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Multiple major sports championship seasons

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In the history of championships in major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada (which include the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL), a city/metropolitan area has been home to multiple championships in a season 18 times, most recently in 2020 when the Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2020 Stanley Cup and Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV.[1] 2020 was also the first season where two different cities won multiple championships, with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the 2020 NBA Finals and the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the 2020 World Series. New York City is the only city to win multiple titles in back-to-back seasons, doing so in 1926–1927 and 1927–1928.[2] No city has ever won more than two championships in the four major sports in the same season. As of 2024, all 18 occurrences have been in American cities; no Canadian city has yet accomplished this feat.

A city has been home to multiple championships in a calendar year 18 times as well. Even though this has happened the same number of times as a city winning multiple championships in one season, this is a coincidence as a city can win two titles in a season without those titles being in the same calendar year (for example, the New York Jets and New York Mets both won titles in the 1969 calendar year, but the Jets Super Bowl III win was for the 1968 season; likewise the Baltimore Colts and Baltimore Orioles both won championships in the 1970 season, but the Colts Super Bowl V win came in 1971). This most recently happened in 2021 when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV and Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2021 Stanley Cup, their second in a row.[1] Like with single season championships, New York City is the only city to win multiple titles in back-to-back calendar years, doing so in 1927 and 1928.[2] Also like with single season championships, no city has won more than two titles in a single calendar year.

Philadelphia is the only city to have all four major sports teams (MLB's Phillies, NBA's 76ers, NFL's Eagles, and NHL's Flyers) play in their respective championship game or series in the same season (1980), though only one of the four (Phillies) actually won the championship.[3] The Tampa Bay area, which does not have an NBA team, had all three of its major sports teams (MLB's Rays, NFL's Buccaneers, and NHL's Lightning) play in their respective championships in the 2020 season, with the Lightning and Buccaneers winning the championships.[1]

Definitions

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Because some of the present-day "big four" North American sports leagues have merged with other leagues and their championships in the past, this article considers the following to be major sports championships:

Teams which are based in the same metropolitan area are considered together for this article even if they are not based in the same city. For example, teams representing Oakland, California are grouped with other teams based in the San Francisco Bay Area and teams playing in or representing New Jersey are grouped with other teams based in the New York City metropolitan area.

While the Super Bowl game is held in February (January prior to 2002), a Super Bowl championship is considered to be the championship for the year in which the regular season was played; for example, Super Bowl LIII, played on February 3, 2019, was the championship game for the 2018 NFL season and is thus considered a 2018 championship. All other championships including pre-Super Bowl football championships are considered to have been won the year in which the championship was awarded.

Multiple championships in a season

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Year City or metro area Team League Team League Team League
1927[4] New York City Giants NFL Yankees MLB
1928[2] New York City Rangers NHL Yankees MLB
1933[4] New York City Rangers NHL Giants MLB
1935[4] Detroit Lions NFL Tigers MLB
1938[4] New York City Giants NFL Yankees MLB
1948[4] Cleveland Browns AAFC Indians MLB
1952[4] Detroit Lions NFL Red Wings NHL
1956[4] New York City Giants NFL Yankees MLB
1970[4] Baltimore Colts NFL Orioles MLB
1979[4] Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Pirates MLB
1986[4] Greater New York Giants NFL Mets MLB
1988[4] Los Angeles Lakers NBA Dodgers MLB
2000[4] Greater New York Devils NHL Yankees MLB
2002[4] Greater Los Angeles Lakers NBA Angels MLB
2004[4] Greater Boston Patriots NFL Red Sox MLB
2018[4] Greater Boston Patriots NFL Red Sox MLB
2020[4] Los Angeles Lakers NBA Dodgers MLB
2020[1] Tampa Buccaneers NFL Lightning NHL
City or metro area Number of times winning multiple championships in one season
Greater New York 7
Greater Los Angeles 3
Greater Boston 2
Detroit 2
Baltimore 1
Cleveland 1
Pittsburgh 1
Tampa 1

Multiple championships in a calendar year

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Year City Team League Team League Team League
1927[2] New York City Giants NFL Yankees MLB
1928[2] New York City Rangers NHL Yankees MLB
1933[2] New York City Rangers NHL Giants MLB
1935[2] Detroit Lions NFL Tigers MLB
1938[2] New York City Giants NFL Yankees MLB
1948[2] Cleveland Browns AAFC Indians MLB
1952[2] Detroit Lions NFL Red Wings NHL
1956[2] New York City Giants NFL Yankees MLB
1969[2] New York City Jets NFL Mets MLB
1979[2] Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Pirates MLB
1988[5] Los Angeles Dodgers MLB Lakers NBA
1989[2] San Francisco Bay Area 49ers NFL Athletics MLB
2000[2] Greater New York Devils NHL Yankees MLB
2002[2] Greater Los Angeles Lakers NBA Angels MLB
2004[5] Greater Boston Patriots NFL Red Sox MLB
2009[5] Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Penguins NHL
2020[5] Los Angeles Lakers NBA Dodgers MLB
2021[1] Tampa Buccaneers NFL Lightning NHL
City or metro area Number of times winning multiple championships in one calendar year
Greater New York 7
Greater Los Angeles 3
Detroit 2
Pittsburgh 2
Greater Boston 1
Cleveland 1
San Francisco Bay Area 1
Tampa 1

Multiple championships involving other professional teams

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Year City Team League Team League Team League Team League
1975 Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Triangles WTT
1977 Montreal Canadiens NHL Alouettes CFL
1977 Greater New York Yankees MLB Cosmos NASL
1987 Edmonton Oilers NHL Eskimos CFL
1997[2] Detroit Red Wings NHL Vipers IHL
1998[2] Chicago Fire MLS Bulls NBA Wolves IHL
2001[2] Los Angeles Sparks WNBA Lakers NBA
2002[2] Greater Los Angeles Sparks WNBA Lakers NBA Angels MLB Galaxy MLS
2003[6] Tampa Buccaneers NFL Storm AFL
2008 Philadelphia Soul AFL Phillies MLB
2008[2] Detroit Shock WNBA Red Wings NHL
2009 Montreal Impact USL First Division Alouettes CFL
2012[2] Greater Los Angeles Kings NHL Galaxy MLS
2014 Seattle Sounders U.S. Open Cup Seahawks NFL
2014 Kansas City metropolitan area FC Kansas City NWSL Comets[d] MISL
2014[2] Greater Los Angeles Kings NHL LA Galaxy MLS
2015[2] Kansas City metropolitan area FC Kansas City NWSL Royals MLB Sporting Kansas City U.S. Open Cup
2015 San Francisco Bay Area Sabercats AFL Warriors NBA Santa Cruz Warriors D-League
2016 Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Monsters AHL
2016 Denver Broncos NFL Outlaws MLL
2016 Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Americans ECHL FC Dallas U.S. Open Cup
2016 Greater New York Red Bulls II USL Cosmos NASL
2017 Greater Houston Scrap Yard Dawgs NPF Astros MLB
2017 Greater Toronto Area Argonauts CFL Toronto FC MLS, Voyageurs Cup Wolfpack Rugby League 1 Raptors 905 D-League
2018 Toronto Marlies AHL Wolfpack RFL Championship
2018 Washington, D.C. Capitals NHL Valor AFL
2019 Greater St. Louis Blues NHL Rascals FL
2019 Toronto Raptors NBA Wolfpack RFL Championship
2019[2] Washington, D.C. Mystics WNBA Nationals MLB
2019 Orange County, California Cal United NISA LA Galaxy OC UWS
2020[7] Tampa Bay area Buccaneers NFL Lightning NHL Rowdies[e] USL Championship
2022 Los Angeles Rams NFL Los Angeles Football Club MLS
2022 Denver Avalanche NHL Mammoth NLL
2023 Las Vegas Golden Knights NHL Aces WNBA
2023 Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Renegades XFL Rangers MLB

Notes

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  1. ^ This article considers championships awarded by the Basketball Association of America (1946–1949), National Basketball League (1937–1949), and American Basketball Association (1967–1976) to be major sports championships, as some modern NBA teams trace their history to one of these leagues. No championships from these leagues qualify for inclusion in this article.
  2. ^ This article excludes Stanley Cups won during the challenge era (1893–1914).
  3. ^ a b During the AFL–NFL merger period (1966–1969), the AFL and NFL awarded their own championships, and those two champions faced each other in what would become the Super Bowl. This article excludes AFL or NFL champions from that time period that did not go on to win the Super Bowl.
  4. ^ The MISL ran from November 15, 2013 to March 2, 2014.
  5. ^ USLC Eastern Conference champions and co-league champions; USL Championship Game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Rowdies along with the Western Conference champion Phoenix Rising were named co-champions.

See also

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Footnotes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "How Tampa Bay became Champa Bay - the go-to place for glory in US sport". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Mukherjee, Rahul. "Ten Cities have won more than one title in a year. The Dodgers win makes Los Angeles tie for the most of any of them". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  3. ^ Flaherty, Dan (2011-12-13). "The Grand Slam Of 1980 Philadelphia Sports". thesportsnotebook.com. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Cities with 2 major sports championships in same season". List Wire. 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  5. ^ a b c d Weiner, Allen (2017-05-19). "Which Cities Won Multiple Sports Championships in a Single Year?". Sportscasting | Pure Sports. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  6. ^ "Tampa Bay Storm 2003 ArenaBowl Champions". wtsp.com. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  7. ^ Company, Tampa Publishing. "After Lightning and Bucs, here are Champa Bay's recent titles". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
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