Hailing from Michigan, I cannot fathom living in a state without a single professional sports team. For goodness’ sake, we are known as “Hockey Town”! We love our pro sports teams as well as our college teams.
Furthermore, we have highly competitive sports teams, whether we are talking about notable pro teams or college teams, including but not limited to the following:
- University of Michigan Wolverines (softball, basketball, hockey, football)
- Michigan State University Spartans
- Detroit Tigers Baseball
- Detroit Red Wings Hockey
- Detroit Pistons Basketball
- Detroit Lions Football
Besides Michigan, here are the other states that host all four major sports teams:
- New York
- California
- Florida
- Pennsylvania
- Minnesota
- Texas
- Illinois
- Colorado
- Ohio
- Arizona
- Massachusetts
I can remember when New York had three baseball teams: the Yankees, Dodgers, and Mets. The Dodgers went to Los Angeles, California. Cali now boasts five professional baseball teams with the Dodgers, Angels, Athletics, Padres, and Giants.
Florida has two with the Marlins and the Rays. Chicago has had the same two teams, which divide the state of Illinois’ loyalty among Cubs and White Sox fans. Ohio also has two teams, the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Guardians.
Missouri has two teams with the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals. Pennsylvania has the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Lastly, Texas has two teams as well, including the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers.
I’m always surprised that we don’t have more than one pro team per sport, given that our great Pure Michigan state has two parts: the Lower Peninsula (The Mitten) and the Upper Peninsula (UP). Apparently, a lot of “Youpers” (people who live in the UP) are Wisconsin pro team fans – traitors!
Wikipedia notes the following regarding Michigan sports teams and that, “Michigan is home to four major-league professional sports teams, all of which play in the Detroit metropolitan area. The Pistons played at Detroit’s Cobo Arena until 1978 and at the Pontiac Silverdome until 1988, when they moved into the Palace of Auburn Hills where they played for 28 years between 1988 and 2017, before moving back inside city limits to Little Caesars Arena in Detroit in 2017.
The Detroit Lions played at Tiger Stadium in Detroit until 1974, then moved to the Pontiac Silverdome where they played for 27 years between 1975 and 2002, before moving to Ford Field in Detroit in 2002. The Detroit Tigers played at Tiger Stadium (formerly known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium) from 1912 to 1999. In 2000 they moved to Comerica Park. The Red Wings played at Olympia Stadium until 1979, Joe Louis Arena from 1979 to 2017, and then to Little Caesars Arena beginning in 2017,”.
We also have “feeder teams” that our pro teams recruit from. Key teams include:
- Toledo Mud Hens (Triple-A) for Major League Baseball (MLB)
- Erie SeaWolves (Double-A) for the MLB
- Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) for the Red Wings hockey organization
- Motor City Cruise (NBA G League) for the Pistons basketball team
Let’s not forget about soccer/futbol! Visit Detroit shares, “Are you a soccer fan (or football as the rest of the world knows it)? If so, check out Detroit’s own professional soccer club: Detroit City Football Club.
Currently, Detroit City FC is in the USL Championship, which is the tier below major league soccer. There are both men’s and women’s teams, and last year the men’s Le Rouge team made it to the USL Championship playoffs.
Catch a home game at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck the next time you’re in Detroit,”.
Top 10 states with the most professional sports teams
Well, I am going to guess that California leads in this category as well. For instance, as a football fan, I know that they have the following NFL teams:
- L.A. Rams
- L.A. Chargers
- San Francisco 49ers
They also used to have the Oakland Raiders, but they moved to Las Vegas in 2020.
According to Sporcle, below are the top states with the most professional sports teams:
“1. California (15)
MLB: Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants
NBA: Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings
NFL: Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers
NHL: Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks
2. Florida (9)
MLB: Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays
NBA: Miami Heat, Orlando Magic
NFL: Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NHL: Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning
3. New York (8)*
MLB: New York Mets, New York Yankees
NBA: Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks
NFL: Buffalo Bills
NHL: Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, New York Rangers
*Both the New York Giants and the New York Jets play their home games in New Jersey. They have not been included in this total. When included, New York has 10 professional sports teams, and would be 2nd on this list.
4. Texas (8)
MLB: Houston Astros, Texas Rangers
NBA: Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs
NFL: Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans
NHL: Dallas Stars
5. Pennsylvania (7)
MLB: Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates
NBA: Philadelphia 76ers
NFL: Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers
NHL: Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins
6. Ohio (6)
MLB: Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians
NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers
NFL: Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns
NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets
7. Illinois (5)
MLB: Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox
NBA: Chicago Bulls
NFL: Chicago Bears
NHL: Chicago Blackhawks,”.
States without professional sports teams
Believe it or not, there isn’t a single United States professional sports team in Alaska – not even hockey! States like Alaska and Hawaii do not have professional sports teams because of their location proximity to the rest of the forty-eight states, and travel would be extremely costly for their home teams as well as the visiting teams.
Other reasons these states lack professional sports team representation could be a small population or rugged, uninhabitable terrain. Other states without sports teams include:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
What states have all 4 major sports teams
In conclusion, from powerhouse states like California and New York to those without a single franchise, professional sports continue to unite fans and define regional pride nationwide.
GO BLUE!
Go get ‘em, Tigers!
One Pride!
Dee-troit Basketball!
Let’s Go Red Wings (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)!