Few NBA arenas have given as much to their city as Memphis’ FedEx Forum has since the building’s grand opening 20 years ago, with the Beale Street landmark hosting both the Memphis Grizzlies and the Memphis Tigers’ men’s and women’s basketball programs over the years.
Sadly, Bluff City for all its growth over the last few decades hasn’t been able to outrun the region’s issues with violent crime, as Memphis led all major Tennessee cities in murder and nonnegligent homicide rates per 100,000 people, at 27.73 (which ranked eighth nationally behind Cleveland and ahead of Newark, New Jersey).
With that in mind, BetTennessee.com briefly stepped away from Tennessee sports betting sites news and created a ranking system to find the safest NBA arenas for spectators. We created a ranking system that factors in the crime rating, total crime index, fanbase ranking and crime grade. All metrics are based on the exact city and zip code of each team’s arena or arena.
Ranking NBA Arena Safety
Rank | Team | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
1 | Memphis Grizzlies | 24 |
2 | New Orleans Pelicans | 32 |
3 | Philadelphia 76ers | 37 |
T4 | Orlando Magic | 39 |
T4 | Golden State Warriors | 39 |
6 | Atlanta Hawks | 41 |
7 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 43 |
T8 | Washington Wizards | 45 |
T8 | Indiana Pacers | 45 |
10 | Portland Blazers | 48 |
11 | Charlotte Hornets | 49 |
12 | Houston Rockets | 54 |
T13 | Denver Nuggets | 55 |
T13 | Toronto Raptors | 55 |
15 | Milwaukee Bucks | 58 |
Neighborhoodscout.com was used to find the violent crime and total crime index; Reddit.com’s subreddit r/nba was used to find the fan behavior ranking; CrimeGrade.org was used to find the crime grades. The higher the score, the safer the arena.
FedEx Forum Ranked The NBA’s Most Dangerous Arena
Across the 29 arenas of the NBA, the Grizzlies had the worst total crime score, coming in at 24 and ranking behind the New Orleans Pelicans (32), Philadelphia 76ers (37), Orlando Magic and Golden State Warriors (39 apiece).
Throw in the Atlanta Hawks (41), Cleveland Cavaliers (43), Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers (45 apiece), and the Portland Trail Blazers (48) and you have the full top 10 when it comes to the most dangerous NBA arenas at the moment.
At the moment, it seems like Memphis’ problems go beyond the franchise’s on-court drama that netted the Grizzlies 24 fewer wins in 2023-24 (27) than the year prior, with the city’s crime rates ultimately tanking the team’s arena safety ranking and placing Memphis at the bottom of the 30-team league by that metric this season.
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