July 2023 Update
I was on a work trip with a group of colleagues from several great sports cities. There was representation from Detroit, St. Louis, Philadelphia, NJ/NY, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Cleveland amongst other places. After a cocktail or two, a discussion broke out about who’s city had suffered more relative to sports success (or more importantly, lack-there-of) over time. The rough criteria for this Sports City Misery Index was born that night.
Criteria Overview
-The Index only looks at cities that have current professional sports teams from MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL (Sorry Canadian Football League)
-A Championship stays with the city. So, if a team moves, the city keeps the Championship(s). For example – LA only gets Championships won by the Lakers while in LA. Minneapolis keeps those won while the team was in MN.
-NHL Stanly Cups only counted from 1967 forward. Prior to expansion in 1967, the league only consisted of 6 teams (sorry Montreal)
-3 Ranking systems used and then averaged to come up with the final ranking (Total Rank)
Ranking Systems
Titles – Simply a count of the Titles (Championships) won in the 5 major sports by a city (remember that NHL is measured from 1967 forward). NYC is the leader using this metric at 53 Titles. The Yankees alone have more titles (27) than every metro except Boston (35) and LA (28).
Champagne Points (CP) – Higher points are attributed to a title based on recency. The Champagne buzz from a title will diminish over time. However, you always remember the party, so the buzz never fully goes away. Even titles more than 100 years old, get a share of Champagne Points (.10) because those title lend to the team’s legacy and pride within the city. LA is leading this category, due to recent success in MLB, MLS, NBA and NFL.
CP/Team – This is used to balance the scales for smaller cities that have less teams. In this ranking CP’s are divided by current teams to reward a city that has had a lot of success per team. San Antonio is the leader here, as their single team (Spurs) have 5 titles, which have all come since 1999.
Total Rank -This ranked the cities based on the average score of the above 3 categories. Boston ranks #1 overall, as they had an average score of 2.3, as they ranked 2nd or 3rd in each of the 3 categories.
2023 Sports City Misery Index
The biggest mover in the July 2023 update verse 2022 was Kansas City, moving from 15th to 10th (tied) with the Chiefs beating the Eagles to win an exciting Super Bowl LVII (57). Houston also had a 7 spot bump from 20th to 13th due to the Astros beating the Phillies in the 2022 World Series. This update also included Los Angeles FC getting their first MLS Cup in 2022 by beating the Philadelphia Union. Los Angeles did not move as they are already 2nd and the bump from this win was not enough to overtake Boston.
The biggest mover is Sin City! Las Vegas jumped from 47th (second to last) up 10 spots to 37th with their Stanley Cup Championship. Denver also moved up 4 spots to crack the top 10 at number 8 thanks to the Joker leading them to an NBA Championship!
Philly has had 3 runner ups over the past 12 months (MLB, NBA and MLS). Philly ranks 15th on our list, but was as high as 11 in 2021. If you look at our index over time, you will see Philly as high as 5th in 1980. The glory days are fading and Philly needs to win one of these to give the City of Brotherly Love a little jolt of joy. Good luck Philly!
Top 5 and Bottom 5 Sports Cities
Boston remains on top for the city with the most sports joy. They have been able to ride the Patriots’ Super Bowl wins for a few years now. Recent success in Baseball has helped an the legacy of the Celtics gives the city a proud base which has kept it in the number 1 position. LA, The Bay Area, NYC and Pittsburg wrap up the top 5 in Sports Joy.
The cities with the greatest misery are all still looking for their first title. Nashville ends last in the index because it has not landed a title and has the most current teams (3) across the major sports. Hopefully, one of these teams can come through an propel this great city up the list (see Las Vegas above). Charlotte, Orlando and Vancouver are also 2 sport towns without a title. It would be fun to see an undog shake things up a bit!
Feedback
We are always looking to refine our index. We would love to hear your feedback or ideas on how to do that!