Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on HotDog.com.
A select few U.S. metro areas have enjoyed bursts of success across multiple sports in recent years. In 2021, Tampa saw the NHL’s Lightning win their second straight Stanley Cup, although they lost to the Colorado Avalanche this year. Los Angeles has had recent titles from the NFL’s Rams (2022), MLB’s Dodgers (2020), and NBA’s Lakers (2020).
And the 2010s saw strong runs in the Bay Area — with MLB’S San Francisco Giants and the NBA’s Golden State Warriors each capturing three titles — and in Boston, which has enjoyed three titles for the NFL’s Patriots, two for the MLB’s Red Sox, and one for the NHL’s Bruins since 2010.
City Dominance
But geographic dominance in the major sports in the U.S. is nothing new. Across 421 championships that have been awarded across the MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL, and NHL, nearly half have been won by teams from just six metropolitan areas: New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, and San Francisco.
These metros are among the nation’s largest and most historic, and in some cases have multiple teams competing in the same sport, which increases the chances of bringing home a title. But each of these locations has also enjoyed sustained excellence over time from one or more of their hometown teams.
Nowhere is this clearer than in the New York metro. This is largely due to 27 championships from the New York Yankees — more than one-quarter of the World Series titles the MLB has ever awarded. Then there are another two from the New York Mets. And finally, there are six combined World Series wins by the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants before both franchises relocated to California.
Baseball is the core of the New York metropolitan area championship dominance. In fact, only Boston (39) has more total championships than New York has MLB championships alone. Only Montreal, with 25 titles from the NHL alone, comes close to New York’s single-sport dominance in baseball.
State Dominance
The success of teams in Los Angeles and San Francisco, New York, and Boston have respectively pushed California, New York, and Massachusetts at the top of the list of states with the most titles.
Some other sports markets have been less fortunate. For example, Tennessee has four pro sports teams but has never won a championship in a major sport. And North Carolina is home to four teams who have a single title combined.
Metros With the Most Professional Sports Championships
Researchers at HotDog.com ranked U.S. and Canadian metropolitan areas according to total professional sports championships. A location is attributed a championship if the team was associated with the location at the time it won the championship.
All NFL championships since the NFL was founded in 1920 were included; all NBA championships since the NBA was founded in 1946 were included; all World Series were included, dating back to 1903; all NHL championships since the NHL was founded in 1917 were included; and all MLS championships since MLS’s first season in 1996 were included. Note: 2022 championships are not included.
Only metros with at least one active NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or MLS team were considered.
The data was sourced from pro-football-reference.com, basketball-reference.com, baseball-reference.com, hockey-reference.com, and fbref.com. In the event of a tie, the location with the most recent championship was ranked higher.
15. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
- Total professional sports championships: 9
- Total NFL championships: 5
- Total NBA championships: 1
- Total MLB championships: 3
- Total NHL championships: 0
- Total MLS championships: 0
- Most recent championship: 2012
14. Cleveland-Elyria, OH
- Total professional sports championships: 9
- Total NFL championships: 6
- Total NBA championships: 1
- Total MLB championships: 2
- Total NHL championships: 0
- Total MLS championships: 0
- Most recent championship: 2015
13. Green Bay, WI
- Total professional sports championships: 13
- Total NFL championships: 13
- Total NBA championships: 0
- Total MLB championships: 0
- Total NHL championships: 0
- Total MLS championships: 0
- Most recent championship: 2010
12. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
- Total professional sports championships: 13
- Total NFL championships: 5
- Total NBA championships: 1
- Total MLB championships: 2
- Total NHL championships: 1
- Total MLS championships: 4
- Most recent championship: 2019
11. St Louis, MO-IL
- Total professional sports championships: 14
- Total NFL championships: 1
- Total NBA championships: 1
- Total MLB championships: 11
- Total NHL championships: 1
- Total MLS championships: 0
- Most recent championship: 2018
10. Pittsburgh, PA
- Total professional sports championships: 16
- Total NFL championships: 6
- Total NBA championships: 0
- Total MLB championships: 5
- Total NHL championships: 5
- Total MLS championships: 0
- Most recent championship: 2016
9. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
- Total professional sports championships: 17
- Total NFL championships: 4
- Total NBA championships: 4
- Total MLB championships: 7
- Total NHL championships: 2
- Total MLS championships: 0
- Most recent championship: 2017
8. Toronto, ON
- Total professional sports championships: 17
- Total NFL championships: 0
- Total NBA championships: 1
- Total MLB championships: 2
- Total NHL championships: 13
- Total MLS championships: 1
- Most recent championship: 2018
7. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA
- Total professional sports championships: 18
- Total NFL championships: 7
- Total NBA championships: 4
- Total MLB championships: 7
- Total NHL championships: 0
- Total MLS championships: 0
- Most recent championship: 2017
6. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
- Total professional sports championships: 22
- Total NFL championships: 4
- Total NBA championships: 3
- Total MLB championships: 4
- Total NHL championships: 11
- Total MLS championships: 0
- Most recent championship: 2007
5. Montreal, QC
- Total professional sports championships: 25
- Total NFL championships: 0
- Total NBA championships: 0
- Total MLB championships: 0
- Total NHL championships: 25
- Total MLS championships: 0
- Most recent championship: 1992
4. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
- Total professional sports championships: 30
- Total NFL championships: 11
- Total NBA championships: 6
- Total MLB championships: 6
- Total NHL championships: 6
- Total MLS championships: 1
- Most recent championship: 2016
3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Total professional sports championships: 30
- Total NFL championships: 3
- Total NBA championships: 12
- Total MLB championships: 7
- Total NHL championships: 3
- Total MLS championships: 5
- Most recent championship: 2021
2. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
- Total professional sports championships: 39
- Total NFL championships: 6
- Total NBA championships: 17
- Total MLB championships: 10
- Total NHL championships: 6
- Total MLS championships: 0
- Most recent championship: 2018
1. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
- Total professional sports championships: 58
- Total NFL championships: 9
- Total NBA championships: 2
- Total MLB championships: 35
- Total NHL championships: 11
- Total MLS championships: 1
- Most recent championship: 2021
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