A new study says Dallas is one of the best US cities for football fans
Dallas is a great place to be if you’re a football fan — at least, according to one new study.
WalletHub found that the second-best city for football in the U.S. is Dallas, thanks to the Dallas Cowboys (even though they play in Arlington).
Pittsburgh, home to the Steelers and the Pitt Panthers, ranked first in WalletHub’s study.
The Cowboys are worth $10.1 billion dollars, but they aren’t the only professional sports team in the D-FW Metroplex. There’s also the Dallas Mavericks (who just traded Luka Doncic), FC Dallas, Dallas Trinity FC, the Texas Super Kings, the Dallas Stars, the Dallas Wings and the 2023 World Series champions, Texas Rangers.
But football’s popularity on TV outranks any other sport, which is why WalletHub put together a study to find the best U.S. cities for football fans. The study compared 250 cities with either a professional or college football team, based on data from sources like the U.S. Census Bureau, ESPN, NCAA and Fanalytics..
“Dallas Cowboys are still one of the most popular teams in terms of ticket sales and fan engagement despite not having played in a Super Bowl since they last won it all in the 1995-96 season,” says the study.
Despite the Cowboys’ below-average performance in the 2025 season, this is why WalletHub says Dallas is still one of the best cities for football fans.
Why is Dallas the No. 2-best city for football fans?
The WalletHub study looked at 21 categories, including each city’s number of NFL teams in the area, number of Super Bowl wins, number of conference championships, number of head coaches, average ticket price to a game and fan engagement.
Even though the Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1996, they are still tied with the San Francisco 49ers for the second-most Super Bowl wins, at five. The team also has 26 NFC championship titles.
And despite many Cowboys fans’ disdain toward team owner Jerry Jones, the energy stays alive for their beloved team.
ESPN reported Dallas had the most NFL attendance during the 2024 season, with an overall`1.4 million fans attending home and away games. Their average home game attendance at AT&T Stadium was 92,972, which is overwhelming considering that the stadium seats 80,000 (105,000 fans can attend with standing room).
Fans from all over Texas, and the world, go to games to cheer on star players like quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. Prescott is the richest-paid player in the history of the NFL. Lamb’s recent contract extension was the second-richest contract in NFL history given to a non-quarterback.