U.S. states without major sports teams
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Despite the rampant popularity of professional sports in the United States, there are 25 States that do not have any major league sports teams (this includes the MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL).
The reasons for this are mixed. Often it is because of a lack of population density or size in a single city or even an entire state. No density hurts TV contracts, advertising, ticket sales, attendance, and city/state funds for the required facilities and salaries of the players. Often many states are grouped together, in the case of the New England Patriots (and, though not in name, the Boston Red Sox). Even though both teams play in the Boston area, there are still sizeable amount of fans in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Similarly, fans of Pittsburgh franchises can be found in West Virginia (mainly in the northern half of the state), Philadelphia fans in Delaware, Minneapolis and Minnesota fans in North and South Dakota, Kansas City fans in Kansas, Dallas fans in Oklahoma and Arkansas, Atlanta fans in Mississippi and Alabama, Denver and Colorado fans in Wyoming, Phoenix and Arizona fans in New Mexico, and any franchises based in California a sizable amount of fans can be found in Hawaii.
Virginia is by far the largest state in terms of population without a major sports team. There are 15 states (including Washington, D.C.) with lower populations and pro-sports franchises. [link]. However, a large portion of Virginia's population supports Washington, D.C. teams (though those in the Norfolk area tend support teams in or near North Carolina or Atlanta) The second largest state without a team, Alabama is the largest without any major sports teams either within or near its boundaries. Northern Alabama's population supports Atlanta teams and Southern Alabama's population supports New Orleans teams, but the entire state shows much more support for either of the state's two major university athletic teams. There are only three states smaller than Alabama with any permanent teams and only four teams between the three states (Louisiana, Oregon and Utah).
Nevada's case is unique in that its major city, Las Vegas, more than qualifies for at least one major league team. However, the major leagues have always been apprehensive of Las Vegas' gambling reputation, and the possibility that if Las Vegas had a franchise, illegal gambling would rise among the players and staff. Also, it is worth noting that Nevada's overall population remains below that of any state hosting a major league team. Las Vegas expansion has been explored by each of the four leagues, and it is possible that a Las Vegas team will join one of the leagues in the near future. Las Vegas will host the NBA All-Star Game in 2007, in hopes of convincing NBA officials that the city will support a team.
Alaska and Hawaii have never had a major league team, mainly due to their distance from the US mainland, and that the states were just addmitted to the union in 1959, when most of the major sports leagues were just growing. While Anchorage, Alaska's chances of getting a team are very slim, due to undersized arenas, Honolulu, Hawaii has large enough arenas to possibly host a team in the future. Honolulu used to be home to a WFL franchise, and currently hosts the annual NFL Pro Bowl. However most Hawaii's population tends to support Los Angeles teams, and while half of Alaska's population tends to support Seattle teams and while the other half suppots Canadian-based teams such as the Edmonton Oilers.
In place of major league teams, college, minor league, and high school teams enjoy quite a lot of attention, such as Alabama's Hoover High School's football team, The University of Alabama football and basketball, Nebraska's college football team, Kentucky's college basketball team, and so on.
The latest addition to this list is Connecticut, after the NHL's Hartford Whalers moved to Greensboro, North Carolina in 1997. Though fan support for a return to Hartford is big, issues have risen over stadium quality, cash, and lack of interest from potential team owners. However, Massachusetts developer Lawrence Gottesdiener is reportedly interested in buying the Pittsburgh Penguins and moving them to Hartford for next season. The Connecticut Sun WNBA team does play in the state.
The latest removal from this list is Oklahoma in 2005; the basketball team formerly known as the New Orleans Hornets is now officially the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets following the Hurricane Katrina disaster and negotiations between the franchise and Oklahoma City to house the team on a temporary basis. The Hornets will play 35 of 41 home games in Oklahoma City during the 2005-06 NBA season. There had been considerable speculation that this move would be permanent and that the team would eventually become the Oklahoma City Hornets, but the NBA has since announced that the franchise will return to New Orleans permanently for the 2007-08 season.
Currently, 3 states have only 1 major league sports team. Coincidentally, all of these teams are in the NBA, which led the other leagues in expansion to fast-growing Western U.S. markets such as Phoenix and Seattle. The states are Oklahoma (the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets), Oregon (the Portland Trail Blazers), and Utah (the Utah Jazz). Each team is healthy enough to remain in their current location, though the NBA has announced that the Hornets will return to New Orleans in 2007.
List of U.S. States without major sports teams
NOTE: The asterisk denotes a state that used to have a team in one of the major leagues; see below.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Connecticut*
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Iowa*
- Kansas (both the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals play in Missouri)
- Kentucky*
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska*
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island*
- South Carolina*
- South Dakota
- Vermont
- Virginia (the most populous state on this list)
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
Teams formerly located in one of these states
Connecticut
- Hartford Dark Blues (MLB, 1876; Charter member of National League)
- Hartford Blues (NFL, 1926)
- Hartford Whalers (NHL, 1979-1997)
Iowa
Kentucky
- Louisville Grays (MLB, 1876-1877; Charter member of National League)
- Louisville Colonels (MLB, 1892-1899; National League team)
- Louisville Brecks (NFL, 1921-1923)
- Louisville Colonels (NFL, 1926; only played on the road)
Nebraska
Rhode Island
- Providence Grays (MLB, 1878-1885; National League team)
- Providence Steam Roller (NFL, 1925-1931)
- Providence Steamrollers (NBA, 1946-1949)
South Carolina
- Carolina Panthers (NFL, 1995; moved to Charlotte, North Carolina the next year)
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