Tampere and Helsinki have been named on a list of the top 100 sports cities in the world, coming in 42nd and 78th respectively on the rankings compiled by international communications agency BCW.
The two Finnish cities are making their debut on the list.
Tampere ranks ahead of former Olympic host cities including Montreal (43rd), Salt Lake City (63rd) and Stockholm (64th). Among the Nordic cities on the list, only Copenhagen, ranked 37th, places higher than Tampere.
The French capital Paris tops the list for 2023, followed by Los Angeles and London. The top three are all either recent or near-future Olympic host cities. The full list is available here.
BCW compiles the list by weighing a combination of factors, including which cities organise or plan events with major federations and sports brands; the views of the heads of various sports federations and representatives of the sporting media; and how often each city appears alongside the word "sport" in digital spaces.
This digital analysis was weighted higher (0.50) compared to the opinions of International Sports Federations (0.25) and media representatives (0.25).
Tampere's new arena has hosted two men's ice hockey world championships as well as a number of NHL games in recent years. The city has also been the venue for international matches in football, volleyball and basketball.
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