Raleigh ranked No. 18 in 'sports obsession'

All those packed houses at Carter-Finley Stadium and the RBC Center apparently haven’t gone unnoticed.

Men’s Health Magazine ranked Raleigh as the No. 18 sports-obsessed city in the United States. The ranking of 100 major U.S. cities appears in the July/August issue of the magazine.

The magazine counted how many people in a given city attend college and professional baseball, basketball and football games in a given city. NASCAR attendance, the number of people vying for sports tickets and team apparel and the number of fans calling themselves foam-finger-waving fanatics also was taken into account, according to a news release from Men’s Health.

Arlington, Texas, was rated No. 1, followed by Aurora, Colo.; Colorado Springs; Indianapolis, and Columbus, Ohio. Miami was ranked last in the survey.

In the Carolinas, Charlotte (No. 9) was the only city rated ahead of Raleigh. Durham (33), Greensboro (35) and Columbia (83) also were included in the rankings.

Raleigh’s passion for college sports and the Carolina Hurricanes couldn’t have hurt. But civic leaders in the state capital shouldn’t boast too much about the ranking.

Such thriving sports fantasy destinations as Anchorage, Alaska (10), Manchester, N.H. (11), and Sioux Falls, S.D. (17), were ranked ahead of Raleigh.

Here is the complete list:

1, Arlington, TX, A+; 2, Aurora, CO, A+; 3, Colorado Springs, CO, A+; 4, Indianapolis, IN, A; 5, Columbus, OH, A-; 6, Jacksonville, FL, A-; 7, Forth Worth, TX, B+; 8, Dallas, TX, B+; 9, Charlotte, NC, B+; 10, Anchorage, AK, B+.

11, Manchester, NH, B+; 12, San Diego, CA, B+; 13, Denver, CO, B+; 14, Seattle, WA, B+; 15, Lexington, KY, B+; 16, Boise, ID, B; 17, Sioux Falls, SD, B; 18, Raleigh, NC, B; 19, San Antonio, TX, B; 20, Riverside, CA, B-.

21, Des Moines, IA, B-; 22, Fremont, CA, B-; 23, Lincoln, NE, B-; 24, Kansas City, MO, B-; 25, San Jose, CA, B-; 26, Oklahoma City, OK, B-; 27, Chicago, IL, B-; 28, Phoenix, AZ, B-; 29, Omaha, NE B-; 30, Austin, TX, B-.

31, Boston, MA, B-; 32, Nashville, TN, B-; 33, Durham, NC, C+; 34, Madison, WI, C+; 35, Greensboro, NC, C+; 36, Las Vegas, NV, C+; 37, Cheyenne, WY, C+; 38, Washington, DC, C+; 39, San Francisco, CA, C+; 40, St. Paul, MN, C.

41, Houston, TX, C; 42, Pittsburgh, PA, C; 43, Corpus Christi, TX, C; 44, Toledo, OH, C; 45, Montgomery, AL, C; 46, Anaheim, CA, C; 47, Buffalo, NY, C; 48, Minneapolis, MN, C; 49, Fargo, ND, C; 50, Providence, RI, C-.

51, Tulsa, OK, C-; 52, Fort Wayne, IN, C-; 53, Honolulu, HI, C-; 54, Billings, MT, C-; 55, Salt Lake City, UT, C-; 56, Detroit, MI, C-; 57, Louisville, KY, D+; 58, Memphis, TN, D+; 59, Milwaukee, WI, D+; 60, Wichita, KS, D+.

61, Baltimore, MD, D+; 62, Albuquerque, NM, D+; 63, Atlanta, GA, D+; 64, Charleston, WV, D+; 65, Oakland, CA, D+; 66, St. Louis, MO, D+; 67, Spokane, WA, D+; 68, Yonkers, NY, D+; 69, Cincinnati, OH, D+; 70, Birmingham, AL, D+.

71, Burlington, VT, D+; 72, El Paso, TX, D+; 73, Lubbock, TX, D+; 74, Little Rock, AR, D+; 75, Portland, OR, D; 76, Jackson, MS, D; 77, Bakersfield, CA, D; 78, Wilmington, DE, D; 79, Modesto, CA, D; 80, Baton Rouge, LA, D.

81, Cleveland, OH, D; 82, Bangor, ME, D; 83, Columbia, SC, D; 84, Rochester, NY, D; 85, Philadelphia, PA, D-; 86, Jersey City, NJ, D-; 87, Tampa, FL, D-; 88, New York, NY, D-; 89, St. Petersburg, FL, D-; 90, Norfolk, VA, D-.

91, Los Angeles, CA, D-; 92, Richmond, VA, D-; 93, Grand Rapids, MI, F; 94, Tuscon, AZ, F; 95, Sacramento, CA, F; 96, Orlando, FL, F; 97, Hartford, CT, F; 98, Fresno, CA, F; 99, Newark, NJ, F; 100, Miami, FL, F.