Cities That Have Lost the Most Teams

Boston may be dominant in professional sports today, but not all teams have prospered there. The Boston Yanks football team folded in the 1940s, while the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953 after they won the National League pennant in 1948.

Cincinnati, home to professional baseball’s oldest team, the Reds, has lost four professional sports teams over the years — most notably, the Cincinnati Royals. The NBA team, made famous by Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas in the 1960s, moved to Kansas City in 1972.

Kansas City has shed four pro teams. Two of the teams that departed — the A’s from Major League Baseball and the Kings from the NBA — had come from previous cities.

The Braves only spent 13 years in Milwaukee where they won consecutive National League pennants in 1957 and 1958 and a world championship in 1957. The moved to Atlanta after the 1965 season where they enjoyed even more success.

Though Philadelphia fans still have a team to cheer in all four major sports, the city has also lost four pro sports franchises. One early NHL team, the Quakers, folded after one season, and a World Hockey Association team, the Blazers, left for Vancouver after one season in the 1970s.

Baltimore sports fans had to suffer one of the most controversial franchise moves in American pro sports history, when Colts owner Bob Irsay quickly and quietly moved the team to Indianapolis in 1984 after stadium negotiations with the city fell through.

The Chicago Cougars of the now-defunct World Hockey Association were the last pro team to leave the Windy City. The NFL’s Cardinals played in Chicago before moving to St. Louis after the 1959 season.

Minneapolis is represented in all four major professional sports. The last pro team to leave the city were the NHL’s North Stars, who became the Dallas Stars.

Washington D.C. has lost two teams twice — the Capitols and Senators. The Caps were one of the original teams of the BAA, which eventually became the NBA. After five seasons, the team folded. There was a Washington Capitols revival in the ABA in 1970, but that team lasted just one season before moving to Virginia and becoming the Squires. The MLB’s Senators left D.C. twice — once after the 1960 season to become the Minnesota Twins, then after a new Senators franchise was formed that one left too after the 1971 season to become the Texas Rangers.

San Diego lost teams much more recently than most cities on this list. After losing the NBA’s Rockets to Houston in 1971, San Diego welcomed a new team, the Buffalo Braves, to town and changed the team’s name to the Clippers. But owner Donald Sterling moved the team to Los Angeles after six seasons. The NFL’s Chargers, who had played in San Diego for more than 50 years, also left for Los Angeles, after the 2016 season.

Though Detroit ranks highly on this list, its pro sports franchises have been fairly stable as of late. In the 1920s, Detroit had four different professional football franchises — the Heralds, Panthers, Tigers, and Wolverines — that lasted no more than two seasons. Detroit also had a basketball team called the Falcons and a hockey team called the Stags that lasted just one season apiece.

Los Angeles has the unenviable distinction of having lost two NFL teams in the same year — the Rams and Raiders in 1994. But it also got two back. The Rams returned in 2016 after moving to St. Louis, and the Chargers started playing in L.A. in 2017 after leaving San Diego.

Despite Ohio’s love for football, Cleveland fans have had a hard time holding on to their football franchises. Cleveland was been home to several short-lived pro football teams in the 1920s. The Rams franchise initially belonged to Cleveland but departed after the 1945 season. Cleveland still has the Browns, though the franchise had to be essentially restarted in 1999 after owner Art Modell moved the original Browns to Baltimore after the 1995 season.

The NFL’s Cardinals, who now play in Arizona, called St. Louis home from 1960 to 1987. The Rams also just recently left St. Louis at the behest of owner Stan Kroenke. The Atlanta Hawks of the NBA were the St. Louis Hawks for more than a decade in the 1950s and 1960s. Some may not remember that St. Louis had an MLB team besides the Cardinals for over 50 years. The Browns played in Missouri from 1902 to 1953 before relocating to Baltimore and changing their name to the Orioles.

As the largest city in the U.S., New York was a breeding ground for failed pro sports franchises during the early part of the 20th century. The city was home to eight NFL franchises that had all folded by 1951, while the Jets and Giants endured. More recently, the Giants and Dodgers of the MLB decamped for California after the 1957 season. New York has also passed the Nets franchise back and forth with New Jersey. The team currently plays in Brooklyn.