Analysis
Cities/media markets with teams from the four major league sports Principal city versus metropolitan areas
The only metropolitan areas with a team in each sport that plays within the limits of its principal city are Chicago, Denver, Detroit, and Philadelphia. Chicago, with its two MLB teams, is the only one of these with five teams playing within city limits. (All are named for the city.)
In the Twin Cities area, three of the teams play in Minneapolis and one plays in St. Paul, although all four teams are named for the state of Minnesota, not their cities.
All other areas have at least one sport represented solely by a team (or teams) that plays in a city's suburbs.
Los Angeles had teams from all four major sports play within its city limits from 2016, when the NFL's Rams moved to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, until 2020, when they moved into a new stadium in Inglewood. Los Angeles now has four major sports teams playing within city limits: two NBA, one NHL and one MLB team. (Seven of its metropolitan area's eight teams named after it, all except the NHL's Anaheim Ducks.)
New York City has nine major sports teams and five playing within its city limits, but both its NFL teams (the New York Giants and New York Jets) play in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (All of the New York teams except the NHL's New Jersey Devils and the NBA's Brooklyn Nets are named for the city.)
Regional distribution
Each of the four census regions of the United States, established by the United States Census Bureau, contains at least three metropolitan areas with at least one team in each of the four major sports. Three of the areas are in the Northeastern United States (New York, Boston, and Philadelphia), three are in the Midwestern United States (Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis-St. Paul), three are in the Southern United States (Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Miami), and three are in the Western United States (Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver).
Smallest population with all four
The least-populous metropolitan area with at least one team in each of the four major sports is Denver, whose estimated population is 2,853,077. However, Denver is the hub of an urban corridor of about 4.8 million people. It is the largest metropolitan area within a radius of about 600 miles (970 km) [2] and commands a relatively large media market.
Minnesota is the least populous state to have a team in each major sport. It has almost three million fewer people than Virginia, the most populous state with no major sports teams.
Largest population without a team
The largest television market area with no teams in the four major leagues is the Hartford & New Haven (Connecticut) area. [1] Hartford was formerly home to the NHL's Hartford Whalers, who moved to Raleigh in 1997 and are now the Carolina Hurricanes.
The largest television market areas that have never had a team in the four major leagues are Austin, Texas, which gained an MLS team in 2021 (Austin FC), and the West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce (Florida) area, [1] though that is usually considered part of the territory of Miami-area teams.
Using the Primary Statistical Areas defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, the most-populous metropolitan area without a team in any of the four major leagues (as of the 2010 U.S. Census) is the Hartford–Springfield area, although several minor league professional teams play in the area and it is located between the larger metro areas of New York and Boston. [3] The Hampton Roads metro area is the second-largest metro area without a major sports team and has never had one. [4] Before the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017, the Las Vegas Valley had been the largest metro area without a team.
Largest population without all four leagues represented
Houston, which lacks an NHL team, is the largest metropolitan area that does not have a franchise in all four major professional sports.
Cities with two teams from one of the four leagues
The sport that most commonly has two teams in one metropolitan area is baseball, with multiple teams in Chicago (since 1901), New York (since 1962), Los Angeles (since 1961), and the San Francisco Bay Area (since 1968). Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Boston, St. Louis, and Philadelphia also had two baseball franchises, but one team from each city moved in the 1950s. New York had three teams until two moved in 1958. Only Chicago has had the same two baseball teams since the American League was established in 1901. In 2006, Philadelphia was the largest television market without two baseball teams, with Dallas being the next-largest. [1]
New York and Los Angeles are the only two metropolitan areas with two or more teams in all four major sports. New York has MLB's Yankees and Mets, the NBA's Knicks and Nets, the NFL's Giants and Jets, and the NHL's Rangers, Islanders, and Devils. Los Angeles has MLB's Dodgers and Angels, the NBA's Lakers and Clippers, the NFL's Rams and Chargers, and the NHL's Kings and Ducks.
The Washington, D.C., combined statistical area (although not its media market nor its metropolitan area) also includes the city of Baltimore as part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. Using this definition, the region also has two MLB teams (the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles) and two NFL teams (the Washington Commanders and Baltimore Ravens).
Two teams in each of the four leagues
The only areas with at least two franchises in all four sports are New York and Los Angeles, which are the largest and second-largest cities and the two largest metropolitan areas in the United States. In New York, four of the metro area's nine major sports franchises play outside the city limits and three outside the state of New York: the NFL's Jets and Giants, and the NHL's Devils all play in New Jersey. The NHL's Islanders play in UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. However, all teams have "New York" in their name except the Devils, who identify with New Jersey, and the Brooklyn Nets, who are named for the borough where they play.
In Los Angeles, four of the area's eight teams play in other cities (the Ducks and Angels play in Anaheim, while the Chargers and Rams play in Inglewood). During the construction of SoFi Stadium, the Rams played in the LA city limits while the Chargers played in Carson. The Clippers currently play in downtown Los Angeles, sharing Crypto.com Arena with the Lakers, but plan to move to the Intuit Dome by the 2024–25 NBA season.
Since the formation of the NBA in 1946, New York is the only city to consistently host at least one team in each of the four leagues every year.
Most recent city with a team from each league
The most recent city to be added to this list is Los Angeles, which regained the football Rams in 2016 after they had played the prior 21 seasons in St. Louis. (In 2017, the Chargers also moved to the city from San Diego, becoming the Los Angeles Chargers.)
Most populous state without all four sports leagues
After the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and became the Jets in 2011, Georgia became the most populous state without teams in all four sports. Metro Atlanta became the third-largest metro area (at the time) not to have teams in all four sports (after Los Angeles and Houston). With the return of the Los Angeles Rams in 2016, Atlanta became the second largest metro area without all four leagues behind Houston. Georgia is now home to the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, MLB's Atlanta Braves, and the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. The Falcons and Hawks currently play within the city limits of Atlanta; the Braves moved just outside the city in 2017 to the Vinings/Smyrna area in Cobb County. The Braves' new stadium is within a small slice of Cobb County that has always had an Atlanta mailing address.
Previously, North Carolina had been the most populous state without teams in all four sports, having edged out New Jersey when the southern state's population surpassed the northern one's. [5] Both lack a Major League Baseball team, though three teams (the New York Yankees, New York Mets, and the Philadelphia Phillies) play in metropolitan areas that include parts of New Jersey. North Carolina is home to the NFL's Carolina Panthers and NBA's Charlotte Hornets, who both play in Charlotte, as well as the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes, who play in Raleigh. New Jersey is home to the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets, who play in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, as well as the NHL's New Jersey Devils, who play in Newark.
Most populous state with no major league teams
Virginia remains the most populous state without a single big-league team in any sport, although residents of Northern Virginia have access to teams in Washington, D.C., and, at a stretch, Baltimore; and southern Virginia residents have access to the Carolina Hurricanes, the only major-league team in the Raleigh-Durham area. Additionally, two of the four D.C.-area teams, the Washington Capitals and Washington Commanders, have their operational headquarters and training facilities in Northern Virginia.
Alabama is the most populous state that has neither a major-league team nor a connection to a media market area with a major-league team. However this distinction changes depending on if the Atlanta media market is defined to extend into Alabama. If it is, then Iowa is the most populous state with neither a team nor a connection to a media market with a team.
Canadian cities
Three of the four major leagues (MLB, the NBA, and the NHL), have at least one team in Canada. Thus, although it is not a U.S. city, Toronto is notable because it has MLB (Blue Jays), NBA (Raptors), NHL (Maple Leafs), and MLS (Toronto FC) teams, plus a professional Canadian football team, the Toronto Argonauts. The Argonauts play in the Canadian Football League, which meets the definition of a major league because it represents the highest level of play in its country. Currently an all-Canadian circuit, the CFL had teams in the United States from 1993 until 1995.
There has often been speculation that the NFL will seek to install a team in Toronto, which is larger than many NFL cities and the second-largest city in North America (behind Mexico City) without an NFL team, but the league insists it has no plans for expansion. The NFL allowed the Buffalo Bills to play one regular-season game a year at Toronto's Rogers Centre for several years in the early 21st century, as the Bills' profits depend on a considerable Southern Ontario fan base. [6] The first two games in the Toronto series did not directly conflict with the CFL, as they were scheduled for December, after the end of the CFL season. The series was put on hiatus after the 2013 season; current Bills owner Terry Pegula, who bought the team after the 2014 death of founding owner Ralph Wilson, formally ended the Toronto experiment.
Of the other eight current CFL cities, two have no other major sports franchises and the other six have an NHL franchise. Of these cities, two formerly had two major league teams plus a CFL franchise. Montreal, the second-most populous Canadian city, had the Montreal Expos MLB team, which moved to Washington, D.C. It still hosts the NHL's Canadiens and the CFL's Alouettes. Montreal also once had an NFL farm team, the WLAF Montreal Machine, before the WLAF became exclusively European. Additionally, Montreal is home to Canada's third MLS team, the Montreal Impact since 2012. Vancouver, the third-most populous Canadian metropolitan area, had the Vancouver Grizzlies NBA team, which moved to Memphis. It still hosts the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, CFL's BC Lions, and MLS's Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Atlanta, Cleveland, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Phoenix formerly hosted teams in all four major sports leagues at the same time. The two Missouri cities currently have two teams each, and the other two cities have three.
- Atlanta had teams from all four sports from 1972 until 1980, when the NHL's Flames moved to Calgary; and from 1999 until 2011, when the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg. Atlanta is the only city to have lost four-sport status, regained it, and then lost it a second time.
- Cleveland briefly held four-sport status (MLB's Indians, NFL's Browns, NBA's Cavaliers, and NHL's Barons) when the Oakland Seals moved there in 1976 as the Cleveland Barons, only to lose it when the Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978. The Cleveland Browns relocation controversy left the city without an active NFL team from 1996 to 1999, when the NFL officially regarded the Browns as suspended.
- Kansas City had all four sports (MLB's Royals, NFL's Chiefs, NBA's Kings, and NHL's Scouts) from 1974 to 1976. After two unsuccessful years in Kansas City, the Scouts moved to Denver (and later to New Jersey). The Kings moved to Sacramento in 1985.
- St. Louis was briefly a four-sport city (MLB's Cardinals, NFL's Cardinals, NBA's Hawks, and NHL's Blues) from October 1967, when the NHL expanded, until May 1968, when the Hawks left for Atlanta.
- Phoenix was a four-sport city (MLB's Diamondbacks, NFL's Cardinals, NBA's Suns, NHL's Coyotes) from 1998, when the Diamondbacks began play, to April 2024, when the Coyotes franchise was suspended and the team's hockey operations were relocated to Salt Lake City.
Only two cities have played each other in the championship series of all four major North American sports leagues: St. Louis and Boston. [7] In baseball, the Cardinals met the Red Sox in the 1946, 1967, 2004, and 2013 World Series. In hockey, the Blues played the Bruins in the 1970 and 2019 Stanley Cup Finals. In basketball, the Hawks and Celtics met in the 1957, 1958, 1960, and 1961 NBA Finals. And in football, the Rams played the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI.
Cities that have lost, then regained four-sport status are Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis–St. Paul, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Boston had the Yanks of the NFL at the start of the four-major-sport era in 1946, along with the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, and Braves. Four-sport status ended when the Yanks became the New York Bulldogs in 1949, and then resumed with the formation of the Boston Patriots (now the New England Patriots) in 1960.
- Chicago had a BAA/NBA team fold in 1950, then attracted an expansion franchise in 1961 only to see it move to Baltimore two years later. Chicago rejoined the four-sport club in 1966 with the expansion Bulls.
- Detroit had a charter franchise of the NBA (then called the Basketball Association of America) in 1946, but the Falcons folded after one season. Detroit rejoined the four-sport club when the Fort Wayne Pistons moved to Detroit in 1957.
- Greater Los Angeles became a four-sport city in 1967 and remained so for 28 years. In 1993, it joined New York in having two teams in each of the four major sports (MLB's Dodgers and Angels, NFL's Rams and Raiders, NBA's Lakers and Clippers, and NHL's Kings and Ducks), but lost both of its NFL teams in 1995. The Rams moved back to Los Angeles in 2016, restoring the city to four-sport status. A year later, the city once again joined New York in having two teams from each of the four leagues with the arrival of the former San Diego Chargers.
- Minneapolis–St. Paul became a member with the arrival of the Minnesota Timberwolves as an expansion NBA franchise in 1989, only to see the NHL's North Stars depart for Dallas in 1993. The Twin Cities regained their status with the NHL's expansion Minnesota Wild in 2000.
- The San Francisco Bay Area had teams in all four sports from the NHL expansion in 1967 until the Seals left for Cleveland in 1976. It regained four-sport status when the expansion San Jose Sharks joined the NHL in 1991. (Oakland itself had teams in all four leagues from 1971 to 1976 – the Athletics, the Raiders, the Warriors, and the Golden Seals. The A's plan to move from Oakland to Las Vegas would leave the city with no major league sports teams. [8] )
If the American Basketball Association (1967–1976) were considered a major professional sports league, three more cities would be former four-sport metropolises. Pittsburgh—home to the MLB Pirates, the NFL Steelers, and the NHL Penguins—also hosted the ABA's Pittsburgh Condors, originally called the Pipers, in 1967 and from 1969 until the team's demise in 1972. St. Louis would have regained four-sport status between 1974 and 1976, when the city was home to the Spirits of St. Louis. And Minneapolis–St. Paul would have been a four-sport city from 1967 to 1969, having hosted the ABA's Minnesota Muskies in 1967–68 and the Minnesota Pipers in 1968–69.
If the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) were considered a major league, Houston would have made the list; the Houston Aeros operated from 1972 to 1978, but were left out of the NHL-WHA merger negotiations and folded before the merger. Under the same assumption, Cleveland would have joined the four-sports club in 1972 with the arrival of the WHA Cleveland Crusaders, which were displaced in 1976 by the NHL's Barons.
If the ABA and WHA were both considered major leagues, then San Diego would have made the list from fall 1974 through fall 1975. Alongside the MLB Padres (since 1969) and the AFL/NFL Chargers (1961 to 2016), there were the ABA Conquistadors/Sails (1972–1975) and the WHA Mariners (1974–1977).
An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also hope that the expansion of their competition will grow the popularity of the sport generally. The term is most commonly used in reference to the North American major professional sports leagues but is applied to sports leagues in other countries with a closed franchise system of league membership. The term refers to the expansion of the sport into new areas. The addition of an expansion team sometimes results in the payment of an expansion fee to the league by the new team and an expansion draft to populate the new roster.
Throughout the years, a number of teams in the National Football League (NFL) have either moved or merged.
The Las Vegas metropolitan area is home to many sports, most of which take place in the unincorporated communities around Las Vegas rather than in the city itself. Currently, the Las Vegas Valley has three major league professional teams: the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL), which began play in 2017 as the region's first major pro team, the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) which began play in 2020 after relocating from Oakland, California, and the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB) plan to move to Las Vegas to play at a new ballpark which is estimated to be complete by 2028. When this relocation happens, Las Vegas will have progressed from being the largest market in the U.S. with no teams in the men's major professional leagues to being one of the smallest markets with at least three such teams within less than a decade. In addition, the National Basketball Association has publicly confirmed Las Vegas is being considered for an expansion franchise, which would potentially make Las Vegas by far the fastest market to progress from no teams in the Big Four leagues to having teams in all four leagues.
Boston, Massachusetts, is home to several major professional sports franchises. They include the Red Sox (baseball), the Celtics, and the Bruins. The New England Patriots and the New England Revolution play at Gillette Stadium in nearby Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada traditionally include four leagues: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL). Other prominent leagues include Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Canadian Football League (CFL).
This is a list of sports in Denver, Colorado, United States. Denver is home to many professional sports teams who are based out of Denver and surrounding cities in the metropolitan area. It is also one of the twelve American cities to house a team from each of the U.S. cities with teams from four major league sports. All four of its teams play their home games near downtown with three active sports venues which includes Empower Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos; Ball Arena, home of the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets; and Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. There is also a Major League Soccer (MLS) team based in the Denver metro area, but they do not play their home games in the city of Denver and is located in nearby Commerce City.
The Greater Los Angeles area is home to many professional and collegiate sports teams and has hosted many national and international sporting events. The metropolitan area has twelve major league professional teams: the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Rams, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Angels, LA Galaxy, Los Angeles FC, the Los Angeles Kings, the Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Sparks, the Anaheim Ducks, the Los Angeles Knight Riders of the MLC Major League Cricket, their Minor League Cricket affiliate SoCal Lashings, and Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League. The Los Angeles metropolitan area is home to nine universities whose teams compete in various NCAA Division I level sports, most notably the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans. Between them, these Los Angeles area sports teams have won a combined 105 championship titles. Los Angeles area colleges have produced upwards of 200 national championship teams.
Sports teams in Virginia include several professional teams, but no professional major-league teams. Virginia is the most populous U.S. state without a major professional sports league franchise playing within its borders, although two of the major-league teams representing Washington, D.C.—the NFL's Washington Commanders and NHL's Washington Capitals—have their practice facilities and operational headquarters in Northern Virginia.
The Cleveland Browns relocation controversy—colloquially called "The Move" by fans—followed the announcement by Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell that his National Football League (NFL) team would move from its longtime home of Cleveland to Baltimore for the 1996 NFL season.
In the history of championships in major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, a city/metropolitan area has been home to multiple championships in a season 18 times, most recently in 2020 when the Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2020 Stanley Cup and Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV. 2020 was also the first season where two different cities won multiple championships, with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the 2020 NBA Finals and the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the 2020 World Series. New York City is the only city to win multiple titles in back-to-back seasons, doing so in 1926–1927 and 1927–1928. No city has ever won more than two championships in the four major sports in the same season.
Sports in San Diego includes one major professional sports team, other highest-level professional teams, minor league teams, and college athletics. The San Diego Padres play in Major League Baseball (MLB). San Diego FC begins play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2025. San Diego State Aztecs teams play in NCAA Division I (FBS). The Farmers Insurance Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually at Torrey Pines Golf Course.
Professional sports have existed in the United States since the late 19th century. The NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL have millions of fans across the nation and are an important part of American culture. Professional sports did not enter into the American West until the mid-twentieth century. However, the expansion of professional sports into the West has helped to increase the popularity of each of the professional leagues and has changed the landscape of professional sports in America.
Professional sports leagues in the United States includes major professional sports leagues, other highest-level professional leagues, and minor leagues.
The expansion of major sports leagues in the United States and Canada has occurred throughout the twentieth century for all of the major professional sports leagues in those two countries.
The National Basketball Association has undergone several rounds of expansion in the league's history, since it began play in 1946, to reach 30 teams. The most recent examples are the additions of the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat in 1988; the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic in 1989; the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies in 1995 ; and the New Orleans Hornets in 2002. In June 2022, Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed that while there are no current plans to expand beyond 30 teams, the NBA "invariably will expand."
Relocation of professional sports teams occurs when a team owner moves a team, generally from one metropolitan area to another, but occasionally between municipalities in the same conurbation. The practice is most common in North America, where a league franchise system is used and the teams are overwhelmingly privately owned. Owners who move a team generally do so seeking better profits, facilities, fan support, or a combination of these.
