Baseball Central
Arlington really is a baseball town — and one of the best in the U.S.
Josh Hamilton famously said in 2013 that Arlington is "not a true baseball town," but according a new study by WalletHub, it is actually one of the best baseball cities in the country, coming in at No. 6 out of over 360 cities.
The only cities with a higher ranking on WalletHub's list are ones with much longer baseball resumés, including New York City, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Boston. The home cities of this year's World Series participants, Chicago and Cleveland, came in at Nos. 10 and 14, respectively.
How did Arlington, which is home to the Texas Rangers, pull off such a feat? It mostly comes down to the Rangers' recent success and the fans willingness to support the team. Since the team has won the AL West four out of seven times since 2010, and made the World Series in 2010 and 2011, their record stands up well to other MLB teams.
But their success is just one piece of the pie. They also rank No. 5 for cheapest average MLB ticket prices and No. 4 for most accessible MLB stadiums, two factors that make it a lot easier for their fans to support them, leading to a ranking of No. 3 for most engaged MLB fans.
However, neither Fort Worth nor Dallas ranked high on the list, ranking Nos. 254 and No. 300. The study also took into account engagement with local minor league or college baseball teams, but neither city has made a habit of highly supporting their local teams.
