrible shut-weather & ugly women --> well most of them not all of them. this town loves a winner yes its fairweather but the heat in 2006 were selling out all the time.

So were the Marlins toward the end of 2003.  Imagine that - people come to games when they're winning... Not in Florida?!?  ::)

Hell, the Dolphins had two consecutive home playoff games blacked out.  2000 and 2001.

The article itself says Miami ranks 7th highest out of 29 different cities. That would put them above the average, although maybe not by a lot.