Maine Is One of the Worst States to Be a Fan of Sports

This isn’t to say that the fans in Maine are the worst—it’s just that Maine isn’t the most ideal state for sports fans.

And we want to be clear—yes, we absolutely recognize that sports fans here in Maine are passionate, especially when it comes to our University of Maine hockey team. But beyond that, most Mainers have to drive anywhere from 2 to 8 hours just to see a professional team, and that’s definitely less than ideal.

Read More: This Maine Town Named One of the Best for Hockey Fans in America

So, with that in mind, how can you even compare one state to another when it comes to something like this? And what exactly makes one state better for sports fans than another?

SmileHub compared all 50 states across three main areas: ‘Sports Interest & Success,’ ‘Sports Careers & Income,’ and ‘Access to Sports’—using 20 weighted metrics graded on a 100-point scale. For some metrics, they adjusted for population size using the square root of each state’s population, then averaged the results to rank the states overall.

Well, with all that in place, where does Maine rank in this recent report—and why aren’t we considered a great state for sports fans?

According to SmileHub and their recent report highlighting the ‘Best States for Sports Lovers,’ Maine ranks 44th overall. We’re 49th in ‘Sports Interest & Success,’ 27th in ‘Sports Careers & Income,’ and 49th in ‘Access to Sports.’ Maine also ranks 49th for ‘Fewest Sports & Recreation Charities per Capita’ and 47th for ‘Fewest Sports Clubs per Capita.’

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And there you have it. While the sports fans we do have here are definitely passionate, our state just doesn’t offer the same resources and opportunities that others do.

What are your thoughts on these findings from SmileHub? What can we do to improve our ranking next year? We’d love to hear from you—feel free to join the conversation by messaging us on the app.

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