California is home to 16 major professional sports teams, which is a lot considering New York is the only state with two or more teams in the four major sports. Both of these states have the most sports teams in America, but why? Keep in mind the costs that go into maintaining a professional sports team. There are billions of dollars being made and pumped into player contracts. This amount of money will only increase with time which begs the question, how are cities such as New York and California able to maintain so many sports teams? 

One prominent factor is the number of people living in both of these cities. California boasts an impressive 39.5 million citizens, while New York City boasts 20 million citizens according to the US Census charts. This makes them first and fourth respectively in the rankings for the most populated states in America. Simply put, a larger population means a larger audience to purchase tickets, season passes, and sports merchandise. 

Weather plays an important role as well. Although living costs in California are fairly high in comparison to other states, California has very nice weather, which makes it a desirable place to live for many individuals. This same idea applies to New York, except some might argue that the culture is the most desirable aspect of the state. New York has so many famous places, like the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Broadway, and the Empire State Building. 

Back on the idea of population, California is able to accommodate individual teams in their cities. For example, Los Angeles alone has 11 professional sports teams. The Alliance includes two hockey teams, two baseball teams, two soccer teams, three basketball teams, and two football teams. The population of Los Angeles is about 18.8 million people. We can clearly see that there is a correlation between the population and the number of sports teams. 

At the end of the day, sports is just another business. Owners and general managers are constantly trying to figure out how to generate more revenue for both themselves and the franchise as a whole. This could include signing big-name players such as Lebron James or Matthew Stafford, or it could include making a championship team such as the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Rams. 

In conclusion, the population does not always guarantee high revenue sales. However, it is a much better situation than having a low population in a state. Even if the entire population is not completely interested in supporting athletic entertainment, having a population like Los Angeles means the people who are interested will bring in the money. It’s simple math: if 50% of the population in Los Angeles are die-hard sports fans, that’s about 9 million people purchasing sports tickets and merchandise. This is better than 50% of Nevada, which is only about 1.5 million people. This is not to say smaller states cannot have their own sports team. This is just a statement that not every state can be as extensive as New York and California when it comes to professional sports. Wherever you are, we can all appreciate and enjoy sports together. Go Rams!