Cities That Have Hosted the Finals In All 4 Sports

One of my readers pointed out that, while the New York Tri-State Area has hosted pretty much everything else, this is the 1st time it has hosted a Super Bowl.

This is true. It is not, however, the 1st time the Area has hosted an NFL Championship Game, under whatever name.

Cities are listed with the first time they hosted the event in question, and then among the other cities in the order in which they achieved it.

1. Chicago: World Series 1906, Stanley Cup Finals 1931, NFL Championship 1932, NBA Finals 1947. It has never hosted a Super Bowl. It doesn't have to, since it has hosted 6 NFL Championship Games.

2. New York: World Series 1905, Stanley Cup Finals 1928, NFL Championship 1934, NBA Finals 1951. That's Giants running back-kicker Ken Strong in the photo on the program -- the team has retired his Number 50. Tonight's game will also give New York a Super Bowl.

3. Philadelphia: World Series 1905, NBA Finals 1947, NFL Championship 1948, Stanley Cup Finals 1974. It has never hosted a Super Bowl. It doesn't have to, since it has hosted 2 NFL Championship Games (also in 1960).

4. Detroit: World Series 1907, Stanley Cup Finals 1934, NFL Championship 1935, NBA Finals 1988. It has also hosted 2 Super Bowls.

5. Minneapolis: NBA Finals 1949, World Series 1965, Stanley Cup Finals 1981, Super Bowl 1992.

6. Los Angeles: NFL Championship 1949, World Series 1959, NBA Finals 1962, Stanley Cup Finals 1993. It hosted Super Bowl I, and a few others since.

7. Washington: World Series 1924, NFL Championship 1940, NBA Finals 1949, Stanley Cup Finals 1998. It has never hosted a Super Bowl. It doesn't have to, since it has hosted 2 NFL Championship Games (also in 1942).

8. Miami: Super Bowl 1968, Stanley Cup Finals 1996, World Series 1997, NBA Finals 2006.

9. Dallas: Stanley Cup Finals 1999, NBA Finals 2006, World Series 2010, Super Bowl 2011.

So 9 cities have done it.

Boston, St. Louis and Seattle (yes, hockey, won 1917 Stanley Cup) have hosted 3 of the 4, but have never been awarded a Super Bowl. St. Louis and Seattle certainly could be, since each has a domed stadium. Boston could have hosted the 1936 NFL Championship Game, but Redskins owner George Preston Marshall was worried about low attendance, and got permission from the league to move the game to New York. The next year, he moved the team to Washington.

Tampa Bay has hosted 3 of the 4, but has no NBA team.

Baltimore, Cleveland, Milwaukee (all in the pre-Super Bowl era, including 1939 when the Packers played the NFL Championship Game at a larger stadium there instead of in Green Bay), Atlanta and Houston have hosted 3 of the 4, but none of those has an NHL team. Houston hosted 3 WHA Finals, though. Cleveland had a WHA team, but never made the Finals. Phoenix and San Francisco have hosted 3 of the 4, and while it is possible for either to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, both have yet to do so.

(UPDATE: San Francisco, through San Jose, has now made it 10: World Series 1962, NBA Finals 1964, Super Bowl 1985, Stanley Cup Finals 2016.)

No Canadian city has hosted all 4, not even if you count Canada's Super Bowl, the Grey Cup, because no Canadian city has hosted an NBA Finals, and only Toronto currently has an NBA team. If you do count the Grey Cup, then Toronto is only a Raptors trip to the Finals away... yeah, right.

If you add the NCAA Final Four...

1. Chicago: World Series 1906, Stanley Cup Finals 1931, NFL Championship 1932, NCAA Final Four 1939, NBA Finals 1947. In the cases of the last 3, it was the 1st time the events in question were ever held; with the World Series, only 2 had previously been held.

2. New York: World Series 1905, Stanley Cup Finals 1928, NFL Championship Game 1934, NCAA Final Four 1943, NBA Finals 1951. If New Jersey is counted separately, tonight's Super Bowl will give us all but a World Series (Devils 5 times, Nets 2002 & '03 NBA Finals, 1996 Final Four).

3. Philadelphia: World Series 1905, NBA Finals 1947, NFL Championship 1948, Stanley Cup Finals 1974, NCAA Final Four 1976.

4. Minneapolis: NBA Finals 1949, NCAA Final Four 1951, World Series 1965, Stanley Cup Finals 1981, Super Bowl 1992.

5. Los Angeles: NFL Championship 1949, World Series 1959, NBA Finals 1962, NCAA Final Four 1968, Stanley Cup Finals 1993.

6. Washington: World Series 1924, NFL Championship 1940, NBA Finals 1949, NCAA Final Four 1966, Stanley Cup Finals 1998. The University of Maryland, inside the Beltway, has hosted 2 Final Fours.

7. Detroit: World Series 1907, Stanley Cup Finals 1934, NFL Championship 1935, NBA Finals 1988, NCAA Final Four 2009.

8. Dallas: NCAA Final Four 1986, Stanley Cup Finals 1999, NBA Finals 2006, World Series 2010, Super Bowl 2011.

Miami has never hosted a Final Four. Seattle (1949) and St. Louis (1973) remain only a Super Bowl away; while Tampa Bay (1999) remains an NBA Finals away, and Atlanta (1977), Houston (1971) and San Francisco (1960) remain a Stanley Cup Finals away.

If you add the national soccer championship -- the Soccer Bowl (1967-84) and the MLS Cup Final (1996-present)...

1. New York: World Series 1905, Stanley Cup Finals 1928, NFL Championship Game 1934, NCAA Final Four 1943, NBA Finals 1951, Soccer Bowl 1972. If New Jersey is counted separately, tonight's Super Bowl will give us all but a World Series (Devils 5 times, Nets 2002 & '03 NBA Finals, 1996 Final Four, 1972 Soccer Bowl).

2. Chicago: World Series 1906, Stanley Cup Finals 1931, NFL Championship 1932, NCAA Final Four 1939, NBA Finals 1947, Soccer Bowl 1984. In the cases of the NFL Championship the Final Four and the NBA Finals, it was the 1st time the events in question were ever held; with the World Series, only 2 had previously been held. But with the Soccer Bowl, it was the last one held.

3. Los Angeles: NFL Championship 1949, World Series 1959, NBA Finals 1962, Soccer Bowl 1967, NCAA Final Four 1968, Stanley Cup Finals 1993. (It wasn't called the Soccer Bowl until 1975, but the L.A. Coliseum hosted the 1st, just 6 months after it hosted the 1st Super Bowl.)

4. Washington: World Series 1924, NFL Championship 1940, NBA Finals 1949, NCAA Final Four 1966, Soccer Bowl 1970, Stanley Cup Finals 1998. The University of Maryland, inside the Beltway, has hosted 2 Final Fours.

5. Dallas: Soccer Bowl 1971, NCAA Final Four 1986, Stanley Cup Finals 1999, NBA Finals 2006, World Series 2010, Super Bowl 2011.

Boston (1996 MLS Cup Final) and Seattle (1976 Soccer Bowl) remain a Super Bowl away. Atlanta (1968 Soccer Bowl) remains a Stanley Cup Finals away. Miami (1974 Soccer Bowl) remains a Final Four away.

If you're wondering about Denver, they've hosted a World Series (2007), 2 Stanley Cup Finals (1996 and 2001), a Final Four (1990), an ABA Finals (1976), and a USFL Championship Game (1985), but never an NBA Finals, a Super Bowl or a Soccer Bowl or MLS Cup Final.