Have you ever wondered how cool or uncool your home state is compared to the rest of the country?
Well, in the spirit of the San Diego Comic Con — America’s largest gathering of nerds, which ran this year from July 20-23 — we decided to try and find America’s nerdiest state.
BetMassachusetts.com took a break from covering Massachusetts sports betting to create something we call the Nerd Index. To complete this admittedly nerdy undertaking, we combined two distinct categories we’re calling the “Nerdy Search Volume Average” and the “Cool Things Score.”
We calculated “Nerdy Search Volume Average” by using Google Trends to find the search engine interest on the following queries: “Live Action Roleplaying,” “Comic bookstores near me,” and “Tabletop Games.” Meanwhile our “Cool Things Score” is based on the number of comic book and anime conventions in each year by state in 2023 and a state’s bookstores per capita, according to Publishers Weekly’s 2013 Guide to American bookstore States.
Here are numbers you won’t find come with a Caesars Massachusetts promo code or one from any Massachusetts sportsbook.
Judging by our Nerd Index, Alaska is the nerdiest state in the country, with Maryland, Kansas, Wyoming and South Carolina rounding out the top five. Meanwhile, sunny Hawaii is America’s least nerdy state.
For its part, Massachusetts is the 40th most nerdy state — or, you might argue, the 11th coolest.
But for those of us who think it’s cool to be a little bit nerdy, Massachusetts has lots to offer. Boston, especially, is stocked with comic book stores, including the original location of Newbury Comics, which has been slinging comics from the same spot on Newbury St. since 1978.
And if you missed out on Comic Con in San Diego, fear not. Fan Expo Boston runs this year from August 4-6. The state’s biggest fandom gathering is held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and features hundreds of exhibitors and fandom-inspired retailers, as well as cosplay competitions, and special celebrity guests.
Headlining the Fan Expo this year is none other than Anakin Skywalker himself, with the marquee slot of the event, Saturday at 7p.m. It’s being dubbed “An evening with Hayden Christensen.”
Other celebs expected to be in attendance include Rosario Dawson, William Shatner and three former Dunder Mifflin employees from “The Office” - Stanley (Leslie David Baker), Oscar (Oscar Nunez), and Creed (Creed Bratton).
So, while the Bay State is known for its crazed sports fans who now have several Massachusetts betting promos to claim and start wagering, the state also has plenty of fandoms who are equally devoted to Marvel, Star Wars, and whatever other nerdy thing is cool these days.
Author
Jeff Parker is an entertainment writer for BetMassachusetts.com. A writer for film, television and the internet, Jeff is a life long movie buff, with a Masters Degree in Popular Culture. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he works full time as documentary filmmaker and producer.
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