Hey Mr. Smith, That NHL Team’s Nice And All That, But….

There's a lot of buzz going on right now about the un-named (at this point) team from Utah that will play in the upcoming NHL season. While the enthusiasm is understandable, hockey is going to have some ground to cover to capture the sports hearts of Utah.

And now, there's an effort being made to bring a Major League Baseball team to Utah. While that may be enticing to some, I think the proponents will also find that the Utah's sports attention is focused somewhere else.

It's really frustrating that the NBA postseason is here, and the Utah Jazz are sitting on the bench. That frustration is compounded by the results of a recent study released by Wallet Hub. It seems like Salt Lake City is one of the best cities on the country for basketball fans. In fact, it is in the top 5. More than that, it seems the entire Beehive State is basketball country.

Basketball holds the title of the second most popular sport in the U.S., just behind football. The NBA is a financial powerhouse, boasting annual revenues exceeding $10 billion. The average NBA team is valued at $3.85 billion, with revenue streams coming from ticket sales, TV partnerships, merchandise, and uniform advertising.

And it's not just NBA basketball that is getting attention. As you go down the list in to the smaller cities it is the love of college and maybe even high school basketball that is bringing Utah fans to come out

Basketball’s popularity is widespread, but what sets certain cities apart? Beyond top-performing teams and rich traditions, fan engagement is crucial. Cities that provide accessible stadiums and affordable tickets create a more vibrant basketball culture.

The Wallet Hub study considered 21 metrics in coming up with the list of the best cities for basketball fans. Those metrics included the performance of a cities NBA or Division 1 NCAA basketball teams (or both), ticket prices, stadium accessibility and more.

Salt Lake City came in at number four on the overall list. When the rankings were split into similarly population sizes, Salt Lake did even better. In the midsize city rankings (population from 100,000 to 300,000) Utah's capitol city sits at the number one position. Provo also did well in the midsize rankings showing up at number 12, enough to place them 84^th overall.

But Utah got even more love in the Wallet Hub study.

Moving into the small city category, cities under 100,000 population, Utah was well represented.

Ogden was number 60 on the small cites list and landed at number 115 overall.

The next city to show up on the list of small cities might surprise you a bit. It's Cedar City at number 76 on the small cities list and number 141 overall. We love our T-Birds, Reds and Falcons!

Next Utah city to show up on the list was Orem coming in at number 109 on the small cities list and number 203 overall. St. George was next at 134 on the small cities list and number 241 overall

Finishing up Utah's representation in the study is Logan at number 136 on the small cities list and number 243 overall. That is surprising because when the Aggies play at home it's hard to get a seat in the Spectrum.

I hope Mr. Smith has success with his NHL team here in Utah. But as it stands now, it appears basketball is the reigning champion of sports here.

Hopefully, in the not too distant future, Utah basketball fans will be rewarded by being able to watch a team still playing in June.