As I watch the NBA and NHL playoffs unfold this spring, I’ll witness the crowning of new champions in two of America’s major sports. When the final buzzers sound, the victories will bring both bragging rights and a surge of community pride to my city if we’re fortunate enough to come out on top.
A select few US 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 while the NFL’s Buccaneers captured the Super Bowl. 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.
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City Dominance
But geographic dominance in the major sports in the US 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.
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State Dominance
The success of teams in Los Angeles and San Francisco, New York, and Boston have respectively pushed California, New York, and Massachusetts to 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 combined for a single title.
Researchers at HotDog.com ranked US and Canadian metropolitan areas according to total professional sports championships. A location is attributed a championship for a championship won by a team that is branded to be from the location at the time that 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.
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.
Metros With the Most Professional Sports Championships
Here are the cities with the most professional sports championships.
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
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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
Methodology and Detailed Findings
Researchers ranked US and Canadian metropolitan areas according to total professional sports championships. A location is attributed a championship for a championship won by a team that is branded to be from the location at the time that 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.
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.
Featured image photo credit: tomertu / Shutterstock
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My expertise in sports coverage, particularly for out-of-market games and regional sports networks, stems from years of hands-on experience as an early adopter of streaming services and my work addressing fans' viewing challenges. As a longtime cord-cutter and subscriber to multiple streaming platforms, I combine my technical knowledge with practical user experience, making me a leading expert in the field of sports streaming and entertainment technology.
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