Five ECHL markets rank among country's best

The recently-released rankings of the top minor-league markets in the United States by Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal have a decided ECHL flavor as five of the list’s top seven markets are home to an ECHL team.

Leading the way for ECHL markets is Greenville, South Carolina, which comes in second after ranking 34th in 2015 and ninth in the last rankings in 2017. Charleston, South Carolina ranks third, moving up one spot since the previous rankings. Toledo, Ohio, which was rated the top market in 2013, second in 2015 and fifth in 2017, earned fourth place. Fort Wayne, Indiana ranked sixth while Tulsa, Oklahoma was rated seventh.

Other ECHL markets rated in the top 50 markets in the country include Boise, Idaho (26th), Fort Myers-Estero, Florida (30th) and Norfolk, Virginia (43rd).

"It is an exciting honor to see so many of our teams and markets rank in the recent SBJ top Minor League markets survey," said ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin. "These rankings emphasize the ECHL's commitment to focusing on family-affordable entertainment and the importance our teams play in the the communities we serve."

This is the eighth time that SportsBusiness Journal has produced its rankings of the top minor-league markets in the country. Each market's score is the result of three category-specific measures: tenure rank, attendance rank and economic rank.

For additional, detailed information about how the ratings were calculated visit www.sportsbusinessjournal.com.