This is a list of
metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada categorized by the number of major
professional sports franchises in their metropolitan areas.
The major professional sports leagues, or simply major leagues, in the United States and Canada are the highest professional competitions of
team sports in the two countries. Although individual sports such as
golf,
mixed martial arts,
tennis, and
auto racing are also very popular, the term is usually limited to team sports.
The term "major league" was first used in 1921 in reference to
Major League Baseball (MLB), the top level of professional American
baseball. Today, the major northern North America professional team sports leagues are
Major League Baseball (MLB), the
National Basketball Association (NBA), the
National Football League (NFL) and the
National Hockey League (NHL).[1] These four leagues are also commonly referred to as the Big Four. Each is the richest professional club competition in its respective sport worldwide. The best players can become
cultural icons in both countries and elsewhere in the world, because the leagues enjoy a significant place in
popular culture in the
U.S. and
Canada. The NFL and NHL each have 32 teams, and the MLB and the NBA each have 30 teams.
Baseball, football and hockey have had professional leagues for over 100 years; early leagues such as the
National Association,
Ohio League and
National Hockey Association formed the basis of the modern MLB, NFL and NHL respectively. Basketball is a relatively new development; the NBA evolved from the
National Basketball League and its splinter group the
Basketball Association of America, taking on its current form in 1949. The fifth biggest professional sports league is
Major League Soccer (MLS). While soccer is very popular globally, in Canada and the United States it has struggled to become established with several professional leagues being established and folding before MLS was founded in 1996. The
Canadian Football League (CFL), a much smaller league (9 teams), is also popular in Canada. All six of these leagues draw 15,000 or more fans in attendance per game on average as of 2015. This list includes a ranking by teams in the Big Four (B4) and a separate ranking including MLS and CFL teams called the Big Six (B6).
The most recent market to receive a new "Big Four" team is
Seattle,
Washington, which saw the NHL's
Seattle Kraken make their debut for the
2021-22 season. The largest urban area without a team in one of the big four leagues is the 30th-ranked
Austin region, though it has a
Major League Soccerteam. The largest urban area without a team in one of the big six leagues is the 37th-ranked
Virginia Beach-Norfolk region.
Teams by urban area
The following list contains all urban areas in the United States and Canada containing at least one team in any of the six major leagues. The number of teams in the big four leagues (B4) and the big six leagues (B6), and the city's teams in the National Football League (NFL),[2] Major League Baseball (MLB),[3] the National Basketball Association (NBA),[4] the National Hockey League (NHL),[5] Major League Soccer (MLS)[6] and the Canadian Football League (CFL).[7] No metropolitan area has teams in all six leagues, as NFL teams are exclusively in the United States and CFL teams are exclusively in Canada.
^The Rams and Chargers are both in their second stints in the Los Angeles market. The Rams arrived from Cleveland in 1946 and played in the L.A. area until moving to
St. Louis after the 1995 season; they would return to L.A. in 2016. The Chargers were originally based in Los Angeles, playing there for the AFL's first season in 1960 before moving to
San Diego, where they would play until returning to L.A. in 2017. In addition to the Rams and Chargers, two other NFL teams have called Los Angeles home. The
Buccaneers (no relation to NFL franchise in Tampa) played in the 1926 season; despite representing Los Angeles, the team operated out of Chicago because of the difficulty of transcontinental travel in the era before modern air travel. The
Oakland Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994, before they moved back to Oakland.
^The
Washington Senators played 1 season in the NFL (then APFA) in 1921. The Commanders were known as the Redskins from 1937, when they moved from Boston, until 2020 when the name was
temporarily changed to the Washington Football Team; the Commanders name was adopted in 2022. Baltimore was home to two NFL teams, both named the Colts. The
original Colts played in the 1950 NFL season before folding, while the
second Colts team played from 1953 until it
relocated to
Indianapolis following the 1983 season.
^The
Washington Capitols were a charter member of what became the NBA; the team dissolved midway through the
1950-1951 season. Baltimore was home to two NBA teams, both named the Bullets. The
original Bullets played in the
American Basketball League and NBA from 1944 to 1954. The second team was founded in 1963, following the relocation of the
Chicago Zephyrs to Maryland. For the next 11 seasons, the Bullets played in Baltimore before moving to Landover, Maryland, within the
Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, in 1973.
^The
Chicago Tigers played one season in the NFL (then APFA) in 1920, while the
Chicago Cardinals were a charter franchise of the NFL, before moving to St. Louis in 1960.
^Chicago has had two prior NBA teams: the
Stags existed from 1946 to 1950 before folding and the
Packers/
Zephyrs played from 1961 to 1963, before moving to Baltimore.
^Before the Patriots joined the NFL as a result of the
AFL-NFL merger in 1970, three other NFL teams had played in Boston: the
Bulldogs (1929, disbanded), the
Braves/Redskins (1932-1936, moved to Washington) and the
Yanks (1944-1948, moved to New York and became the Bulldogs).
^Two other top-level football teams have played as the Dallas Texans.
The first Texans played in the NFL for one season in 1952. The second Texans were one of the eight original teams of the
AFL in 1960, and played under that name through the 1962 season, after which they moved to Kansas City, Missouri and began play under their current name of
Kansas City Chiefs.
^The
Athletics played in the
National League's inaugural season in 1876, before being expelled from the league. Another
Athletics team was established in the
American League in 1901 and played until 1954, when the team moved to
Kansas City.
^The
Quakers played in the NHL for the
1930-1931 season. Afterwards, the team suspended operations for the next five years before officially announcing their dissolution in 1936.
^The
Denver Nuggets joined the NBA in 1949 as a result of the
BAA's merger with the
NBL, but dissolved following their first NBA season; the current Denver Nuggets joined the NBA as part of the
ABA–NBA merger of 1976 and are not related to the original Nuggets.
^While Toronto has not had an NFL franchise, the
Buffalo Bills did host one of the team's regular season games each year and a number of pre-season games at the
Rogers Centre from 2008 to 2013 as part of the
Bills Toronto Series.
^The
Toronto Huskies played in the
inaugural season of what would become the NBA, before dissolving. The
Buffalo Braves were an NBA team that played a total of 16 home games in Toronto from 1971 to 1975.[11]
^The
Hamilton Tigers played in the NHL from 1920 to 1925 before relocating to New York City to become the
New York Americans; that team folded in 1946.
^Houston hosted the
Houston Oilers from 1960 (where they played in the AFL until its merger with the NFL in 1970) through 1996 when the team moved to Tennessee—initially being called the Tennessee Oilers in its first season in Memphis and its second season in Nashville until ultimately being renamed the
Tennessee Titans upon the opening of the team's
current Nashville stadium in 1999.
^The
Tampa Bay Mutiny was a charter franchise of MLS in 1996. However, the franchise folded in 2001.[10]
^Five other NFL teams have played in the Cleveland area: the
Tigers (1920-1922; the team suspended operations and could not pay an annual guarantee), the
Indians/Bulldogs (1923-1927, when the team moved to Detroit and became the
Wolverines), the
Indians (1931), the
Rams (1937-1946; moved to Los Angeles) and the
original Browns (1950-1995). The original Browns' owner
Art Modell had planned to move the Browns to
Baltimore but was threatened by legal action from both Cleveland and Browns fans; the
dispute was resolved when Modell was given an
expansion franchise in Baltimore using existing Browns personnel, while the city of Cleveland was allowed to retain the team's
intellectual property for a new Browns franchise.
^2 former baseball teams played in the
National League: the
Blues (1879-1884, when the teams was folded into the
Brooklyn Grays) and the
Spiders (1889-1899, when the team was contracted from the league). The Guardians were known as the
Indians from 1914 to 2021.
^Pittsburgh had one of the founding members of what became the NBA: the
Pittsburgh Ironmen. However, they only played a single season (
1946–47) before folding.
^The
original Hornets franchise played in the NBA from
1988 to
2002, before moving to New Orleans. The current Hornets were established in
2004 as the Charlotte Bobcats, but re-assumed the Hornets name in
2014, after the New Orleans Hornets renamed themselves the
Pelicans and transferred their records and statistics from their time as the original Hornets to the current Charlotte franchise.
^St. Louis has hosted four NFL teams: the
St. Louis All-Stars in 1923, the
St. Louis Gunners who played the last 3 games of the 1934 season, the
St. Louis Cardinals who played from 1960 to 1988 before moving to Phoenix, Arizona, and the
St. Louis Rams who played from 1995 to 2015, before moving back to Los Angeles.
^The
Eagles, a relocation of the
Ottawa Senators, played in the NHL for the
1934-1935 season; after a request to suspend operations for the following season was rejected by the NHL, the team was disbanded and its players dispersed among the league's remaining teams.
^The
Red Stockings, informally known as the "Reds", played in the
National League from 1876 until it was expelled in 1880 for violating league rules. The current Reds joined the NL in 1890 from the
AA.
^Las Vegas has never had an NBA team, but the
Utah Jazz played 11 home games in Las Vegas during the
1983-1984 season.
^The
Las Vegas Posse were a CFL expansion franchise that existed for only the 1994 season.
^The
Indianapolis Blues played in the
National League for the 1878 season, while the
St. Louis Maroons moved to Indianapolis and played as the Hoosiers from 1887 until the team dissolved in 1889. A second
Indianapolis Hoosiers team took the field in 1914, and won the championship of the new
Federal League, which is officially considered to be a major league. The franchise moved to
Newark, New Jersey for the league's second and final season.
^Before the Pacers joined the NBA in 1976 as a result of the
ABA–NBA merger, two NBA teams had played in Indianapolis: the
Indianapolis Jets of the
NBL joined the
BAA (the NBA's immediate predecessor) in 1948, but dissolved the following year when the NBL merged with the BAA, in favor of the NBL's
Indianapolis Olympians. The Olympians would disband in 1953.
^Milwaukee had an NFL franchise from 1922-1926 called the
Milwaukee Badgers. A few years after the Badgers folded, the
Green Bay Packers would play a portion of their home schedule in Milwaukee on a regular basis from
1933 until
1994.
^Prior to the Brewers, three MLB teams have played in Milwaukee. In the
National League, the
Grays played in the 1878 NL season, while the
Braves played in the city from 1953 until it moved to
Atlanta in 1965. The
original Brewers played in the
American League's inaugural season in 1901 before moving to St. Louis and becoming the Browns.
^Before the Bills joined the NFL as a result of the
AFL-NFL merger in 1970, two other NFL teams played in the Buffalo area. The
All-Americans/Bisons/Rangers/Bisons played in the city under several different owners until 1929 (not playing the 1928 season), while the
Tonawanda Kardex Lumbermen played in
Tonawanda in the 1921 season, but disbanded after a lopsided loss in their sole NFL game. From the 2008 to 2013 seasons, the Bills hosted one of their regular season games and a number of preseason games at Toronto's
Rogers Centre as part of the
Bills Toronto Series.
^The
Bisons played in the
National League from 1879 until it left the league in 1885; the
Bisons have played in the minor leagues in one form or another since. In addition, the
Toronto Blue Jays played a majority of their home games in Buffalo during the 2020 season due to
COVID-19-related issues preventing the Blue Jays from playing in Toronto.
^The New Orleans Jazz played in the NBA in 1974 before moving to
Salt Lake City in 1979. The Pelicans themselves (not related to the Jazz) were formerly a relocation of the
Charlotte Hornets, but in 2013 the renamed Pelicans transferred its records and statistics from their time in Charlotte to the
Charlotte Bobcats, who were about to reassume the Hornets name. The Pelicans are now considered an expansion team starting play in 2002 as the New Orleans Hornets, then renaming themselves as the Pelicans in 2013.
^Montreal was home to two other NHL clubs. The
Montreal Wanderers who played a portion of the NHL's inaugural 1917/18 season, and the
Montreal Maroons who played in the NHL from 1924-1938.
^Columbus had an NFL team called the
Columbus Panhandles that played from 1920-1926.
^The Elks were known as the Eskimos from 1949 until 2020, then temporarily calling themselves the Edmonton Football Team before adopting the Elks name in 2021.
^Two CFL teams have previously played in the Ottawa area: The
Rough Riders, who existed from 1876 to 1996 and the
Renegades, who played from 2002 to 2006.
^San Diego hosted the
San Diego Chargers from 1961 (where they initially played in the AFL until the league's merger with the NFL in 1970) through 2016, at which point the team moved back to its original city of Los Angeles for the 2017 season.
^San Diego has had two NBA franchises: the
San Diego Rockets and the
San Diego Clippers. The Rockets represented San Diego from 1967 until 1971 when they moved to
Houston,
Texas to become the
Houston Rockets. Seven years later, the
Buffalo Braves moved to town and were renamed the San Diego Clippers, where they played until 1984, when the team relocated to Los Angeles and became the
Los Angeles Clippers.
^
abSan Diego FC, an MLS expansion team, is scheduled to begin play in 2025.
^The NFL's
Houston Oilers relocated to Memphis for one season (as the Tennessee Oilers) in
1997 before moving to Nashville to become the
Tennessee Titans.
^The
Memphis Mad Dogs were a CFL expansion franchise that existed for only the 1995 season.
^
abThe NFL's
Buffalo Bills held one of the team's regular season games each year and a number of pre-season games at Toronto's
Rogers Centre from 2008 to 2013 as part of the
Bills Toronto Series.
^Buffery, Steve (November 3, 2004).
"The road was paved".
Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on October 8, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2013.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)