Philly Sports Smack Talk Among Nation's Best: Study

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia sports fans are known for their passion and fervor.

But a new study shows they aren't even in the top 25 fandoms for smack talking.

Online language learning service Preply recently examined which city's fans have the best smack talk.

Preply considered seven data points across three categories: sports hub reputation, competitiveness, and smack talkers on social media.

With these data points, each town was given a total score for smack talk, with the best score for smack talking being 100.

With all factors considered, Philadelphia was No. 26.

Philadelphia earned a smack talk score of 56.5, better than Kansas City at talking smack and the national average at 42.4.

Kansas City came in at No. 37, with a smack talk score of 48.2, positioning it as a weaker city at smack talking.

New York City was ranked the best sports city for smack talk, the most competitive sports city, the top sports hub, and the sports city with the most smack talkers in the US

Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, was listed as the worst sports city for smack talk in the nation.

Here are the 10 best (and meanest) smack-talk cities:

1. New York
2. Chicago
3. Los Angeles
4. Washington
5. Dallas
6. Boston
7. Detroit
8. Pittsburgh
9. Cleveland
10. Green Bay

Here are the 10 worst (and weakest) cities at smack-talk:

1. Lewisburg
2. Fayette
3. Orono
4. Williamsburg
5. Starkville
6. Lynchburg
7. Itta Bena
8. Statesboro
9. Morgantown
10. Richmond

"The cities with the best smack talkers and at the top of our ranking know that smack talk in football is a science," Amy Pritchett, Language Director of Preply, said. "But it's all part of the game and a competitive strategy to help them win! Fans know that the best trash talk has the potential to ruin their opponent's game. It can make them feel inferior, take away their will to win, or make them want to win too much. Make sure to distinguish the best smack talkers from the ones who do it the most. Both players and fans cross the line and perhaps get too intense, making it go from good trash-talking to insanity. Some of the best smack talkers ever also happen to be some of the best athletes to roam the planet, and this is not a coincidence."

See the full ranking online here.