The Big Four national sports leagues in the US are the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB, i.e. basketball, football, hockey, and baseball. These four competitions are extremely popular across the world, mainly for the perfect mixture of sportsmanship and entertainment they provide.
Even though becoming and being a member of these leagues is a matter of prestige, not all US states have clubs. Different reasons lie behind this fact and we’ll uncover some of them in this article.
We’ll start in the south, i.e., in South Carolina. Also known as The Palmetto State, this area is one of 24 federal states that doesn’t host any major professional sports clubs. The main reason why this is the case is the lack of propulsive urban areas.
With the state capital Columbia and the most populous town Charleston amounting to 135,000 and 150,000 people, respectively, there are no powerful economic hubs that would give birth to strong enough sports clubs. If you think the Dallas Mavericks and owner Mark Cuban behind them or the Chicago Bulls from the 1990s and president Jerry Reinsdorf, it’s clear such franchises were and still are possible in larger, economically powerful cities. Their existence leads to other related activities and operations, from strong sponsorship deals to the more prominent role of sports betting providers, etc.
South Carolina doesn’t have such a propulsive business scene and clubs, but there are numerous clubs in state leagues and lower national-level competitions. Hence, the locals can root for their local squads or support them by placing bets on their wins. Speaking of wagers, betting isn’t legal in this state, but the best sportsbooks in South Carolina are offshore websites that cover sports events in this area, as well.
Let’s not forget the array of sports clubs at the University of South Carolina, where people can watch dozens of sports games weekly. Fun fact: those SC university athletes are nicknamed “Gamecocks”.
Interestingly, the Charlotte Panthers, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and competing in the NFL, represent both Carolina under the tagline ‘two states, one team’. So, some would say that South Carolina has a semi-representative in a major national league.
If we move northward and seek a professional sports club participating in the Big Four seasons, we’ll find one neither in Virginia nor West Virginia. The Virginia professional sporting scene is in the shadow of Washington, DC, and its national attractions, such as the MLB Washington Nationals, or the Washington Capitals in the NHL. West Virginia, on the other hand, consists of dozens of smaller towns and hundreds of villages. The most populous town is Charleston and it doesn’t reach the figure of 50,000 inhabitants. Hence, the same reasons we’ve stated for South Carolina are also valid in West Virginia. Likewise, the Athletics Department of the University of West Virginia is among the best university sports organizations in the entire US.
Kentucky is another state in the South that doesn’t host any MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL clubs. The Bluegrass State has one major metropolitan area – Louisville, with half a million inhabitants – but the local business and sports community still hasn’t yielded powerful enough a club to take part in major professional leagues. That being said, let’s underline that the University of Louisville (UofL) is fertile ground for the development of student-athletes. Additional fun fact: Muhammad Ali, among many other notable athletes, was born, raised, trained, and educated in this city, and UofL students still pay tribute to this great boxer.
Going southward, we reach the most populous US state that has no team in the Big Four leagues or the MLS (Major League Soccer) – sweet home Alabama. One of the reasons for this condition is similar to the situation presented for West Virginia and South Carolina – no larger metropolitan areas within the Heart of Dixie, meaning that the local businesses and sporting enthusiasts aren’t strong enough to yield a club powerful enough for the national scene. Birmingham – the largest Alabama town – barely exceeds 200,000 people. As the remaining part of the state consists of smaller towns and villages, with many people working in agriculture, it’s clear that Alabama can’t compete with 15+ professional National League franchises from California or 10+ such clubs based in Florida.
With all the stated above, the South might seem to have fallen behind some other parts of the US regarding the number of clubs it has launched into professional sports leagues on the federal level. Still, let’s bear in mind that Texas and Florida are in the South, as well, and they host almost 20 such clubs altogether. Also, this doesn’t mean that the people in this region lack the excitement of sporting events. As explained before, they can witness dozens of live university league sports events, follow national matches via digital and cable channels, or even try online betting, from mobile apps to crypto betting sites.
So, thanks to tech advancements that make sporting events widely available and a vibrant sporting scene on various levels, the South is an interesting, sport-fueled area.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.