The 2026 Tailgating Index: The Best Tailgating Spots in the US and Canada 🍁

Nobody else is close on scale. Texas is the only state to max out the accessibility pillar, with 15 NFL and FBS programs spread from Arlington to Lubbock, and it ties California for the highest raw search volume in the country at 8,100 tailgating searches a month. Southern grocery prices keep the food affordable even as beer runs slightly above the national norm. Between the Cowboys, the Texans and a dozen college programs, there is a tailgate somewhere in this state nearly every weekend of the fall.

Tennessee wins the passion pillar outright. At 32.81 tailgating searches per 100,000 residents, no state comes close, with 2,400 monthly searches from a population under 7.4 million. Five programs, including the Titans and a Neyland Stadium scene that spills onto the Tennessee River, keep the calendar full. Beer is the weak spot at $24.03 a case, one of the priciest in the South, but cheap Southern meat prices pull the affordability score back to respectable.

The best argument in this entire index that you do not need a lot of teams to have a great tailgate. Nebraska has exactly one FBS program and no NFL franchise, which drops its accessibility score to 6.67, and it still finishes third. The reason is a near-perfect combination of the cheapest propane in the country at $1.64 a gallon, a $7.71 tank fill, and 29.24 searches per 100,000 people, second only to Tennessee. Saturdays in Lincoln carry an entire state.

Minnesota is the most balanced state in the top five. It ranks eighth nationally for affordability, fourth for per-capita fan interest, and manages all of that in a climate where November tailgating is a genuine endurance sport. Cheap propane at $2.06 a gallon matters more here than almost anywhere. With the Vikings and the Golden Gophers both in the Twin Cities, the tailgating scene is concentrated but intense.

Florida is the accessibility play. Ten NFL and FBS programs give the Sunshine State the third-densest football map in America, and with beer at $18.59 a case and the South's low meat prices, stocking a cooler here is cheaper than in 40 other states. Per-capita search interest is middling at 18.75 per 100,000, held down by a huge population, but 4,400 monthly searches in raw terms is fourth-highest nationally.

The highest-ranking state on the Eastern Seaboard, and a genuine surprise. Virginia posts the third-best per-capita search interest in the country at 27.03 per 100,000, ahead of Colorado, ahead of Georgia and ahead of every SEC state except Tennessee. Five programs spread across the Commonwealth give fans plenty of Saturdays to fill. Expensive propane at $3.56 a gallon is the main drag on its score.

The best state in the West by a wide margin, with a 58.15 score that sits more than nine points clear of California in second. Broncos Sundays in Denver and Buffaloes Saturdays in Boulder generate 26.61 searches per 100,000 residents, fifth nationally, and cheap propane at $2.30 a gallon offsets the West's higher meat prices. Add the scenery and Colorado earns its reputation as the most pleasant place in America to spend six hours in a parking lot.

Illinois is the cheapest place in America to buy beer for a tailgate at $16.43 a case, the lowest of any state, and it pairs that with $2.03 propane for the fourth-best affordability score in the index. Four programs including the Bears and Illinois keep the lots active. Per-capita interest is modest, but in a state where the basics cost this little, the barrier to throwing a tailgate is about as low as it gets.

North Dakota finishes ninth on 170 monthly searches, which tells you everything about how small the state is and how much those 170 searches mean. With fewer than 800,000 residents, that works out to 21.27 per 100,000, better than Georgia. Combine it with the nation's third-cheapest propane at $1.70 a gallon and you get a state that overperforms enormously for its size.

Georgia rounds out the top ten as the most well-rounded state in the Deep South. Six programs, including the Falcons, Georgia and Georgia Tech, give fans real variety, and 2,400 monthly searches show sustained interest. Nothing here is elite in isolation, but nothing is weak either, which is how a state finishes tenth without leading a single category.

Montreal wins on cost, and it is not close. Beer runs $1.69 a can, the cheapest in the league, and the meat basket averages $10.65 per kilogram. Both are best in country, giving the Alouettes a 72.60 affordability score that no other market approaches. Four teams inside the CMA, the Als plus three university programs, deliver the highest team density in Canada. Percival Molson sits on the slope of Mount Royal with McGill's campus lots around it, and at $18.08 average parking, the whole package lands cheaper than Toronto or Calgary.

TD Place is the most conveniently located tailgate in the country. Lansdowne Park puts 62 lots and 15,403 spaces within reach at an average of $12.43, less than half Toronto's rate, and Ottawa's 89.63 fan passion score reflects consistently warm reviews across all three platforms we tracked. Three teams in the region and a walkable Glebe neighbourhood spillover make this the best balance of cost and convenience outside Montreal.

The cheapest parking in the CFL at $9.60 a spot, and the second-highest sentiment score in the league at 92.33. Commonwealth Stadium's surrounding grid offers 59 lots and nearly 14,000 spaces, and Alberta's liquor pricing keeps beer at $2.20 a can. Edmonton's ceiling is capped only by team density, with two teams in the metro, but for a fan actually showing up on a Saturday, few places are easier or cheaper.

The purest fan passion in North America. Regina posts a perfect 100 on the passion pillar, with 90.32% positive TripAdvisor sentiment and 86.09% on Google Maps, the highest raw sentiment average of any market in this index and from the smallest city in it. What holds Saskatchewan back is pure supply. There are 5,939 parking spaces near Mosaic Stadium, second-fewest in the league, for a fanbase that routinely fills the building. Cheap parking at $8.54 barely matters if there is nowhere left to put the truck.

Toronto generates more tailgating search interest than the rest of Canada combined, with 1,600 monthly searches against 880 for second-place Montreal, and BMO Field reviews are among the most positive in the league. It finishes fifth anyway, because tailgating in Toronto is expensive. At $25.95, average parking near BMO is the priciest in Canada and nearly three times Regina's, dropping the Argos to a league-worst 14.65 affordability score. The Exhibition Place lots are excellent. Paying for them is the problem.

Nobody in Canada has more room. McMahon Stadium's surroundings offer 75 lots and 28,207 parking spaces, 43% more than Toronto and by far the most in the league, which earns Calgary a runaway 66.67 infrastructure score. The catch is cost. Average parking of $23.56 and Alberta's higher meat prices leave the Stampeders with the second-worst affordability mark. Great if you are bringing a big group, less great if you are counting dollars.

Hamilton's fans are among the happiest in the country, with a 93.65 passion score that ranks third in the league, and the market is squeezed by geography. Tim Hortons Field sits in a dense residential neighbourhood with just 5,178 nearby spaces across 50 lots, the smallest inventory in the CFL and a 0.00 infrastructure score. The atmosphere is real. The parking lot version of it has nowhere to grow.

Winnipeg's fundamentals are solid: $2.20 beer, mid-range meat prices, $12.98 parking and a 54.02 affordability score that ranks fourth in the league. Google Maps reviewers rate Princess Auto Stadium at 86.76% positive, the second-highest of any venue here. The low overall finish comes from a passion score built on incomplete coverage, because Winnipeg had no TripAdvisor reviews in our sample and Reddit sentiment sat under 50%. Read this one as a data gap as much as a verdict.

Vancouver is the hardest place in Canada to tailgate, and the scores reflect a structural problem more than a cultural one. BC Place is a downtown domed stadium with no true tailgating apron, offering 10,415 spaces spread across 53 mostly commercial lots at $18.75 a pop, and British Columbia carries the highest meat prices in the country at $12.67 per kilogram. TripAdvisor reviewers rate the venue itself at 91.23% positive, the best in the league. The building is loved. The parking lot ritual just never took root.