The Bachelor Guy » Top 10 Best Tailgating Cities

Top 10 Best Tailgating Cities - And the Other 22

09/11/2007

The NFL season has officially started and that means thousands of fans will take to stadium parking lots across the country with grills fired up, coolers packed with beer, and spatulas in hand. It's time for serious tailgating. And for the first time ever we've got the America's Best Football Tailgating Cities Index - a ranking of the "tailgating friendliness" of the 31 U.S. cities that host an NFL franchise, plus NFL-hopeful-once-again Los Angeles.

Ranking criteria included: stadium parking lots (lot sizes, fees, accessibility, hours of operation and special facilities and programs for tailgaters), overall tailgating environment and tailgating-fan enthusiasm.

Coming out on top, with high scores in all categories, is a city usually known for its crab bakes and bruising defense - Baltimore. Rounding out the top 5 were Denver (it's better mile high), Houston (happy to have a semi-decent team again), San Diego (sunny, 72 degree weather, and LT), and Cincinnati (the police are too busy dealing with the players to worry about what you're doing).

And where are the worst places in the country to set up your grill? Seattle came in dead last, with Detroit (31), St. Louis (30), New Orleans (29) and Atlanta (28) filling out the bottom five. (Note to Seattle, Detroit and St. Louis: You've got to work really hard to come in behind a city still rebuilding after getting devastated by a hurricane.)

A group of "tailgating experts" who visited every NFL stadium - including Joe Cahn, the self-proclaimed "Commissioner of Tailgating," and the creators of the "Ultimate Sports Road Trip" - worked with satellite TV provider DIRECTV and KVH Industries, a manufacturer of live mobile satellite TV systems for cars, to create the Index. Their complete rankings are below:

AMERICA'S BEST FOOTBALL TAILGATING CITIES INDEX

1. Baltimore
2. Denver
3. Houston
4. San Diego
5. Cincinnati
6. Miami
7. Tampa
8. Kansas City
9. Buffalo
10. Philadelphia (tied)
10. Phoenix (tied)
12. Washington, D.C.
13. Green Bay
14. Jacksonville
15. Oakland
16. Indianapolis
17. Nashville
18. New York (tied)
18. Pittsburgh (tied)
18. Boston (tied)
21. San Francisco
22. Cleveland
23. Charlotte
24. Los Angeles
25. Minneapolis
26. Dallas
27. Chicago
28. Atlanta
29. New Orleans
30. St. Louis
31. Detroit
32. Seattle

SPORTS

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Comments

RICH wrote:

THERE REALLY ISN'T ANYWHERE TO TAILGATE IN SEATTLE, BECAUSE THE PARTIES ARE RESERVED FOR THE BREWERY AND PIONEER SQUARE'S BAR'S...

09/11/2007 05:54 PM

tree wrote:

Uh, when did LA get a team?

09/13/2007 08:12 AM

Mikey O. wrote:

This guy better get another job. L.A. ? Boston? I've been to Foxboro and The Meadowlands many times and I challenge any city to rival the food in both of those parking lots!

09/13/2007 09:17 AM

Davis wrote:

Foxboro should be in the top ten

09/14/2007 05:41 AM

Harry York wrote:

The simple fact that Kansas City and Green Bay aren't in the top five makes this list just shy of worthless. I highly doubt all the cities and their respective stadiums were visited by the reviewers of this list. The order of this list appears to have been compiled by blindly throwing darts at a board.

09/14/2007 06:17 AM

Rich C wrote:

How is Baltimore number 1? This list has to be a joke. There isn't any real place to tailgate in Baltimore. you have to park your cars in parking garages. If you want to go to a real tailgating stadium go to Fedex field where the Redskins play. 90,000 people can't go wrong. More tailgating than a Jimmy Buffett concert. All my buddies that are Ravens fans say that Redskins tailgating blows the sorry ass Ravens tailgating away! Go Redskins

09/14/2007 06:59 AM

Bear wrote:

He must have confused Los Angeles with the other "New York" team, both of which play in New Jersey as I recall. The only one that may be close is Detroit, did you ever try to tailgate in downtown Detroit? No way.

09/14/2007 01:12 PM

Rock City wrote:

I tailgate in Detroit all the time. Great experience. If you're afraid and don't own a pair like Bear, stay away. We grill the weak.

09/17/2007 10:25 AM

Philly Birds wrote:

Philadelphia, Green Bay, Oakland, Chicago, and Kansas City should be the top 5 in this order. These people don't know what they're talking about

09/17/2007 01:40 PM

Tomtom wrote:

Gotta agree, Baltimore is the place for tailgating. Plenty of parking lots, and an easy walk to the bars in Federal Hill and the clubs and restaurants near the beautiful harbor. Better than going to a stadium in the suburbs!

09/17/2007 03:07 PM

adam wrote:

obviously you fools haven't tailgated in buffalo, if you had, then you'd know it's number one

10/24/2007 01:22 PM

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