If you are familiar with our Sports City Joy and Misery Index, we recently updated the full rankings of 49 North American Cities based on their Joy or Misery related to the success of their professional sports teams (MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL). This is a measure of what it is like to be a fan in these cities. We thought it would be interesting to see how this has changed overtime relative to the top 15 cities for the past 50 years.
The following provides a snapshot in time for 2015, 2000 and 1980 to see how Sports Cities have evolved (MLS was not around in 1980) and to understand what fanbases have had great sports joy in different eras. You will see some mainstays on the list, but also some cities that have had a long title drought, pushing them out of the top 15 on today’s list. Here we go.
1980 Top 15 Joyous Sports Cities
1980 Notes:
NYC – Was in the top spot due to the heavy weight of MLB World Series wins helping their cause. 36 of the city’s 53 Championships had been won by 1980. The majority of these were baseball and included some Brooklyn Dodger (1) NY Giants (5) World Series wins as well. NYC was on top of the world in 1980 as the Islanders had started their run of 4 Stanley Cups and The Yankees had won in ‘77-’78. Even the Nets and Knicks got into the fun in the 70’s each with 2 NBA Championships.
Montreal – Montreal had won 8 of their 10 Stanley Cups (our Index measurement starting with 1967 NHL expansion) by 1980, putting them at the 4th spot on the list. They have fallen 9 spots to 13th on the current list as the have only added 2 Cups since 1980.
Baltimore – 4 of Baltimore’s 7 Championships came before 1980 (2 – Orioles, Bullets-NBA and Colts-NFL). This success had them 8th on the list in 1980, but they have dropped 10 spots since, as they have only added 3 championships in the past 42 years (2-Ravens and 1-Orioles)
Cincinnati – 4 of the 5 Cincy Championships were produced prior to 1980. All 5 of Cincy’s championships are a product of the Reds with the final one coming in 1990. In 1980 this put them in 12th spot, but they have tumbled to 27th since due to that sole World Series since 1980.
Indianapolis – The Pacers won 3 titles in the 70’s. Since this time Indy has only added 1 championship and that was from the 2006-7 Colts. This drought has pushed them from 12th to 28th currently.
Minneapolis – Minneapolis has 7 championships and 5 of those came thanks to the Minneapolis Lakers in the 40’s and 50’s. The final 2 were added by the Twins in 1987 and 1991. This title slow down had them at 13th in 1980, but dropped them to 26th currently.
2000 Top 15 Joyous Sports Cities
2000 Notes:
GB-Milwaukee – By 2000 Green Bay-Milwaukee had dropped out of the top 15. 4 of their 7 championships came prior to 1980 and they only added 1 in the 20 years from 1980-2000 (1996-7 Packers).
Denver – Denver cracked the top 15 in 2000 and remain on the current list due to recent success (Avalanche in 2022). From 1980-2000, Denver landed 4 of their 7 titles. Broncos and Avalanche each got 2 in the 20 years from 1980 to 2000. Since 2000, the Broncos and Avalanche have added another Championship and the Rapids (MLS) won a title in 2010.
Edmonton – The Oilers won five Stanley Cups from 1982 to 1990 (Gretzky on 4 of those teams). They have not won much since. These cups still brought some joy to Oiler’s fans in 2000 to the tune of the 10th most joyous city from a sports standpoint. But now the drought has continued since 1990 causing Edmonton to slip to 20th place currently.
2015 Top 15 Joyous Sports Cities
2015 Notes:
Dallas – Coming in at 14th place, Dallas was still riding high from Super Bowl wins in the 70’s (2) and 90’s (3) along with a Stanley Cup in 1998 and the 2011 NBA Championship for the Mavs. The drought since has dropped their ranking from 14th in 2015 to 21st currently.
Miami – Miami also slipped out of the top 15 from 2015 to 2022. Miami has 7 titles and the most recent is the 2013 Heat NBA Championship. It is hard to believe that was nearly 10 years ago!
Finally
If you want to see the full current rankings along with the criteria used to develop this, please visit here. If you have any ideas as to how to improve the Index, please drop us a line in the comments.