Philadelphia Ranked As One Of The Best Cities For Hockey Fans

With October right around the corner, the Flyers have officially started their season training camp at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, New Jersey. We are just over two weeks away from their first game of the season vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets. But how does Philly compare to other cities for hockey fans?

WalletHub published their 2023 best cities for hockey fans, and Philadelphia finished among the best. “We ranked 75 U.S. cities based on 21 key indicators of a good hockey city,” WalletHub explained. Within those categories examined, their data focuses on everything from ticket prices to team performances in the NHL and NCAA.

Before we look at what made Philadelphia one of the best cities for hockey fans, let’s identify some of the other factors to consider here. To start, even youth hockey has already started in Pennsylvania. In fact, in some regions, the kids start hockey before the NHL season begins. This is relevant because it emphasizes how the sport is arguably promoted to up-and-coming players for a longer period of time throughout the year than any other sport.

Then, there are the benefits to the northeast winter conditions. In addition to rinks, there are frozen ponds and public spaces for players to jump on and practice their skating skills.

Overall, Philadelphia finished with a score of 56.09 in WalletHub’s analysis. This edged out Detroit (#3) by a significant margin (Boston finished first). In addition to the Flyers, Michigan is well-represented in the NCAA rinks. Penn State University, Robert Morris University, and Mercyhurst University all have solid division one programs.

Finally, the NHL Winter Classic was also held at Citizens Bank Park in 2012. It was the second time the Flyers appeared in this big game.

For the 2023-2024 season, the Flyers are calling it a "new era of orange." After two games on the road to start the season, the Flyers will have their home opener on Tuesday, October 17 vs. the Vancouver Canucks. This will be the first official chance for hockey fans in the region to show why Philadelphia is one of the best cities for hockey in the country.

This past weekend, I spent many hours with youth football players that range from age 10 - 12 years old. My son is a youth player, and  I noticed at least six different NFL jerseys being worn by him and his teammates. This led me to wonder, who are kids' favorite NFL quarterbacks today?

I was reminiscing about which athletes kids looked up to when I was 10 years-old. It was simple. Your favorite player was typically one of the stars on your favorite (usually hometown) team. Occasionally, a universal big name like Joe Montana would jump into the mix. However, many of the big Montana fans I knew growing up in New Jersey were then San Francisco 49ers fans. This was usually due to their admiration of Montana. I don't see that to frequently be the case today.

It is not uncommon for kids to gravitate more towards specific players now as opposed to an overall team. There are two main reasons why I find this to be the modern way of fandom for youth today.

First is fantasy football. In fantasy football, you cheer for individual players. The team winning or losing doesn't matter, the player on your team putting up big numbers does. It's great for the NFL to have kids intently invested with so many games per week.

Second, players are digitally accessible. Meaning, you can engage differently with a player much more in our social media universe. Players share a glimpse into their lives and who they are off the field. The NFL as a league leaned into this a partnered with TikTok back in 2019 to give fans even more content.

It's a question with many answers. 30 years ago I would have said, "I love Phil Simms because he is the New York Giants' fearless leader." I asked 30 local youth athletes this as a follow-up question upon them naming their favorite NFL quarterback. Often the answer was related to the Quarterback's persona. Their style of play, their personality, and even their jersey number was mentioned.

So tallying up the 30 youth football players I asked, here are the kids' favorite NFL quarterbacks that are active today.

Hurts received 10% of the votes. A year ago, I don't believe his name would have been mentioned. However, Hurts skyrocketed last year and brought the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl. He showcased a fast style of play where he could run just as well as he throws. Kids love someone who takes the media world by storm. Furthermore, Hurts wears #1, and this has become an increasingly popular jersey number.

Being on the cover of Madden certainly helps. Allen's quaterback style is similar to Hurts' in that he too can use his legs. Seven kids named Allen (who is not a huge force on social media) their favorite because of his character. He plays ever game like it's his last. My neighbor said, "It feels like every game the is the Super Bowl when Allen is leading the Bills offense on a drive down the field." It's a fair point. Allen dives and scraps for every single yard, and the kids are seeing it and reacting to that.

"Joe Cool" is not his nickname, but it should be. Here's a great example of TikTok and shorts influencing youth player today. My son still watches the clip of Burrow throwing a spinning 50-yard, no-look pass perfectly down the sideline, from warmup last season. Burrow has an edge. He has confidence. Furthermore, he's as good as they come. Burrow is the modern quarterback who has the skill set of a historical, prototypical QB. His black, orange, and white jersey is also pretty Joe "cool." He received eight votes.

#15 got the most votes with 12, and is the clear #1 among the group of kids that I spoke to. Mahomes is a brand unto himself. He has his own style of play. He is innovative and his coach Andy Reid allows him to implement plays that people have never seen run before. "Mahomes is just in another league," my son said. "And he wins." His two Super Bowl rings also sit beside his two MVP awards. "We see that what Mahomes does, actually works," another youth player said. He has a valid point.