As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, new CivicScience\/SBJ Sports Consumer Insights data sheds light on the country\u2019s top sports cities. New York finished first with 20% of the vote, followed by a surprising runner-up: Pittsburgh at 16%.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh\u2019s finish stands out because it is the nation\u2019s 28th-largest media market. Los Angeles (13%), Chicago (13%) and Boston (10%) \u2014 all larger markets and perennial sports powers \u2014 rounded out the top five.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh also ranked No. 32 on Sports Business Journal\u2019s 2026 Best Sports Business Cities list, raising a broader question: Are fan intensity and civic identity more important than market size when Americans think about great sports cities?<\/p>\n
Winning championships alone doesn\u2019t explain Pittsburgh\u2019s standing. Yes, the Knicks (New York) and Dodgers (L.A.) have brought titles to their cities in recent years. But the \u201cCity of Champions\u201d at No. 2 hasn\u2019t seen a title from a major pro sports team since the Penguins lifted the Stanley Cup almost a decade ago. The Steelers, the city\u2019s marquee team, haven\u2019t won a Super Bowl in nearly 20 years. The three major league teams have a combined tenure of 298 seasons.<\/p>\n
The Penguins\u2019 14-year sellout streak ended after 633 games in fall 2021, with CEO David Morehouse saying at the time that it only came to an end because of the lingering COVID-19 pandemic. The Steelers, meanwhile, have sold out every home game dating back to 1972.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh\u2019s connection to its teams has long been part of the city\u2019s identity. \u201cWhen you play Pittsburgh, you play the whole city,\u201d is how Mayor Corey O\u2019Connor described that relationship this year when longtime Steelers coach Mike Tomlin resigned.<\/p>\n
But civic identity is only part of the story. <\/p>\n
While those iconic brands have undoubtedly contributed to Pittsburgh\u2019s standing, John David, president and CEO of the Sports Events & Tourism Association, said the city\u2019s appeal extends well beyond its teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile they have done a spectacular job of leaning in on their iconic brand and colors, they\u2019ve never lost sight of a total sports ecosystem on sports tourism,\u201d David said.<\/p>\n
Visit Pittsburgh President and CEO Jerad Bachar said the ranking underscores that Pittsburgh has a sports culture that \u201cfar exceeds its size.\u201d While the city\u2019s professional teams and generations of loyal fans form the foundation, Bachar said Pittsburgh\u2019s reputation is strengthened by collegiate athletics, youth sports, amateur competitions and its ability to host major events.<\/p>\n
The city welcomed a record 805,000 fans for NFL Draft weekend in April, and christened Pitt\u2019s $240 million multisport Victory Heights project.<\/p>\n
Additionally, from 2026 through 2028, the city will host eight NCAA postseason events \u2014 the most of any city \u2014 across five different sports.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh\u2019s sports identity extends well beyond western Pennsylvania. Steelers games regularly deliver some of the league\u2019s most recognizable television images, from seas of Terrible Towels at Acrisure Stadium to the city\u2019s black-and-gold identity. PNC Park\u2019s downtown backdrop has become one of sports\u2019 most recognizable settings, helping project Pittsburgh\u2019s sports culture to fans who may never visit the city themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are iconic places and venues that are situated beautifully within their destination,\u201d David said. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful place to travel to. You know it\u2019s going to be special.\u201d <\/p>\n
Boston similarly over-indexes from a population perspective, as it ranks as the 25th-most-populated city in the country. Its iconic teams like the Celtics, Red Sox and Bruins play a major role, but so do marquee events held throughout the year: the annual Boston Marathon, World Cup games this summer and even the World Figure Skating Championships in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso nailing it when it comes to attracting youth and amateur events,\u201d David said. \u201cThat real focus on all aspects of sports, but through that tourism lens. How do you keep those facilities going in the offseason?\u201d<\/p>\n
Research director David Broughton and reporter Juwan Watson contributed to this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, new CivicScience\/SBJ Sports Consumer Insights data sheds light on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[33053,1902,18203,73,75,74,33052,1829],"class_list":["post-230801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-in-depth","tag-penguins","tag-pirates","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-print","tag-steelers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}