For major sports cities with multiple pro teams, local fans try to remain faithfully devoted to each. However, there’s always one team that manages to pull ahead of the pack. Which squads prevailed this year? Ticket Club data found that the MLB and NFL held nearly all the power.
We examined sales data in markets with two or more professional teams across the four core leagues: the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB. To determine which squad fared best in each city, only home games were accounted for, despite some teams grossing higher totals on the road (or in a neutral site, such as the case with the Super Bowl). Just as it did last year, Major League Baseball reigned supreme across the country, while the NFL followed by a hair.
Of the 30 qualified cities with multiple league representation, 12 earned the highest sports sales from an MLB team, the most of any league. Among these baseball-heavy markets are Atlanta, Denver, Milwaukee, Tampa and San Francisco. The MLB also prevailed in areas with more than four core-league teams, namely Chicago (Cubs) and Los Angeles (Dodgers).
See the full list of major sports cities in the U.S. below, with their best-selling team highlighted.
Major Sports Cities – Top Selling Teams of 2019
The NFL notched the majority of best-selling singular sporting events this year. Therefore, it makes sense that the league captured the most local interest in 11 markets. Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, New Orleans and more favored the gridiron to other sports.
Unsurprisingly, playoff appearances played a role in certain areas. While the Washington Capitals claimed DC’s highest sports ticket sales after winning the Stanley Cup last year, the city has now shifted its sports power to the Nationals for their historic World Series victory. On a similar note, 2018 World Series champions Boston Red Sox passed the city’s sports torch to the Bruins for their Stanley Cup Finals run.
Want to see more posts like this? Check out the rest of our 2019 Year in Review series here.