Rangers Captain, the baseball team’s mascot, pulls out the broom Wednesday night after Texas swept the Astros. Just the latest example of why Dallas is, indeed, a top sports city in America! (DMN Photo)
Whatever North Texas team(s) logo adorns your cap, you might want to tip it to this great news: We’ve just been named the #3 sports town in America.
As so often happens, the city of Dallas gets the headlining distinction — even though many of the homes of teams included in the kudos, whether that be TCU in Fort Worth or the Cowboys and Rangers in Arlington, are outside Dallas city limits.
Whatever. We all win when we capture top billing above perennial sports hubs like New York, Washington, Philadelphia and even Pittsburgh. Not to mention sports paradises such as San Francisco and Seattle — where it would be a lot more pleasant to be at this very moment than the 100-degree oven we’re roasting in.
The list comes courtesy of Sports Illustrated FanSided, which credited not just our professional teams but the city’s non-professional sports as well. (Here’s what our own SportsDay DFW had to say about it.) And a lot of the credit must go to the Death Star, aka AT&T Stadium:
“AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, has become host to a slew of big events as well. WrestleMania 32 will take place there. The stadium has hosted boxing events, including those of superstar Manny Pacquiao to crowds of around 50,000 people. The stadium has also played host to the Super Bowl, the first ever College Football Playoff National Championship Game and the Final Four. The Gold Cup has played knockout round games at the stadium as well.”
Fansided managing editor Mike Dyce explained the ranking criteria like so. For the impatient, here’s an excerpt:
… Sports is magical. But some cities are more fortunate than others when it comes to sports. Not every city shares the same sports culture, the winning ways of their respective franchises.
What we’re trying to do here is give an objective look into identifying the best sports towns in the United States. This isn’t limited to strictly professional sports franchises and includes sporting events as well as college athletics.
The only thing as good as sweeping the Astros twice — and actually catching the faintest scent of the second wild card spot – is crushing Houston in a list like this. Houston came in at #12 — and, heck, Austin, which doesn’t even have a pro teams that I can think of, finished #25. (Hook ‘em, Coach Strong and Longhorns.)
OK, so Boston and Chicago edged us out for the #1 and #2 spots. But there’s always next year to move on up. Jerry just needs to book a few more sports extravaganzas at the Death Star.
Eat our (infield) dust, Houston!
