Local sports fans may have to ask themselves, 'Does
Sporting News actually know anything about sports?'
A little more than a month after
SportsBusiness Journal named Harrisburg/Hershey the top minor league sports market in the nation, the same two mid-state communities couldn't even make a top-300 showing in another ranking compiled by
Sporting News.
Sporting News released its annual "Best Sports City" list on Tuesday and Hershey finished 317th, while Harrisburg came in at number 326.
Other locales like York, Lancaster, Lebanon and Chambersburg did not make the list of 399 cities. Lewisburg was #243.
Pittsburgh, thanks to its Super Bowl champion Steelers and Stanley Cup-winning Penguins, was ranked first. Philadelphia came in second.
When told of Hershey's low ranking, Bears play-by-play announcer John Walton sounded stunned.
"Obviously they've never seen the passion of the fans in this region, and in Hershey, specifically," Walton wrote in a email to CBS 21 News Sports Director Jason Bristol. "That's a pretty astounding oversight, with almost 9,000 fans coming out every night last year to Giant Center."
"We'd invite any representative from their publication to a game here, and see if they'd like to change their mind."
Numerous Pennsylvania cities faired better than Hershey and Harrisburg, including: State College (#48), Bethlehem (#218), Easton (#254), Scranton-Wilkes-Barre (#261), Loretto (#271), Erie (#272), Long Pond (#279), and Allentown (#297).
"(Harrisburg's ranking) boggles my mind," added Randy Whitaker, the general manager of the Harrisburg Senators.
According to the publication's website, past
Sporting News' Best Sports City rankings, have been based on point values assigned to various categories, including but not limited to won-lost records, postseason appearances, applicable power ratings, number of teams and attendance.
Interestingly, Richmond, Virginia, placed 138th on the
Sporting News list, despite finishing dead last (#238) in the
SBJ rankings.
