Greenville named country's top minor league market

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 seven of the list’s top 10 markets are home to an ECHL team.

Leading the way for ECHL markets is Greenville, South Carolina, which has been named the top minor league market in the country. Portland, Maine - which was the top market in the last rankings in 2024 - was second this year with Charleston, South Carolina earning the third spot. Reading, Pennsylvania was ranked fifth; followed by Toledo, Ohio in sixth; Fort Wayne, Indiana in eighth and Tulsa, Oklahoma ninth.

"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 11th 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.