Miami ranked No. 6 for football fandom

While you watch the Super Bowl on Sunday — and dream that your team might someday be in it again — you can take some solace in knowing that Miami is one of the best cities in the country for football fans.

That’s according to financial website WalletHub, which this week released a ranking of top places for college and professional pigskin followers.

Miami, home of the Dolphins and Hurricanes, scored the No. 6 spot on the list. The top five were Pittsburgh, Boston, Green Bay, Dallas and New York.

For the report, WalletHub looked at more than 244 cities in the country with “at least one college or professional team.” Researchers used 21 key metrics that included average ticket price for an NFL game, attendance, stadium accessibility and football fan engagement. The study used information from the U.S. Census Bureau, ESPN, Forbes and the NCAA. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with the score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for fans.

Local fans, of course, would prefer to see some better results on the field. The Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since 2000, while the Hurricanes have struggled to return to college football’s elite.

At No. 180, Boca Raton (home of FAU) was the only other South Florida city to rank. Other Florida cities were Tampa at No. 23, Jacksonville at No. 28, Orlando at No. 83, Daytona Beach at No. 130 and Gainesville at No. 131.