San Jose Ranked As 2nd Worst Baseball Town In America In Study We Can't Really Explain
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) - Here's a ranking we just don't get. Researchers over at WalletHub say San Jose - which has been working for years to land a Major League Baseball team - is among the worst baseball towns in the country. Meanwhile, up the 280 freeway, fans are enjoying some of the best baseball conditions at Stanford, according to a writeup from the personal finance analysis group.
"WalletHub analyzed 272 of the most populated U.S. cities based on 11 key metrics...we chose cities with at least one college baseball or Major League Baseball team," WalletHub explains.
The goal essentially appears getting a strong team while also getting a good value in an enjoyable environment.
Scores were given based on the performance of existing teams, which was counted as Major League Baseball or Division 1 programs and factored in the franchise value and the last three seasons of success, including championships.
An equal weight was given to the a second combination of factors which included the price of attending games, the number of available sports bars, Facebook likes, attendance and stadium access.
Based on that criteria, San Jose - which would have been judged only on the San Jose State program - was rated the 271st city in which to be a baseball fan, beating out only Providence, Rhode Island in the ranking. That's a full 200 spots behind Troy, Alabama - OUCH. The team ranked dead last in "cost and fan engagement." But a quick search on the SJSU website indicates that tickets to games there are only $5.
"Data used to create these rankings were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Team Marketing Report, ESPN, MLB, NCAA.org, Yelp, MultiChannel.com and each teams' website," says WalletHub.
Stanford ranks as the 12th, most successful program with the 20th best value, for a combined national rank as the 6th best town for baseball. St. Louis ranks first on both of the metrics, and was named the best baseball town by the study.
The overall number 8 city, Oakland, beat out number 14 San Francisco, largely because they earned a higher team success score than franchise that has won three of the last five World Series. Hmm. The Giants actually scored higher in the affordability component (22nd) than on team performance (32nd). Oakland baseball ranks well behind San Francisco on affordability, which will come as a bit of a shock if you've attended a Giants or A's game in the last decade.
Check out the full study here if you want to try and make sense of the rankings.
