Every now and again, the staff at this website likes to put on their thinking caps and come up with solutions to questions that viewers keep on pondering about. For this article, we did a little research and tried to figure out just who had the best and worst sports cities in North America based on their Championship Records. Let’s face it; you can have the best sports franchise all season long but if you don’t win the final game than all of your team’s hard work goes straight out the window. Many teams have had successful seasons but the only thing that matters at the end of the season is the large trophy or cup sitting in the winning team’s locker room.

We looked up MLB , NHL, NBA, and NFL championship records dating back to 1980 to figure out just which city has had the best and worst luck at winning championships in their city. We should note that we tried our best to only study cities that had multiple teams with the name of their city representing the team. In some cases, like with the Texas Rangers or Phoenix Suns, we included the state or city’s team name into our calculations because the team that used their state’s title was located in the same city as the name of a similar sports franchise with another league. Ex. Phoenix Suns- Arizona Diamondbacks( both teams are located in Phoenix, Arizona.) So without further adieu, here’s our picks for the best and worst sports cities in North America.

Great Sports Cities

Los Angeles, California

Since 1980, the city of Los Angeles has seen the most Championship appearances in sports with 17 appearances to the finals of a major sporting event. Their biggest participant at these events have been the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers who have been to 13 NBA Championships and won 8 of them. The Dodgers have also been in the spotlight by winning 2 World Series Championships in baseball. The Los Angeles Raiders(now Oakland Raiders) went .500 in the 80’s with a 1-1 record at the Super Bowl. the Los Angeles Kings NHL franchise led by Wayne Gretzky helped the kings reach the final in 1993 but lost and have not been back to the finals since. The other disappointment with the city of Los Angeles have been the Clippers NBA franchise which has not been to the NBA finals once since 1980. Overall the city of Los Angeles has a record of 10-7.

New York City, New York.

New York City holds an overall record of 8-7 with 15 Championship appearances. Leading the way are the New York Yankees who have a record of 4-3 but dominated the 1990’s winning 3 consecutive World Series titles in 4 years only to lose to the Diamondbacks in 2001. The Mets have also won 2 World Series and their only loss came to their arch rivals the New York Yankees in a battle of New York baseball clubs called ‘The Subway Series’. The New York Rangers only have made one cup appearance since 1980 but won the Stanley Cup in their only appearance in 1994 by beating the Vancouver Canucks in a 7 game series. Not to be outdone, the New York Giants have won 2 Superbowls and lost once with their only loss coming to the Baltimore Ravens in a defensive packed Super Bowl. The one sour spot for the city of New York has been the NBA’s New York Knickerbockers who have made 2 NBA final appearances but lost both of them.

Chicago, Illinois.

Chicago has the best winning percentage of any city going 8-1 overall. They were led in the 1990s by Micheal Jordan and the Chicago Bulls who won 3 consecutive NBA titles on 2 separate occasions going 6-0 in the process. The city of Chicago has also been blessed with seeing MLB’s Chicago White Sox break one of MLB’s longest Championship droughts by finally defeating the Houston Astros in 2005 to break a drought that had been going on since 1917. Unfortunately, MLB’s other club in Chicago, the Cubs, now hold on to a similar championship slump that has not seen them make one finals appearance at all since long before 1980. The other major franchise in a huge slump are the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks who only made one cup final losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Mario Lemieux. The NFL’s Chicago Bears only have made it once to the Superbowl since 1980 but they won it in their one appearance in 1985. Still, records don’t lie and when the city of Chicago does make it to a Championship match, they usually end up the winner.

Detroit, Michigan.

Maybe rioting or crime is so high in Detroit because they’re always celebrating their city’s championship teams? The city of Detroit holds an overall record of 7-3. These championship titles have been spread between the NHL’s Red Wings and the NBA’s Pistons who have both won 3 championship titles. The Detroit Tigers have been in a slump lately but they’ve managed to win 1 World Series since 1980. The one outcast in Detroit have been the NFL’s Detroit Lions who are one of the only NFL teams to have never been in a Super Bowl before.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Pittsburgh has had the luck of owning a 4-1 record since 1980. The NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins with Mario Lemieux and a young Jaromir Jagr won back to back Stanley cups in 1991 and 1992. The NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers have gone 2-1 with their most recent Super Bowl victory coming this year against the Seattle Seahawks. The one franchise Pittsburgh would like to see return to glory are MLB’s Pittsburgh Pirates who haven’t won a world series title since 1979.

Boston, Massachusetts.

The fifth and final city was my toughest decision to make throughout this entire process. Boston holds an overall record of 7-7 with 14 Championship appearances. The NFL’s New England Patriots have won 3 Super Bowls in the last 4 years making them the only NFL team to claim those bragging rights for themselves. The Boston Celtics were terrible in the 90s but won 3 NBA Championships in 5 appearances in the 80s. The Boston Bruins have always been a decent NHL hockey club but have only made it to the Stanley Cup twice since 1980 losing both times. Also, the Boston Red Sox finally broke one of the longest curses and droughts in MLB by beating the St-Louis Cardinals to win their first World Series Title in nearly 80 years. They have an overall record of 1-1 since 1980.

Honorable Mention:N/A

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