Portland Ranks as 3rd Best City in Country for Soccer Fans

Wednesday, June 01, 2016

GoLocalPDX Sports Team

Portland, Oregon Ranks as the 3rd best city in the country for soccer fans, according to a recent study done by WalletHub.

Oregon ranks behind only Orlando, Florida and Los Angeles, California at 1 and 2 respectively.

Portland's MLS rank is 3, NWSL rank is 3, NASL rank is 10, USL rank is 19, college soccer for men is 106 and college soccer for women is 88.

Portland ranks ahead of Kansas City and Seattle at 4 and 5 respectively.

See where the rest of the states rank in the map below.

Source: WalletHub

The Method

In order to find the best and worst cities for soccer fans, WalletHub compared 296 of the most populated U.S. cities across six divisions, MLS, NWSL, NASL, USL, College Soccer for Men and College Soccer for Women. Each city chosen has at least one college or professional team.

WalletHub then put together 51 relevant metrics with corresponding weights from 0-100, with 100 being the most favorable.

The weight for each division was determined by the top performing five teams in each division's Facebook account, summed the number of "likes" and calculated the proportion that each league represented in total.

The overall score was calculated by the weighted average across all of the metrics.

The Metrics

MLS (Division I Men’s) – Total Points = 50

Number of Teams: Full Weight (~6.667 Points)
Performance Level: Full Weight (~6.667 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 (~6.667 Points)
Number of Division Championship Wins: Half Weight (~3.333 Points)
Franchise Value: Half Weight (~3.333 Points)
Note: This metric measures the team’s estimated value in $million.
Minimum Season-Ticket Price for a Game: Full Weight (~6.667 Points)
Fan Engagement: Full Weight (~6.667 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 (~3.333 Points)
Note: This metric was calculated by dividing stadium capacity by city population.
Attendance: Half Weight (~3.333 Points)
Note: This metric was calculated by dividing average home-fan attendance by arena capacity.
Popularity Index: Half Weight (~3.333 Points)

NWSL (Division I Women’s) – Total Points = 20

Number of Teams: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Performance Level: Full Weight (~2.86 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 (~2.86 Points)
Number of Division Championship Wins: Half Weight (~1.43 Points)
Minimum Season-Ticket Price for a Game: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Fan Engagement: Full Weight (~2.86 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 (~1.43 Points)
Note: This metric was calculated by dividing stadium capacity by city population.
Attendance: Half Weight (~1.43 Points)
Note: This metric was calculated by dividing average home-fan attendance by arena capacity.
Popularity Index: Half Weight (~1.43 Points)

NASL (Division II Men’s) – Total Points = 10

Number of Teams: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
Performance Level: Full Weight (~1.43 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 (~1.43 Points)
Number of Division Championship Wins: Half Weight (~0.71 Points)
Minimum Season-Ticket Price for a Game: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
Fan Engagement: Full Weight (~1.43 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 (~0.71 Points)
Note: This metric was calculated by dividing stadium capacity by city population.
Attendance: Half Weight (~0.71 Points)
Note: This metric was calculated by dividing average home-fan attendance by arena capacity.
Popularity Index: Half Weight (~0.71 Points)

USL (Division III Men’s) – Total Points = 10

Number of Teams: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
Performance Level: Full Weight (~1.43 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 (~1.43 Points)
Number of Division Championship Wins: Half Weight (~0.71 Points)
Minimum Season-Ticket Price for a Game: Full Weight (~1.43 Points)
Fan Engagement: Full Weight (~1.43 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 (~0.71 Points)
Note: This metric was calculated by dividing stadium capacity by city population.
Attendance: Half Weight (~0.71 Points)
Note: This metric was calculated by dividing average home-fan attendance by arena capacity.
Popularity Index: Half Weight (~0.71 Points)

College Soccer (Division I Men’s) – Total Points = 5

Number of Teams: Full Weight (~0.83 Points)
Performance Level: Full Weight (~0.83 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 (~0.83 Points)
Number of Conference Regular Season Championship Wins: Half Weight (~0.42 Points)
Minimum Season-Ticket Price for a Game: Full Weight (~0.83 Points)
Fan Engagement: Full Weight (~0.83 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 (~0.42 Points)
Note: This metric was calculated by dividing stadium capacity by city population.

College Soccer (Division I Women’s) – Total Points = 5

Number of Teams: Full Weight (~0.83 Points)
Performance Level: Full Weight (~0.83 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 (~0.83 Points)
Number of Conference Regular Season Championship Wins: Half Weight (~0.42 Points)
Minimum Season-Ticket Price for a Game: Full Weight (~0.83 Points)
Fan Engagement: Full Weight (~0.83 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 (~0.42 Points)
Note: This metric was calculated by dividing stadium capacity by city population.