Home › Major pro and college sports teams ranked by market size

Major pro and college sports teams ranked by market size

Ranking the 115 U.S.-based “Big Four” pro sports teams (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB), 80 “Power” conference college programs (ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, Big East) and select non-power college teams by Nielsen TV market size.

Sports Team TV Market Size

As determined by Nielsen and effective for the 2023-24 television season. American teams only (Nielsen does not track viewership in Canada.)

Disclaimer: Many of the college teams listed could be listed under several different markets. Texas, for example, could reasonably be listed in every Texas-based market. In general, teams are either in geographic proximity to the listed market or are the primary flagship athletic institution in the state.

Rank	Market	Homes (000)	NBA	NFL	NCAA Power Conferences	MLB	NHL
1	New York City	7,595	Knicks, Nets	Giants, Jets	Rutgers, St. John’s, Syracuse, Seton Hall, UConn	Yankees, Mets	Rangers, Devils, Islanders
2	Los Angeles	5,905	Lakers, Clippers	Rams, Chargers	USC, UCLA	Dodgers, Angels	Kings, Ducks
3	Chicago	3,649	Bulls	Bears	Illinois, DePaul, Northwestern, Notre Dame	Cubs, White Sox	Blackhawks
4	Philadelphia	3,177	76ers	Eagles	Penn State, Villanova	Phillies	Flyers
5	Dallas-Ft. Worth	3,130	Mavericks	Cowboys	SMU, TCU, Texas	Rangers	Stars
6	Houston	2,773	Rockets	Texans	Houston, Texas	Astros	no team
7	Atlanta	2,737	Hawks	Falcons	Georgia, Georgia Tech	Braves	no team since 2011 (Thrashers)
8	Boston	2,606	Celtics	Patriots	Boston College, UConn	Red Sox	Bruins
9	Washington D.C.	2,578	Wizards	Commanders	Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Georgetown	Nationals	Capitals
10	SF-Oakland-San Jose	2,520	Warriors	49ers	Stanford, Cal	Giants, A’s	Sharks
11	Phoenix	2,174	Suns	Cardinals	Arizona, Arizona State	Diamondbacks	no team since 2024 (Coyotes)
12	Tampa-St. Pete	2,143	no team	Buccaneers	Florida	Rays	Lightning
13	Seattle-Tacoma	2,071	no team since 2008 (Sonics)	Seahawks	Washington, Washington State, Gonzaga	Mariners	Kraken
14	Detroit	1,930	Pistons	Lions	Michigan, Michigan State	Tigers	Red Wings
15	Minneapolis-St. Paul	1,862	T’Wolves	Vikings	Minnesota	Twins	Wild
16	Orlando-Daytona	1,840	Magic	no team	UCF, Florida	no team	no team
17	Denver	1,787	Nuggets	Broncos	Colorado	Rockies	Avalanche
18	Miami-Ft. Lauderdale	1,737	Heat	Dolphins	Miami	Marlins	Panthers
19	Cleveland-Akron	1,553	Cavaliers	Browns	Ohio State	Guardians	no team since 1978 (Barons)
20	Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto	1,526	Kings	no team	no team	no team	no team
21	Charlotte	1,362	Hornets	Panthers	see below	no team	no team
22	Raleigh-Durham	1,333	no team	no team	NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, North Carolina	no team	Hurricanes
23	Portland	1,315	Trail Blazers	no team	Oregon, Oregon State	no team	no team
24	St. Louis	1,285	no team since 1968 (Hawks)	no team since 2016 (Rams)	Missouri, Illinois	Cardinals	Blues
25	Indianapolis	1,206	Pacers	Colts	Indiana, Butler, Purdue	no team	no team
26	Nashville	1,192	no team	Titans	Vanderbilt	no team	Predators
27	Salt Lake City	1,174	Jazz	no team	Utah, BYU	no team	NHL team
28	Pittsburgh	1,165	no team	Steelers	Pittsburgh, West Virginia	Pirates	Penguins
29	Baltimore	1,162	no team since 1973 (Bullets)	Ravens	Maryland	Orioles	no team
30	San Diego	1,123	no team since 1984 (Clippers)	no team since 2017 (Chargers)	no team	Padres	no team
31	San Antonio	1,081	Spurs	no team	Texas	no team	no team
32	Hartford-New Haven	1,034	no team	no team	UConn	no team	no team since 1997 (Whalers)
33	Columbus	1,020	no team	no team	Ohio State	no team	Blue Jackets
34	Kansas City	1,019	no team since 1985 (Kings)	Chiefs	Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri	Royals	no team since 1976 (Scouts)
35	Austin	1,001	no team	no team	Texas	no team	no team
36	Greenville-Spartanburg	951	no team	no team	Clemson, South Carolina	no team	no team
37	Cincinnati	940	no team since 1972 (Royals)	Bengals	Cincinnati, Xavier	Reds	no team
38	Milwaukee	932	Bucks	Packers	Wisconsin, Marquette	Brewers	no team
40	Las Vegas	889	no team	Raiders	no team	no team	Golden Knights
41	Jacksonville	799	no team	Jaguars	Florida, FSU	no team	no team
46	Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem	756	no team	no team	NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, North Carolina	no team	no team
46	Birmingham-Anniston-Tuscaloosa	756	no team	no team	Alabama, Auburn	no team	no team
47	Oklahoma City	737	Thunder	no team	Oklahoma, Oklahoma State	no team	no team
48	Louisville	708	no team	no team	Louisville	no team	no team
50	Memphis	673	Grizzlies	no team	Mississippi	no team	no team
51	New Orleans	672	Pelicans	Saints	LSU	no team	no team
53	Providence	648	no team	no team	Providence	no team	no team
54	Buffalo	641	no team since 1978 (Braves)	Bills	no team	no team	Sabres
56	Richmond-Petersburg	611	no team	no team	Virginia	no team	no team
59	Little Rock-Pine Bluff	588	no team	no team	Arkansas	no team	no team
61	Knoxville	579	no team	no team	Tennessee	no team	no team
62	Tulsa	557	no team	no team	Oklahoma State	no team	no team
63	Lexington	515	no team	no team	Kentucky	no team	no team
64	Spokane	500	no team	no team	Washington State, Gonzaga	no team	no team
65	Tuscon	498	no team	no team	Arizona	no team	no team
67	Des Moines-Ames	482	no team	no team	Iowa, Iowa State	no team	no team
69	Green Bay-Appleton	476	no team	Packers	no team	no team	no team
70	Roanoke-Lynchburg	458	no team	no team	Virginia Tech	no team	no team
71	Omaha	456	no team	no team	Nebraska, Creighton	no team	no team
74	Columbia, SC	443	no team	no team	South Carolina	no team	no team
77	Madison	434	no team	no team	Wisconsin	no team	no team
79	Charleston-Huntington	427	no team	no team	West Virginia	no team	no team
83	Waco	412	no team	no team	Baylor	no team	no team
87	Syracuse	389	no team since 1963 (Nationals)	no team	Syracuse	no team	no team
91	Champaign-Springfield-Decatur	373	no team	no team	Illinois	no team	no team
95	Baton Rouge	357	no team	no team	LSU	no team	no team
100	South Bend	329	no team	no team	Notre Dame	no team	no team
105	Tallahassee	301	no team	no team	FSU	no team	no team
106	Lincoln	295	no team	no team	Nebraska	no team	no team
112	Johnstown-Altoona-State College	286	no team	no team	Penn State	no team	no team
113	Lansing	271	no team	no team	Michigan State	no team	no team
119	Eugene	256	no team	no team	Oregon	no team	no team
135	Columbus-Tupelo-West Point	191	no team	no team	Mississippi State	no team	no team
136	Columbia-Jefferson City	187	no team	no team	Missouri	no team	no team
141	Lubbock	174	no team	no team	Texas Tech	no team	no team
158	Gainesville	143	no team	no team	Florida	no team	no team
173	Charlottesville	101	no team	no team	Virginia	no team	no team
188	Lafayette	75	no team	no team	Purdue	no team	no team

Comments 81

TL says:

1 year ago

And, the TV markets, including Canada?

Reply
Andy says:

1 year ago

Nice story, good work, but man, poorly designed. Too much space, and why have the slide bar at the bottom? Took me 5 minutes wondering where the NHL was. Very much need an easier-to-view, tighter download/print version. A list of just the pro markets would be interesting. Also needs a timestamp. No indication what year this is. (Just looked at letters, this is 7 years old. Telling me there’s no update?

Reply
- Jon Lewis says:
  
  1 year ago
  
  Last updated last year. I’ll see what I can do on the design side.
  
  Reply
AnuragGolipkar says:

2 years ago

Should college athletes be paid for their contributions to the billion-dollar industry of college sports?

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Frank the Tank says:

2 years ago

Hadn’t seen this list until now. Nice that you put it together. I would list Purdue as a power conference team for Indianapolis. Also, Texas and Texas A&M ought to be listed for every major Texas market.

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  2 years ago
  
  Yes — good idea on both. Will update.
  
  Reply
Thomas T says:

2 years ago

University at Buffalo has a Division I program. They are in the MAC and have been o bowl games in football and the NCAA tournament in basketball.

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  2 years ago
  
  I’m limiting the NCAA schools to the “power four” conferences.
  
  Reply
Fighter of the Nightman says:

2 years ago

Hopefully some helpful feedback! Personally, I would list Illinois for college teams in the St. Louis market. While there are significantly more Mizzou fans overall, there are still nearly 700k people living on the Illinois side of the MSA, and my experience is that they lean Illini. Illinois also gets covered regularly in the local media, and Illinois and Mizzou play an annual rivalry game in St. Louis with the crowd split down the middle (i.e., sending the message that the market is at least in some way “split” between the two).

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  2 years ago
  
  Sure, I could add them.
  
  Reply
- AJ M says:
  
  1 year ago
  
  I understand how it happened, but Gonzaga should really be included in the TV market for Spokane and maybe even Seattle as there’s a gigantic support base for them statewide and besides them joining the Pac, they’re very much a big enough brand to be included there. Gonzaga is a borderline blue chip in NCAAB and is a big reason Spokane even has a media market. Feel free to disagree i just feel like they’re an exception to the power conf requirement even before joining the Pac.
  
  Reply
  - Jon Lewis says:
    
    1 year ago
    
    You make a good point. I’ll add them.
    
    Reply
fettpett says:

2 years ago

You left the Madison, WI market out for the Wisconsin Badgers, Madison is ranked 72, right after Ohama on your list

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  2 years ago
  
  Thanks for catching that. Will fix.
  
  Just checked and I do have Madison on there, ranked #77. Maybe that has changed in the latest rankings.
  
  Reply
Roberto says:

2 years ago

Where’s the Utah Hockey team

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  2 years ago
  
  Thanks for noting that, I’ve updated to reflect the change.
  
  Reply
Jeff says:

2 years ago

Absurd you do not include MLS.

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ER Smuth says:

2 years ago

West Virginia Univ [U WVa] is headquartered in Morgantown, NOT in Charleston or Huntington. So, it’s actually 0 for 5!

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daveyb says:

3 years ago

Where would Quebec City be? This would be of interest in the nhl expands or relocates some existing franchises. The nhl is unique in having several teams in Canadian cities and considerable political pressure to maintain a strong presence in canada

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- Paul Christie says:
  
  2 years ago
  
  Quebec City metropolitan area has a population of about 850,000. So pretty small but not unprecedented small. Seems that the committed fan base would be high – but TV eyeballs maybe not so much.
  
  Reply
omar says:

3 years ago

i neeed more info

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Michael M says:

4 years ago

I know the Sacramento Kings suck, why aren’t they listed in the Sacramento Market?

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- Paulsen says:
  
  4 years ago
  
  The Kings are easy to overlook, I admit — but they are listed next to Sacramento.
  
  Reply
  - Zak says:
    
    4 years ago
    
    Devils don’t play in new york they play in Newark New Jersey
    
    Reply
    - Odie says:
      
      3 years ago
      
      What’s your point?
    - Gens Lewis says:
      
      3 years ago
      
      Jersey has no identity of its own. The north is a NYC market, and the south is a Philly market.
    - Darrell J says:
      
      3 years ago
      
      Angels/Ducks don’t play in LA. Markets typically extend beyond city limits.
    - David Vaillencourt says:
      
      3 years ago
      
      The Devils play 3 miles as the crow flies from Staten Island(NYC), 7 miles from Manhattan(NYC) c’mon now.. 😉
Will says:

4 years ago

This list is SO misleading. Look up “metro population”. That is the true teller. For example, Miami’s true size is over TWICE as big as Denver. And this stupid list would lead you to think Denver is bigger than Miami. Which isn’t even close to true in reality.

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- Paulsen says:
  
  4 years ago
  
  Not sure how you found time on Christmas to complain about this, but this is a list of Nielsen market sizes. That’s it. Nowhere on this page does it say that this is a list of which cities are bigger.
  
  Reply
Ron G says:

5 years ago

Here’s a list of the 10 largest DMA markets (U.S. and Canada) by population instead of households; Toronto is #4:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/791916/leading-tv-markets-north-america/

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Kyle says:

5 years ago

I am not sure why it is so hard for people to comprehend that these are Nielson TV markets and not sports / fan base markets. It is a pretty simple list of those “TV” markets and what sports teams are in them. I am sure if you spend 2 minutes on a reputable internet search page you can find a more comprehensive list of sports / fan base markets.

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T Hui says:

5 years ago

Why does a market like Tampa have a bigger TV market than Miami when the Miami metro area is much bigger? Or how is San Diego could be that low in the rankings when the metro area is higher up the rankings? I don’t get it.

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- ScottinDallas says:
  
  5 years ago
  
  Tampa/St Pete vs Miami alone?
  
  Reply
- SoCal Joe says:
  
  5 years ago
  
  Miami-Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach are separate TV markets, which is why it appears the Miami numbers are so much lower than Tampa-St. Pete. San Diego’s market is just the county of San Diego, nothing more (Tijuana does not count). Imperial County is part of Yuma, AZ. All the counties just to the north of SD are part of the L.A. market.
  
  Reply
  - Clinton says:
    
    3 years ago
    
    I thought West Palm Beach gets the Dolphins/Heat/Panthers/Marlins games?
    
    Reply
Jerome says:

5 years ago

Wheres Toronto???

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- Paulsen says:
  
  5 years ago
  
  List only includes U.S. cities.
  
  Reply
Creighton Rabs says:

5 years ago

Will this page be updated to reflect the Raiders now based in Las Vegas instead of Oakland when updated market numbers are released?

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- Paulsen says:
  
  5 years ago
  
  Thanks for catching that. I’ll fix it now.
  
  Reply
Frank Martin says:

6 years ago

Orlando #18 with 1.4M and experiencing explosive growth. Amazing that the only major sport we have here is a 3ed rate NBA team.

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Daniel says:

6 years ago

Can you add MLS, please?

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- Tony says:
  
  4 years ago
  
  Two years later, I echo your request. MLS has grown to 28 teams and has been around for 25+ years and I think has at least equal interest in some parts of the country as the NHL. One of these years I hope the media will say “of the 5 major sports…” instead of saying “of the 4 major sports…”
  
  Reply
  - Billy says:
    
    3 years ago
    
    The 4 major sports are the best leagues for that sport in the world. MLS isn’t even a top 10 league in its own sport
    
    Reply
    - Eber says:
      
      2 years ago
      
      MLS has surpassed the NHL in popularity and is closing in on MLB
Eric says:

6 years ago

Milwaukee and Green Bay are definitely the same market 100% the stadium itself is like 1.5 hours from milwaukee, not to mention the state of Wisconsin is pretty steadily populated between those places.

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- Paulsen says:
  
  6 years ago
  
  Milwaukee is a separate market from Green Bay for Nielsen purposes.
  
  Reply
- KCJ says:
  
  6 years ago
  
  Chicago is 20 minutes closer to Milwaukee than Green Bay is…are the Cubs and White Sox in the Milwaukee market then too?
  
  Reply
Jim says:

7 years ago

They combine San Jose & SF but not DC and Baltimore?

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- SoCal Joe says:
  
  5 years ago
  
  San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose are a single market. Washington DC and Baltimore are separate, even though they are only about 40 miles apart.
  
  Reply
Steve says:

7 years ago

Gonna have to disagree with you not including MLS despite the obvious retorts coming. It’s a billion dollar revenue league no US league under it is close. TV ratings sans Stanley Cup Finals are favorable to NHL. Is it because not enough teams currently 24?

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DC says:

7 years ago

Also to everyone complaining above, this wasn’t explained well by the author, but, those numbers are HOUSEHOLDS (see the header, “homes”), not PEOPLE, which is also probably throwing you off, since the average home has 2.5-3 people in it.

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A.J. says:

7 years ago

Here’s a map of the markets for everyone’s reference: https://www.thevab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2017-2018-TV-DMA-Map.pdf

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Todd O Dillon says:

7 years ago

Tampa ahead of Miami
Interesting indeed.

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- ScottinDallas says:
  
  5 years ago
  
  tampa st pete vs Miami alone
  
  Reply
Todd Morse says:

7 years ago

This is just a weird way to do it. It’s analytics at it’s worst.

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- Paulsen says:
  
  7 years ago
  
  It’s a list of sports TV market sizes, as defined by Nielsen. Not really sure what you’re looking for here, and the reference to analytics is frankly bizarre.
  
  Reply
Lee Stevlingson says:

7 years ago

These numbers seem slight … the Seattle Seahawks for example have a TV (and radio) market that includes at least six states (WA, OR, ID, MT, AK, HI) and one Canadian province, B.C. … total population 21,348,791. But according this, the market is only 1.855 million households.

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- DC says:
  
  7 years ago
  
  Those markets are not “Seattle” though. Yes, the “Seattle” TV/radio network might go into Spokane and Boise, etc., but, they have their own Nielsen TV markets.
  
  A separate table including “secondary markets” could be done, but, that would get tricky. I live in one that would be tricky… Fort Wayne, IN is probably “majority” Colts, but, probably only barely, there are a lot of Bears fans here, and you’d probably get ~5% legacy Lions fans (from before the Colts came to Indianapolis in 83) I’d guess as well. So, the chart is just the primary TV market.
  
  Reply
mike says:

7 years ago

Charlotte Bobcats are missing

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- Nyck Henderson says:
  
  7 years ago
  
  They have them as the Hornets which is the current name.
  
  Reply
Don Erb says:

7 years ago

This is pretty deceiving. The Buffalo Teams are religiously followed by metro Rochester and half of Erie, PA. The stats are light by at least 150,000 households pushing it up closer to 39th. And when you live in a border city leading to the most populated region in a neighboring country that also follows your football team I think that deserves asterisk treatment in the list.

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- Jason Vyzer says:
  
  7 years ago
  
  Sure, but to some degree, all of the market numbers listed are off because they’re excluding neighboring area’s.
  
  Reply
- ScottinDallas says:
  
  5 years ago
  
  Buffalo is a backwater. That’s reflected here, only Green Bay is a smaller media market. This isn’t about loyalty, it’s about media market. Dallas is 8-9th largest city, but with Ft Worth and other suburbs, we’re number 4-5 market.
  
  Reply
DaveH says:

8 years ago

Huh? Milwaukee is over a two-hour drive from Green Bay. Seems kind of moronic to state the Packers are in Milwaukee’s market and make Milwaukee a three-sport town.

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- Paulsen says:
  
  8 years ago
  
  Consider it moronic if you want, but that’s the way it is. Milwaukee is the Packers’ home market.
  
  Reply
  - Bill says:
    
    5 years ago
    
    Actually, it’s incorrect to say, “Milwaukee is the Packers’ home market.” That implies that they only have one home market. Officially, the Packers have two home markets—Green Bay and Milwaukee. This goes back to when the Packers used to play several home games each season in Milwaukee. Although that practice has ended, there is now a separate season ticket package for the former Milwaukee season ticket holders. So they are truly a home market in that sense.
    
    Reply
- ClevelandNEO says:
  
  7 years ago
  
  Wrong, Cleveland draws exceptionally well compare to the product. Even their AHL and ARENA Football Team draw well. Cleveland/Akron market really includes Canton (approx 55 miles south) as well which places Cleveland at number 15 or 16 in market size with a population in excess of 3.5 million; for some reason this omitted just like most boards will separate or drop Akron. .
  
  Reply
  - ScottinDallas says:
    
    5 years ago
    
    Cleveland media market, Akron has it’s own news channels, radio stations no doubt; that is what this is talking about. Cowboys are big in San Antonio, 250 miles away, but they aren’t in our media market, there are 4 others between us, San Antonio, Austin, Temple/Belton, Waco, Dallas.
    
    Reply
    - Ohio Guy says:
      
      5 years ago
      
      The DMA in Cleveland includes Akron as well as Canton and a large portions of the counties in NE Ohio. Akron does not have it’s own television stations. The Youngstown, Toledo, Columbus, Erie, and Zanesville markets boarder the Cleveland market.
  - JRS says:
    
    2 years ago
    
    If you’re counting Canton with Cleveland, then you’d have to count Dayton with Cincinnati.
    
    Reply
DaveH says:

8 years ago

Cleveland wasn’t able to support four teams when they had the NHL, and Cleveland really can’t support three. But that’s never stopped Cleveland’s politicians from donating hundreds of millions in public money to them. Actually, at this point, it’s literally over a billion.

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Andre Alexander says:

8 years ago

What does the homes category represent

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- Paulsen says:
  
  8 years ago
  
  Nielsen households.
  
  Reply
Derrick E Vaughan says:

8 years ago

The City of Baltimore is #26 on the list. They are the #5 city of 5 major cities on the Washington D.C. to New York corridor line (Philadelphia, Boston). They have a new honorary street name, The Charm’tastic Mile of Baltimore. It’s a 1.3 mile corridor that was created to give “Charm City” a branded street that could be considered one of the Top 15-20 Most Iconic Streets in America. The Charm’tastic Mile was inspired by The Magnificent Mile the famous 13 blocks of Michigan Avenue. Look for Baltimore to be more of a big player as a major city with the new addition of “The Mile”.

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Ben F. says:

8 years ago

Where is Toronto?

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- Paulsen says:
  
  8 years ago
  
  Nielsen’s estimates only cover U.S. markets.
  
  Reply
  - Bill says:
    
    5 years ago
    
    Understood—but for the purpose of comparing North American sports markets (which appears to be the primary intended purpose), it would be beneficial to include Canadian markets with teams in the Major Four Leagues.
    
    Reply
Joe says:

8 years ago

Green Bay?

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- Paulsen says:
  
  8 years ago
  
  Green Bay ranks #69.
  
  Reply
- Run says:
  
  8 years ago
  
  Lumped with Milwaukee at #36…
  
  Reply