WalletHub recently released its rankings for the Best Sports Cities of 2017 — calculating which metro areas large and small best cater to sports fans catching as much action as possible. Given its large number of teams across the five major professional sports leagues, plus college basketball and football, it’s no surprise to see Los Angeles all the way up at No. 3 for the year.

While WalletHub didn’t get precise around exactly how the grades are calculated, it’s a mix of the in-person viewing experience, number of teams, relocated franchises, digital connectivity, and affordability (among other factors).

Photo by Jim Epler

Overall, LA was not too far behind leaders Boston and New York, but the primary advantage for those cities is a mix of proximity and ease of public transportation to and from stadiums. Los Angeles was still very far ahead of the next-best sports city, Pittsburgh, creating a clear “top tier” followed by everyone else.

Broken down by sport, LA was first overall in basketball, third in baseball and soccer, 20th in hockey, and 22nd in football. Only teams that play in the actual city of Los Angeles were added to LA’s total. That list would include:

  • Baseball: Los Angeles Dodgers, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans
  • Basketball: Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Sparks, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans
  • Football: Los Angeles Rams, USC Trojans
  • Hockey: Los Angeles Kings
  • Soccer: Los Angeles Galaxy, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans

Los Angeles was not the only city in the area to be ranked on the list, either. Anaheim (Los Angeles Angels, Anaheim Ducks) was 54th in terms of large cities, and Long Beach (Long Beach State 49ers) followed closely behind in 55th. Pasadena, home of the UCLA Bruins football team, was 67th in terms of mid-size cities. Irvine (UC Irvine) came in 68th in that group, while Fullerton (Cal State Fullerton Titans) was 76th.