This Really is a Baseball Town
Arlington hits it out of the park as one of America's best baseball cities
Josh Hamilton once famously derided the Dallas-Fort Worth area as "not a true baseball town," but according to a study by the website WalletHub, Arlington, Texas — aka the home of the Texas Rangers — ranks high on the list of best U.S. cities for baseball fans, coming in at No. 15.
And lest you think that's middle of the road considering there are only 30 Major League Baseball teams, know that WalletHub's study ranked a total of 272 cities, giving that No. 15 a lot more shine. With the emergence of the legend of Joey Gallo, Arlington may stand to rise in the rankings.
To come up with their findings, WalletHub took into account factors like the presence of MLB or college teams, recent performance, franchise value, average ticket price, stadium accessibility, and more. Arlington achieved its high ranking thanks to having the fifth most accessible stadium in MLB and the third most friendly and engaged MLB fans, among other factors.
There is, of course, one big caveat: The ranking applies only to Arlington. Dallas and Fort Worth show up way down on the list, with Fort Worth tied at 185 and Dallas tied at 227. Although Arlington shows well, it does come in below such college baseball cities as Stanford, California; Cullowhee, North Carolina; and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
As for the top five cities for baseball fans, it's about what you'd expect: St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Cleveland. Curiously, New York City, despite having two MLB teams and pretty great stadium accessibility, only comes in at No. 37.
