With the U.S. Men’s National Team having qualified for the FIFA World Cup this year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2022’s Best Cities for Soccer Fans. WalletHub also released its FIFA World Cup By The Numbers infographic with fun stats about the competition, available below.
Back in September, the D.C. Council approved an emergency measure that will “allow bars, restaurants, and breweries/distilleries who register for the privilege to remain open 24 hours a day during the upcoming November/December soccer World Cup, with alcoholic beverage service allowed from 6am to 4am.” Per the measure, alcohol cannot be served between 4am and 6am. The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to be the 22nd running of the FIFA World Cup competition, the quadrennial international men’s football championship contested by the senior national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022.
To find the best places for loving on the world’s favorite sport, WalletHub compared nearly 300 U.S. cities with at least one college or professional soccer team across five divisions comprising 52 key metrics. The data set ranges from minimum season-ticket price for a game to stadium accessibility to number of championship wins.
| Top 20 Cities for Soccer Fans | |
| 1. Los Angeles, CA | 11. Columbus, OH |
| 2. Seattle, WA | 12. Chicago, IL |
| 3. Portland, OR | 13. Boston, MA |
| 4. Orlando, FL | 14. Miami, FL |
| 5. Kansas City, MO | 15. Houston, TX |
| 6. Washington, DC | 16. Philadelphia, PA |
| 7. New York, NY | 17. Cary, NC |
| 8. Atlanta, GA | 18. Denver, CO |
| 9. Salt Lake City, UT | 19. Dallas, TX |
| 10. St. Paul, MN | 20. San Jose, CA |
- For MLS, Philadelphia Union’s performance level, 49.70 percent, is 3.2 times better than that of FC Cincinnati at 15.60 percent.
- For NWSL, North Carolina Courage’s performance level, 56.94 percent, is 4.6 times better than that of the Kansas City Current at 12.50 percent.
- For USL, Phoenix Rising FC’s performance level, 67.28 percent, is 3.8 times better than that of Loudoun United FC at 17.52 percent.
- Houston has the lowest minimum season-ticket price for an MLS game, $240, which is 2.6 times less expensive than in Charlotte, North Carolina, the city with the highest at $630.
- Chicago has the lowest minimum season-ticket price for an NWSL game, $134, which is 2.2 times less expensive than in San Diego, the city with the highest at $297.
- Birmingham, Alabama, and Seaside, California, have the lowest minimum season-ticket price for a USL game, $100, which is 4.3 times less expensive than in San Diego, the city with the highest at $425.
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