AUSTIN, Texas — Austin FC fans, look away: Austin was excluded from a new study as one of the best cities to be a soccer fan in the U.S.
A new study by WalletHub has found that Austin is in fact not the home for some of the best fans for soccer. However, Houston and Dallas made the list as 15th and 19th, respectively.
The study compared upwards of 300 cities across the U.S. with a minimum of one college or professional soccer team across five decisions and upwards of 52 metrics. Some of those metrics include minimum season-ticket prices for home games, accessibility at the stadium for all fans and the number of championship wins the team garners.
Within the study, there were different measurements, but Austin didn't rank highly for any of them. The main ranking, the "Best Soccer Cities in the U.S.," labeled Austin at No. 24 and the rankings only get worse from there.
Austin's beloved MLS team, Austin FC, was labeled as one of the "worst-performing MLS teams" in the U.S. Austin FC was ranked at No. 19, even though the team propelled themselves, in a historic move, to the MLS Western Conference Final in Los Angeles against LAFC.
Furthermore, according to the study, Austin has one of the highest minimum season-ticket prices for MLS games, with the city coming in at No. 20.
But the most offensive ranking toward Austin FC fans would have to be how engaged MLS fans are. The study says Austin is one of the least engaged cities for all MLS fans, with a ranking of 22 out of 23.
This study comes right after a historic season for Austin FC, where the team was ranked as No. 2 in the MLS in its second year of existence. This was a 10-position jump from where they were last year.
Although Austin FC lost to LAFC in the Western Conference Final, 3-0, fans support them throughout the season, without missing a beat. From selling out Q2 stadium for the playoffs – 36 nights in a row – to flying into Austin and waiting outside the stadium for nine hours before the match began, Austin FC fans continued to show up for their team.
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