The Strongest City In American Sports (football, baseball, playoffs, jersey)

[T-8]

Hi everybody !

I'm from Southern Italy and I'd like to show you something that really made me curious about.

If you add NBA, NHL, NFL and MLB titles, which is the most winning American city ?

Checking stats, I've been able to build a descent-step titles list, in which you find not only biggest cities, but, surprisingly, also small cities.

Please note that some data could be wrong, especially those referred to the city of Phoenix, which include 2 NFL titles won by the Cardinals when the team was not based in Phoenix. I didn't know where the Cardinals were at the time they have won, so I've added their titles to that won by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.

Enjoy and criticise !!


1. New York > 46
2. Boston > 31
3. Montreal > 24
4. Chicago > 23
5. Detroit > 21
6. Los Angeles > 19
7. Toronto > 15
8. St. Louis > 14
9. Oakland > 13
10. Green Bay > 12
Pittsburgh > 12
12. Philadelphia > 10
San Francisco > 10
14. Cleveland > 6
Dallas > 6
Washington DC > 6
17. Baltimore > 5
Cincinnati > 5
Edmonton > 5
Indianapolis > 5
Miami > 5
Minneapolis > 5
23. Denver > 4
San Antonio > 4
25. Atlanta > 3
New Jersey > 3
Phoenix > 3
28. Houston > 2
Kansas City > 2
Tampa > 2
31. Anaheim > 1
Calgary > 1
Milwaukee > 1
Portland > 1
Raleigh, NC > 1
Rochester, NY > 1
Seattle > 1
Syracuse, NY > 1

[nl2134]

I personally think Boston is the city to beat right now.

MLB - Boston Red Sox (Champions)
NBA - Boston Celtics (64-16 so far. Nuff said)
NFL - New England Patriots (Dynasty)

[Canes2006Champs]

Originally Posted by nl2134

I personally think Boston is the city to beat right now.

MLB - Boston Red Sox (Champions)
NBA - Boston Celtics (64-16 so far. Nuff said)
NFL - New England Patriots (Dynasty)

And dont forget the Bruins, their still in the playoffs, but It seems like they are about to get knocked out.

[Cornerguy1]

Originally Posted by T-8

Hi everybody !

I'm from Southern Italy and I'd like to show you something that really made me curious about.

If you add NBA, NHL, NFL and MLB titles, which is the most winning American city ?

Checking stats, I've been able to build a descent-step titles list, in which you find not only biggest cities, but, surprisingly, also small cities.

Please note that some data could be wrong, especially those referred to the city of Phoenix, which include 2 NFL titles won by the Cardinals when the team was not based in Phoenix. I didn't know where the Cardinals were at the time they have won, so I've added their titles to that won by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.

Enjoy and criticise !!


1. New York > 46
2. Boston > 31
3. Montreal > 24
4. Chicago > 23
5. Detroit > 21
6. Los Angeles > 19
7. Toronto > 15
8. St. Louis > 14
9. Oakland > 13
10. Green Bay > 12
Pittsburgh > 12
12. Philadelphia > 10
San Francisco > 10
14. Cleveland > 6
Dallas > 6
Washington DC > 6
17. Baltimore > 5
Cincinnati > 5
Edmonton > 5
Indianapolis > 5
Miami > 5
Minneapolis > 5
23. Denver > 4
San Antonio > 4
25. Atlanta > 3
New Jersey > 3
Phoenix > 3
28. Houston > 2
Kansas City > 2
Tampa > 2
31. Anaheim > 1
Calgary > 1
Milwaukee > 1
Portland > 1
Raleigh, NC > 1
Rochester, NY > 1
Seattle > 1
Syracuse, NY > 1

Interesting list, but Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton are not US cities; they are located in Canada.

[nl2134]

Originally Posted by Canes2006Champs

And dont forget the Bruins, their still in the playoffs, but It seems like they are about to get knocked out.

haha, good point! I'm all about the Campbell Conference

[gnab gib]

Originally Posted by T-8

Please note that some data could be wrong, especially those referred to the city of Phoenix, which include 2 NFL titles won by the Cardinals when the team was not based in Phoenix. I didn't know where the Cardinals were at the time they have won, so I've added their titles to that won by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.

Chicago has 25 and moves up a notch. The Cardinals won their two titles when they were still in Chicago.

[newyorkjetsfan74]

Originally Posted by Cornerguy1

Interesting list, but Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton are not US cities; they are located in Canada.

maybe he meant north american sports

[T-8]

Originally Posted by YoAdrian

Chicago has 25 and moves up a notch. The Cardinals won their two titles when they were still in Chicago.

Thank you.

Then, Chicago moves up to 25 and Phoenix moves down by two.
Hence, the 2001 World Series won by the Arizona Diamondbacks mean just more than a "simple" (and it ain't simple, I know...) major leagues' title, for it is the FIRST EVER major league title won by a Phoenix-based team.

Who is coming up next ?

I bet: the Phoenix Suns are the only Phoenix-based team who can really add another title to the list.
I think there will be no way for the Arizona Cardinals nor for the Phoenix Coyotes, which appear to me to be too weak to compete at the highest levels.

PS::: I meant the list to be referred - of course - to North American Sports: hence, it necessarily HAS to include several Canadiens cities...

[ogre]

The Cardinals aren't the only team who have won championships in different cities. If you're going to be careful to credit cities with only those championships that teams have won while located in those cities, you've got some research to do. Off the top of my head, I know, for example, that the A's won quite a number of World Series in Philadelphia, and the Lakers won several championships in Minneapolis. Not sure whether the Raiders won any championships while they were in LA, but that would be another team you would need to check.

Another point to note: If you include the Canadian cities, notice how the top three each have one team that has dominated its sport in terms of total championships (though two of them have each gone a long time since their last championship). Any of the top three would drop dramatically if that one team had not won more than an average number of championships.

[ogre]

T-8, it is an interesting idea to do what you are trying to do here. You said you weren't sure about how many championships to credit to Phoenix. You point out an interesting situation. Many American professional teams have been in more than one city, and a number of those have won championships in more than one city. In order to accomplish the goal you seem to be aiming at, to credit each city with championships teams have won while present in that city, it would take a LOT of research.

You specifically said you were unsure about Phoenix, and whether the Cardinals won any championships there. The more I look over your list, the more I realize that you've credited several cities with championships their current teams won in other cities. This is just based on what I happen to know, not any research I've done, but, for example, Indianapolis as a city has one championship. The Colts won their other championships, besides their Super Bowl win last year, in Baltimore. Atlanta also has one championship. Of the Braves' three World Series victories, one happened when they were in Milwaukee, and one when they were in their original city, Boston.

The Braves and Colts show how complicated this really gets, because both these teams are examples of teams whose number of championships depends on how you count championships. For example, in the NFL the two conferences used to be separate leagues. The Super Bowl began as the championship for all of major league professional football, played between the champions of those two leages. If I know my sports history correctly (though this is one I'm not absolutely sure about), one of the Colts' championships credited to Indianapolis on the list in the original post not only happened when the club was in Baltimore, but also was an NFL championship in a year after the Super Bowl had begun, when the Colts lost the Super Bowl to the AFL champions, so that they were not the pro football champions.

With the Braves, in addition to the fact that they won both of their World Series championships besides the one in '95 in other cities than Atlanta, there's also the question of whether to count National League championships for the old NL clubs from years before the American Leauge existed, when there was no World Series and the NL title was the championship for professional baseball.

Of course there's also the question of whether to count the number of championships within a metro area as all belonging to that one area, or to separate cities within the area. For example, do championships won by teams in San Francisco and Oakland count for those cities separately, or are they listed as the combined number of championships for the Bay Area. The same question would apply to the Angels' win in the World Series in '02, and the (I can't believe there's really a pro team with this name, but . . .) Mighty Ducks' Stanley Cup last year. Do these count as titles for Anaheim as a separate city, or are they part of the total for the Los Angeles area?

Good idea the OP has here, but wow, does it get complicated.