Minneapolis named 23rd-best sports city in country, St. Paul 8th-best hockey town

Minneapolis is a baseball town and St. Paul all hockey, according to a new study by WalletHub.

The 2016 Best Sports Cities ranked Minneapolis the 23rd-best sports city in the country, while St. Paul is No. 293.

WalletHub, a financial services company that also specializes in various studies and statistics, ranked 423 cities using 50 key metrics that included the number of local teams, their performance, fan engagement and how much money they spend.

The four professional sports teams — Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves, Lynx — based out of downtown Minneapolis and the nearby Division I college give Minnesota sports fans plenty of entertainment options to choose from in the western half of the Twin Cities.

St. Paul, home to the Wild and the St. Paul Saints, may not have as many offerings but ranked the eighth-best hockey city in the country.

Minneapolis is the 15th-best baseball city, ranked 24th in football, 42nd in hockey, 55th in basketball and 241st in soccer.

New York City is the top sports city with Boston, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Chicago rounding out the Top 5.

The top city for football fans is Green Bay, Wis. The top hockey city is Detroit.

In the U.S., nearly three quarters of all adults claim to be sports fans and spend an average of nearly eight hours per week watching their favorite sports or 11 hours playing it, according to WalletHub. Fans "cheer on teams with their wallets." The study says the North American sports industry rakes in upwards of $60 billion each year.