We’re No. 1: Portland tops the US in ranking of minor-league sports towns

Photo / Jim Neuger The Maine Mariners defend their goal en route to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Reading (Pa.) Royals at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Jan. 21, 2024.

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By Renee Cordes

Home to three pro athletic teams and a fourth preparing to debut, Portland now ranks as the country's best city for minor league sports.

In a ranking published this week and every two years since 2005, Sports Business Journal has selected the nation's top minor league sports markets. Maine's largest city has displaced Charleston, S.C., which received top billing in 2022 when Portland was No. 71.

Portland had previously placed as high as No. 5 in 2011, and remained in the top 15 until 2015. Since the Maine Mariners hockey team skated into town, Portland has moved up the list each cycle, according SBJ figures cited by the team.

It just started its sixth season in the ECHL league and first under new owner Dexter Paine, a New York financier with New Hampshire roots.

"Ask the area's team staffs, venue operators, municipal employees and sports business executives in the city and throughout the country to tell a story of Portland sports, and it's almost as if everyone is reading from the same lineup card," David Broughton writes in the article for the SBJ, a widely read source of global sports marketing news.

"Portland is about a community whose teams ... are intricately connected to each other and to their parent clubs barely 100 miles away in Boston, and whose employees are devout New Englanders who respect their roles as caretakers of a community treasure," the piece continues. "It's about heart."

Broughton also notes that one of the teams, the Portland Hearts of Pine soccer squad, has already "captured the city's hearts" before even playing a game.

The Hearts, who will compete in the USL League One starting in March 2025, have a waitlist for season tickets after selling out of their initial allotment.

The Sea Dogs baseball team is the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, while the Maine Mariners have been affiliated with the Boston Bruins since 2021. The Maine Red Claws, the G League basketball team purchased by the Boston Celtics in 2019, were rebranded as the Maine Celtics in 2021.

Adam Goldberg, president and CEO of the Mariners, welcomed the recognition for his team's home base.

"Mainers have an incredible passion for sports and supporting their community as a whole," he told Mainebiz.

"There is also the reoccurring comment of 'I can’t wait to come back here' from the thousands of visitors every year,” he said. "I am happy that the team staff is getting recognition for all the hard work they have put in."

'Building a brand'

The SBJ's Portland spotlight was welcomed by Maine-based sports marketing executives including Brian Corcoran, founder of Shamrock Sports & Entertainment, the Portland-based organizer of the annual Drive For Kids celebrity golf tournament.

"I felt Portland, ME, stood a good chance to rise in the annual rankings of top minor league markets in 2024," Corcoran told Mainebiz. "The strategic alignment of our minor league affiliations with Boston-based major league entities opens hearts and wallets of fans and sponsors."

"While the Celtics, Mariners and Sea Dogs have provided top-tier rankings over the years, the addition of Hearts of Pine provides the perfect storm of community and economic impact to launch Portland to No. 1 on SBJ’s coveted list," he added.

"The X factor, as we have seen with our own Drive Fore Kids celebrity golf tournament, is the pride of Mainers. As we like to say, open hearts and you open wallets — the power of ME!"

Greg Glynn, founder and CEO of Pliable Marketing and a longtime sports broadcaster, was equally enthusiastic.

"Having traveled to many different minor league markets when I was with the Portland Pirates, this is a well-deserved recognition for the city of Portland," he said. "The recognition also celebrates our passionate sports fans across the state. Minor league teams need the support of the fans to come to the games. This happens when the team and front office staff build a culture where players are involved in their community and connect with fans.

"The key to a great minor league franchise is building a brand around the team of people and players who are part of the organization," Glynn added.

"All the teams in Portland do a great job of giving back to the community and building relationships for the athletes with the fans,” he noted. “We are very fortunate to have great leadership with the franchises in Portland. They understand this has to be part of their business model."