Best States for Sports Lovers

From watching the Super Bowl-winning touchdown from home with friends to seeing the U.S. rack up medals in the Olympics, Americans can’t get enough of their favorite sports. In fact, of the top 100 most-watched TV broadcasts in 2023, 93 were accounted for by NFL programming, according to Nielsen data. Beyond television, how much Americans care about sports is reflected in the success of local professional and college teams, the access provided to youth, and education opportunities in related fields.

In order to highlight the most sports-loving states, SmileHub compared each of the 50 states based on 20 key metrics. The data set ranges from the number of sports charities per capita to the presence of legal sports betting to the number of sports clubs per capita.

If you want to grow your favorite sport in your state or support your local amateur teams, giving to charity is a great way to help. If you want to support a sports-related charity but don’t know where to donate, check out our picks for the Best Charities for Sports & Recreation in 2024.

• Main Findings
• Methodology

Main Findings

Best States for Sports Lovers

Overall Rank*	State	Total Score	Sports Interest & Success Rank	Sports Careers & Income Rank	Access to Sports Rank
1	New York	50.36	3	12	4
2	California	49.73	1	47	1
3	Ohio	48.86	2	11	13
4	Illinois	48.50	6	8	5
5	Indiana	48.09	9	4	8
6	Pennsylvania	46.58	5	19	12
7	Colorado	45.19	13	9	11
8	North Carolina	43.51	10	22	7
9	Florida	43.19	12	32	2
10	Iowa	42.92	24	2	27
11	Massachusetts	42.47	11	27	6
12	Michigan	41.96	8	25	14
13	Virginia	41.36	15	23	9
14	North Dakota	41.17	17	1	38
15	Texas	39.90	4	46	3
16	New Jersey	38.91	27	3	29
17	Tennessee	38.35	21	16	18
18	Missouri	37.58	14	40	10
19	Arizona	36.85	33	6	20
20	Wisconsin	36.61	16	17	28
21	Kansas	35.96	30	5	35
22	Washington	35.24	26	14	19
23	Minnesota	34.77	7	41	22
24	Oregon	34.74	32	24	17
25	Nebraska	34.73	20	10	36
26	Maryland	33.06	18	36	26
27	Kentucky	32.62	25	18	32
28	Nevada	32.60	34	7	41
29	Connecticut	32.17	31	20	33
30	Louisiana	32.04	22	29	30
31	Montana	31.17	39	33	16
32	Rhode Island	30.78	37	13	37
33	Utah	30.08	19	42	23
34	New Hampshire	29.58	36	21	40
35	South Carolina	28.88	23	43	15
36	South Dakota	28.19	43	34	24
37	Mississippi	26.20	41	31	39
38	Oklahoma	25.65	35	37	34
39	Delaware	25.41	46	28	43
40	West Virginia	23.54	40	30	47
41	Idaho	23.32	38	44	25
42	Wyoming	23.13	42	35	44
43	Georgia	22.70	28	49	21
44	Vermont	22.62	47	26	48
45	Maine	22.08	49	15	49
46	Arkansas	21.78	45	39	42
47	Alabama	20.63	29	48	31
48	New Mexico	19.87	44	38	46
49	Alaska	14.08	48	45	45
50	Hawaii	7.37	50	50	50

Notes: *1 = Best

With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

Methodology

In order to determine the best states for sports, SmileHub compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Sports Interest & Success, 2) Sports Careers & Income and 3) Access to Sports.

We evaluated those dimensions using 20 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of support for sports. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), the square root of the population was used to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for population differences across states.

We then determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.

Sports Interest & Success - Total Points: 50

• Sports & Recreation Charities per Capita: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Google Search Interest for Sports Terms: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: This composed metric includes the search interest for the terms: “Soccer”, “Football”, “Basketball”, “Baseball” and “Hockey”.
• Google Search Interest for "At Home Sports Equipment": Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: This composed metric includes the search interest for the terms: “Peloton”, “Dumbbells”, “Resistance bands”, “Barbell”, “Kettlebell”, “Home gym”, “Home gym equipment”, “NordicTrack treadmill” and “Home workout equipment”.
• Sports Bars per Capita*: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: This metric is a proxy for sports bars and it was calculated by counting the number of Buffalo Wild Wings locations in each state.
• Number of Professional Teams: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: This composed metric includes the number of professional teams in the following major leagues: MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and MLS.
• Number of Professional Team Championship Wins: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: This composed metric includes the number of professional team championship wins in the following major leagues: MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and MLS.
• Professional Team Stadium Capacity: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: This metric was calculated by dividing stadium capacity by state population.
• Number of College Teams: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: This composed metric includes the number of college baseball, basketball, football, hockey, men’s soccer and women’s soccer teams.
• Number of College Team Championship Wins: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: This composed metric includes the number of championship wins in college baseball, basketball, football, hockey, men’s soccer and women’s soccer.
• College Team Stadium Capacity: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: This metric was calculated by dividing stadium capacity by state population.
  This composed metric includes the combined stadium capacity of college baseball, basketball, football, hockey, men’s soccer and women’s soccer stadiums.

Sports Careers & Income - Total Points: 30

• Sports-Related Degrees Awarded per Capita: Full Weight (~7.50 Points)
  Note: This composite metric includes the number of sports studies degrees and sports communication degrees per capita.
• Presence of Legal Sports Betting: Full Weight (~7.50 Points)
  Note: This is a binary metric:
  • 1 - Sports betting is live, legal.
  • 0.75 - Sports betting is legal but not operational.
  • 0.5 - Active legislation/ballot initiative for sports betting.
  • 0.25 - No legislation for sports betting.
  • 0 - Dead legislation for sports betting.
• Revenue from Sports Betting per Capita: Full Weight (~7.50 Points)
• Sports-Related Jobs per Capita: Full Weight (~7.50 Points)
  Note: This metric includes the following sports-related jobs: athletes and sports competitors; coaches and scouts; umpires, referees and other sports officials.

Access to Sports - Total Points: 20

• Nike Sports Summer Camps per Capita*: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
  Note: This metric includes the number of baseball, basketball, football and soccer camps.
• Sports Recruiting Events per Capita*: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
  Note: This metric includes the number of baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, football, men’s hockey, women’s hockey, men’s soccer and women’s soccer recruiting events.
  
• Sporting Goods Stores per Capita*: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
  Note: This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in retailing new sporting goods, such as bicycles and bicycle parts; camping equipment; exercise and fitness equipment; athletic uniforms; specialty sports footwear; and other sporting goods, equipment, and accessories.
  
• Sports Clubs per Capita*: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
  Note: This U.S. industry comprises professional or semi-professional sports teams or clubs primarily engaged in participating in live sporting events, such as baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer, and jai alai games, before a paying audience. These establishments may or may not operate their own arena, stadium, or other facility for presenting these events.
• Sports Scholarships per Capita*: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
  Note: This metric includes sports scholarship opportunities for baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, football, men’s ice hockey, women’s ice hockey, men’s soccer, and women’s soccer.
• National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Member Schools per Capita*: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
  Note: NAIA schools are colleges and universities that are part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. They offer athletic programs and scholarships for student-athletes, focusing on a well-rounded educational experience.

 
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Internal Revenue Service, Google Trends, Buffalo Wild Wings, Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, National Collegiate Athletic Association, U.S. College Hockey Online, Data USA, American Gaming Association, National Broadcasting Company Sports, Legal Sports Report, U.S. Sports Camps, Next College Student Athlete and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Member Schools.