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twintig5 OP t1_j1rhvhz wrote

I shared a similar chart last year, and then there were a lot of comments and questions, so I wanted to improve it a bit.

  • Source: Wikipedia
  • Tools: Python for data cleaning and wrangling
  • Datawrapper for chart

Few things to have in mind:

  • The championships won are recorded for the cities only, not the individual franchises
  • When a team relocates to a new city, the number of championships won in the prior city remain with that city
  • Cities from suburbs and metropolitan areas, are mapped to the “main” city (e.g. Oakland to San Francisco)

If you would like to see different breakdowns (last 50 years, 21st century), or a full list of the cities (with at least 1 championship), you can find all that on my blog post here

On top of that, you can see a time series, and have a look how things changed with time. And there's a breakdown of all NYC sports championships.

Also, you find details about sources, methodology and mapping (which team was mapped to which city).

In general, it took quite some time to collect, organize and prepare all datasets, therefore hope you enjoyed.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone!

Edit: to provide some additional explanation. Wording is not the best, as if we are speaking about North America, we would need to include other countries and other leagues (e.g. Liga MX). Using wording like "US Sports" also isn't correct, as we have Canadian cities having representatives in some of the leagues. Some term like "US & Canada joint leagues" would maybe be better. General idea was to take 5 most popular sports, and get the winners of the top leagues of every sport. And that's why I haven't included CFL. For those asking why pre-NFL championships are included for football, it is because NFL recognizes them officially, similar like NBA recognizes BAA winners. Regarding soccer, I understand it wasn't big historically, but now is somewhere on pair with NHL, and that's why it was included. And I was only including MLS, since 1996.

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Yeti-420-69 t1_j1rkwjx wrote

Is the football NFL only? I think you should include the CFL

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twintig5 OP t1_j1rlel8 wrote

> Is the football NFL only?

Yes, NFL only.

edit: there was discussion before about that, and I don't think that majority of people would approve including CFL.

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mrplow4000 t1_j1rvq5b wrote

If it’s nfl only why does Detroit have 3 football championships?

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gugudan t1_j1s3fi8 wrote

There were NFL champions long before the Superbowl

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dba1990 t1_j1s0i0q wrote

Not just the Super Bowls; all NFL championships they recognize including the pre-merger titles. Which is why the Bears and Packers have double-digit NFL title wins.

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Yeti-420-69 t1_j1rmjh1 wrote

Of course the majority would think so, Americans are self-centered lol, but this is supposed to represent North America.

IMO you either need to include it to make the title and data accurate or replace any mention of 'Football' with 'NFL'.

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factanonverba_n t1_j1rrh1l wrote

Yeah. If you want to add "football" then you need to add the third oldest sports league, and oldest football league, in North America, the CFL.

If you were being honest about "North American" sports leagues and their championships, then you'd have to add 48 football championships to Toronto,14 to Vancouver, 12 to Hamilton, and 8 to Montreal in order for this graph to have any validity.

FFS, OP added MLS, but not the CFL?

When the data is garbage, then its certainly not beautiful.

edit: links

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Yeti-420-69 t1_j1rrx6a wrote

Exactly, ruins it for me. They even play in the same stadiums sometimes lol. Including the White Caps and not the Lions is a joke

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tsigalko11 t1_j1s5sjs wrote

You really would count that, and treat it the same way as winning the Superbowl or NBA finals?

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factanonverba_n t1_j1senvi wrote

If OP is counting MLS, and "... treat it the same way as winning the Superbowl or NBA finals..." then yes, I would. I'd count something with higher ratings, a larger fan base, a longer lineage, and generates more money than MLS.

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twintig5 OP t1_j1rpyaz wrote

It's not about US vs Canada, it's about level of the league. CFL is really not close tot the NFL level. I'm European, so could be I'm wrong, but my logic was to take top tier leagues of most popular sports.

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jpWinter t1_j1rxj4u wrote

Yet you included soccer?

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formerlyanonymous_ t1_j1s8cji wrote

Yeah, Liga MX would likely be top tier for North America. Would be equivalent to Canada with NHL for popularity.

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tsigalko11 t1_j1s5pcd wrote

What soccer has to do with CFL?

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Yeti-420-69 t1_j1s7fts wrote

Well if you look at Vancouver's teams... They play in the same stadium yet the far more popular and historical team is excluded from this.

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tsigalko11 t1_j1tmsyd wrote

MSL is a top league of the sport that is number 5. CFL is not a top football leage.

It's apples and oranges

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Yeti-420-69 t1_j1toeg9 wrote

CFL is one of two national American football leagues on the planet... You don't even know it's called MLS

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tsigalko11 t1_j1u7epb wrote

Is there a soccer competition in the US&Canada that is at higher quality level?

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Yeti-420-69 t1_j1w0paj wrote

There's high level badminton too, want to include that?

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tsigalko11 t1_j1w9h8z wrote

Soccer is, at least im the US, 5th most popular sports, very close to NHL.

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SciK3 t1_j1s0iq2 wrote

as an american who has gone to canada, cfl is definitely a major sport event. it is one of the most viewed sports there. i believe the grey cup previously was the most viewed sporting event in canada.

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Yeti-420-69 t1_j1s7njv wrote

I think it's the oldest major sports trophy in North America too, commissioned in 1909

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formerlyanonymous_ t1_j1s9uak wrote

While it's a major sport, the players in the CFL are NFL washouts or prospects mostly. It'd be like comparing MLB with AAA baseball. One is the top league. Doesn't make the other any less important. It's just not the top league.

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SciK3 t1_j1sfnob wrote

in canada? no. majority of people either only watch cfl or only watch cfl and nfl. very few people wholeheartedly prefer the nfl over the cfl, you could say eastern canada but even then its fairly split. western canada is basically all in on the cfl. the nfl is an american league watched by americans.

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formerlyanonymous_ t1_j1sjiwr wrote

Might have responded to wrong comment. I know Canadians prefer it, almost to NFL being an after thought. My comment was on the players in the league. CFL is people cut or retired out of NFL looking for a second chance at a playing career.

Comparing it to minor league AAA baseball to MLB or AHL to NHL is as close as I can compare, but even that's likely selling the CFL a bit short.

If we're talking the premier division in US/Canada, the NFL clearly has a higher quality for talent and product. And that's the argument I'm getting from the OP.

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braindeadzombie t1_j1si70b wrote

On the same logic, North American football (soccer) leagues should be excluded.

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Yeti-420-69 t1_j1rrr94 wrote

It's a major sports championship... As the title of your chart claims to represent. It is the top level of football in Canada, which is part of North America. There's no reason to exclude it except to pacify Americans.

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40for60 t1_j1sb5r4 wrote

Canadians are always whining and begging for attention.

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dlte24 t1_j1stf1w wrote

It's not NFL only. Looks like Cleveland has 9 football titles (with 2 MLB and 1 NBA for 12 total titles)

The Cleveland Bulldogs won the NFL in 1924. The Cleveland Rams won the NFL in 1945. The Browns won the AAFC in 46, 47, 48, and 49. The Browns then won the NFL in 50, 54, 55, and 64. Unless they included the 1 Akron (1920) and 2 Canton (1922, 23) titles as Cleveland's, there are 6 NFL titles for Cleveland.

So they must have counted the Rams 1 and all 8 of the Browns championships for the 9 or NFL titles for the Rams (1), Browns (4), Cleveland Bulldogs (1), Akron Pros (1), and Canton Bulldogs (2).

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pspahn t1_j1sq5jj wrote

> Cities from suburbs and metropolitan areas, are mapped to the “main” city (e.g. Oakland to San Francisco)

Oakland: 10
San Francisco: 9

Just wanted to point that out.

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formerlyanonymous_ t1_j1s9jio wrote

Quibble, but your title here includes North America, but Liga MX would cover Mexico. Would get confusing as they play two phases to their year with separate champions for the last 40-50 years.

Then again the blog mixes US/Canada vs North America. Consistency would be helpful.

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KmartQuality t1_j1tmk1d wrote

SF and Oakland should not be together.

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Cripelter_Walknone t1_j1w2wy7 wrote

So do you give Oakland 3 NBA titles and SF 1? Also do either of these teams get a title of SJ Sharks win?

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KmartQuality t1_j1wais7 wrote

Yeah. And by OPs logic, SF gets the As rings from the 70s and 90s.

As for San Jose, you get NOTHING!

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