Professional sports championships by city
Regional pride is central to sports fandom. Every time a local team wins a championship, a measure of that glory is shared by the fans of the team and the city in which the team is based. Consequently, those cities with the most pro titles can claim the most bragging rights. Unsurprisingly, the New York City metropolitan area has by far the most championships of any sports hub in the United States or Canada. It is the most populous metro area in either country and thus has had the ability to support franchises in every major sports league for most of each league’s existence.
The most prestigious professional team-sports leagues in the United States and Canada are Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). These leagues feature the highest level of competition in the world in their respective sports, and, consequently, their annual champions are crowned with the greatest acclaim.
Below is an interactive infographic showing all major pro-league titles won by teams in the United States and Canada. The list is organized by metropolitan area. So, for example, the World Series trophies won by the Oakland Athletics are counted in the total for the San Francisco Bay Area metro area. Titles are credited to the metro area where a team was based at the time of its victory. That’s why Minneapolis has five NBA titles: the Lakers won those championships there before moving to Los Angeles in 1960.
