Best sports towns in Tennessee (Memphis, Knoxville: college, cities, top)

[JMT]

The Sporting News just compiled its list of the 400 best sports cities in the country. Here's how towns in Tennessee stack up:

14. Nashville
29. Knoxville
56. Memphis
123. Murfreesboro
162. Clarksville
166. Chattanooga
178. Johnson City
219. Martin
233. Cookeville
273. Bristol
318. Jackson
330. Kodak
380. Elizabethton
390. Kingsport

FYI: The top 5 sports cities in the country are:

1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Dallas
4. New York
5. Philadelphia

[oldmanbob]

Nashville is only ahead on Knoxville, cause of the Titans, and now that the Commodores are winning, they will not be able to handle their rise in the college ranks. But , they dont have the Pearl!

[JMT]

Originally Posted by oldmanbob

Nashville is only ahead on Knoxville, cause of the Titans, and now that the Commodores are winning, they will not be able to handle their rise in the college ranks. But , they dont have the Pearl!

And they don't have Pat! (I sure wish Nashville had Phil, though...)

[VolDude]

Just saw this year's. Nashville moved up to 12.

As you can tell, if your city has winning teams, you move up. If not, you apparently are a worse sports town. Disregard that the Pittsburgh Pirates are one of the most poorly supported MLB teams in a spanking new stadium and that the Penguins nearly moved in the past 5 or so year because of poor attendance, Pittsburgh is the best.

Apparently Memphis, who supports their local college football team with crowds numbering in the low 4-thousands and who may lose their NBA team because they can barely break 12k per game, is a much better sports city this year than Knoxville.

Miami and Atlanta being even in the top 50 is a joke.

This list, much like the Forbes college list which ranked Carson-Newman as the 3rd best college in state and about 8 state schools over UTK, needs to be retired, now.

[jabogitlu]

I was just wondering how anyone could rank Nashville over Knoxville when it comes to sports towns. When anyone in the country sees someone decked out in orange, they know it's Tennessee Vols Time and Rocky Top. The Titans or any other Nashville team hasn't got anything close to that.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I was just wondering how anyone could rank Nashville over Knoxville when it comes to sports towns. When anyone in the country sees someone decked out in orange, they know it's Tennessee Vols Time and Rocky Top. The Titans or any other Nashville team hasn't got anything close to that.

But Knoxville is pretty much a one-horse town. Granted, it's a big horse, but other than UT sports there's not much else here except minor league hockey. Even our minor league baseball team isn't in Knoxville.

Nashville has several NCAA universities as well as AAA baseball, professional football and professional hockey.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by VolDude

Apparently Memphis, who supports their local college football team with crowds numbering in the low 4-thousands and who may lose their NBA team because they can barely break 12k per game, is a much better sports city this year than Knoxville.

Memphis has a NBA team?

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Memphis has a NBA team?

Shhhhhh... I don't think it's something they want to brag about.

What goes into making a good sports town anyway? Do they base it on paid attendance to events, on how many professional or college sports a town offers, or what?

[VolDude]

Originally Posted by JMT

But Knoxville is pretty much a one-horse town. Granted, it's a big horse, but other than UT sports there's not much else here except minor league hockey. Even our minor league baseball team isn't in Knoxville.

Nashville has several NCAA universities as well as AAA baseball, professional football and professional hockey.

The list generally defines sports teams by viewing area/market. It's not like the Jets, Giants, or Nets added (or subtracted) from East Rutherford, NJ's ranking.

Do the Ice Bears draw far, far less than the Predators? Yes, but I'd bet money that the decrepit Civic Coliseum is generally closer to capacity on a given night than a game in Nashville. The Preds are always close to the bottom in NHL attendance.

Their AAA baseball team drew all of 600 more fans per game than Knoxville's AA one.

IMO having more options doesn't mean better fandom, game experience, or better overall sports city. It's all about how folks approach and participate in sporting events. Otherwise Atlanta and Miami, two cities notorious for having horrible, transient fans, would be great sports towns on that alone, all the while being unable to sell out playoff games.

[jabogitlu]

Nashville has several NCAA universities as well as AAA baseball, professional football and professional hockey.

Yeah but as far as enthusiasm goes, Knoxville has them all beat, hands-down. That's why I would always say Knoxville is a better sports town than Nashville.