Which Teams Are "Big Clubs"?

Note: Despite 2 new championships having since been decided in the NBA and the NHL, and 1 each in MLB and the NFL, no significant changes have been made to this list. The Golden State Warriors' previous championship may have been 40 years earlier, but they had won one. They remain an "intermediate club."

Soccer fans, especially in England (where they get really pissy if you call their sport "soccer" instead of "football"), like to talk about how their favorite team is a "big club," while their arch-rival is a "small club."

But how is such a thing measured? Or is it completely subjective?

I decided to took at the 122 teams in North American major league sports, to see which ones were "big clubs," "intermediate clubs" and "small clubs."

I measured it three ways: The size of their market, the achievements in their history, and the apparent (thus keeping it partly subjective) size of their following -- local, regional, national. I judged each of these catgeories on a scale of 1 to 5, and totaled it up.

Here's what I came up with:

MLB:

RANK	TEAM	Market	History	Following	TOTAL
1	New York Yankees	5	5	5	15
2	Los Angeles Dodgers	5	4	5	14
3	Boston Red Sox	4	4	5	13
4	Chicago Cubs	5	3	5	13
5	St. Louis Cardinals	4	4	4	12
6	San Francisco Giants	5	3	3	11
7	Atlanta Braves	4	3	4	11
8	New York Mets	5	2	4	11
9	Baltimore Orioles	4	3	3	10
10	Detroit Tigers	4	3	3	10
11	Philadelphia Phillies	4	2	4	10
12	Chicago White Sox	5	2	2	9
13	Cincinnati Reds	3	3	3	9
14	Colorado Rockies	4	2	3	9
15	Minnesota Twins	4	2	3	9
16	Pittsburgh Pirates	3	3	3	9
17	Seattle Mariners	4	2	3	9
18	Toronto Blue Jays	4	2	3	9
19	Oakland Athletics	3	3	2	8
20	Arizona Diamondbacks	4	2	2	8
21	Houston Astros	4	2	2	8
22	San Diego Padres	4	2	2	8
23	Texas Rangers	4	2	2	8
24	Los Angeles Angels	3	2	2	7
25	Miami Marlins	4	2	1	7
26	Tampa Bay Rays	4	2	1	7
27	Cleveland Indians	3	2	2	7
28	Kansas City Royals	3	2	2	7
29	Washington Nationals	4	1	1	6
30	Milwaukee Brewers	2	2	1	5

NFL:

RANK	TEAM	Market	History	Following	TOTAL
1	New York Giants	5	4	5	14
2	Chicago Bears	5	4	5	14
3	Dallas Cowboys	4	4	5	13
4	New York Jets	5	2	5	12
5	San Francisco 49ers	5	4	3	12
6	Washington Redskins	4	3	5	12
7	Pittsburgh Steelers	3	4	5	12
8	Green Bay Packers	3	4	5	12
9	Miami Dolphins	4	3	4	11
10	Denver Broncos	4	3	4	11
11	Oakland Raiders	3	3	4	10
12	New England Patriots	4	3	3	10
13	Philadelphia Eagles	4	2	3	9
14	Cleveland Browns	3	3	3	9
15	Atlanta Falcons	4	2	2	8
16	San Diego Chargers	4	2	2	8
17	Detroit Lions	4	2	2	8
18	Seattle Seahawks	4	2	2	8
19	Minnesota Vikings	4	2	2	8
20	St. Louis Rams	4	2	2	8
21	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4	2	2	8
22	Baltimore Ravens	4	2	2	8
23	Kansas City Chiefs	3	2	3	8
24	New Orleans Saints	3	2	3	8
25	Buffalo Bills	3	2	3	8
26	Cincinnati Bengals	3	2	2	7
27	Indianapolis Colts	3	2	2	7
28	Houston Texans	4	1	1	6
29	Arizona Cardinals	4	1	1	6
30	Tennessee Titans	3	1	2	6
31	Carolina Panthers	3	1	1	5
32	Jacksonville Jaguars	3	1	1	5

NBA:

RANK	TEAM	Market	History	Following	TOTAL
1	Los Angeles Lakers	5	5	5	15
2	Boston Celtics	4	5	4	13
3	Chicago Bulls	5	3	5	13
4	New York Knicks	5	3	4	12
5	Miami Heat	4	3	4	11
6	Philadelphia 76ers	4	3	3	10
7	Detroit Pistons	4	3	3	10
8	Dallas Mavericks	4	2	2	8
9	Houston Rockets	4	2	2	8
10	San Antonio Spurs	3	3	2	8
11	Golden State Warriors	5	1	1	7
12	Los Angeles Clippers	5	1	1	7
13	Phoenix Suns	4	2	1	7
14	Toronto Raptors	4	1	2	7
15	Washington Wizards	4	1	2	7
16	Atlanta Hawks	4	1	2	7
17	Brooklyn Nets	3	1	2	6
18	Minnesota Timberwolves	4	1	1	6
19	Denver Nuggets	4	1	1	6
20	Portland Trail Blazers	3	2	1	6
21	Orlando Magic	3	2	1	6
22	Indiana Pacers	2	2	2	6
23	Utah Jazz	2	2	2	6
24	Charlotte Hornets	3	1	1	5
25	Sacramento Kings	3	1	1	5
26	Cleveland Cavaliers	3	1	1	5
27	Milwaukee Bucks	2	2	1	5
28	Oklahoma City Thunder	2	1	2	5
29	Memphis Grizzlies	2	1	1	4
30	New Orleans Pelicans	2	1	1	4

NHL:

RANK	TEAM	Market	History	Following	TOTAL
1	Montreal Canadiens	4	5	5	14
2	Boston Bruins	4	4	5	13
3	Detroit Red Wings	4	4	5	13
4	New York Rangers	5	3	4	12
5	Chicago Blackhawks	5	3	4	12
6	Toronto Maple Leafs	4	3	5	12
7	Los Angeles Kings	5	2	3	10
8	Philadelphia Flyers	4	3	3	10
9	San Jose Sharks	5	1	3	9
10	Pittsburgh Penguins	3	3	3	9
11	Vancouver Canucks	3	2	4	9
12	Edmonton Oilers	2	3	4	9
13	New Jersey Devils	4	2	2	8
14	St. Louis Blues	4	2	2	8
15	Colorado Avalanche	4	2	2	8
16	New York Islanders	3	3	2	8
17	Calgary Flames	2	2	4	8
18	Tampa Bay Lightning	4	2	1	7
19	Dallas Stars	4	1	2	7
20	Washington Capitals	4	1	2	7
21	Anaheim Ducks	3	2	2	7
22	Ottawa Senators	2	1	4	7
23	Florida Panthers	4	1	1	6
24	Arizona Coyotes	4	1	1	6
25	Minnesota Wild	4	1	1	6
26	Buffalo Sabres	2	2	2	6
27	Winnipeg Jets	1	1	4	6
28	Carolina Hurricanes	2	2	1	5
29	Columbus Blue Jackets	2	1	2	5
30	Nashville Predators	2	1	1	4

So it can be said that a "big club" scored from 10 to 15 points, an "intermediate club" from 7 to 9, and a "small club" from 0 to 6.

So here's my judgments. These are arranged first by sport, then in alphabetical order:

Big Clubs: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants; Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Giants, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins; Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers; Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings (newly-promoted), Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs.

Intermediate Clubs: Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays; Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Atlanta Hawks; Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards; Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks and Washington Capitals.

Small Clubs: Milwaukee Brewers, Washington Nationals; Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans; Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Utah Jazz; Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets.

Only the Yankees and the Lakers got a perfect score of 15, while the Dodgers, football Giants, Bears and Canadiens just missed at 14.

This much is clear: The New York Mets, Jets, and Rangers; the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Los Angeles Kings and the Toronto Maple Leafs are Big Clubs only because of the size of their markets. Ditto at Intermediate level for the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels (possibly) and Clippers (definitely), Miami Marlins, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays.

Yet even the Nets (we're only counting Brooklyn in their market, not the entire Tri-State Area) and Washington Nationals can't ride what appear to be big markets out of Small Club status: Hype aside, the Nets are the smallest club in the Tri-State Area, and not just because they're the only one of the Tri-State Nine to have never won a World Championship. (Their 2 ABA titles don't count.)

In case you're wondering: While the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder are both in the NBA's Conference Finals, reaching the NBA Finals would not lift them out of Small Club status. Winning the NBA title would move them in with the Intermediate Clubs, but not into the Big Clubs.

Among teams that ceased to exist within the last 30 years (all of them having moved), this is where they were at the time:

Big Clubs: Baltimore Colts, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle SuperSonics.

Intermediate Clubs: Montreal Expos, Houston Oilers, Hartford Whalers.

Small Clubs: St. Louis Cardinals (football edition), San Diego Clippers, Vancouver Grizzlies, Atlanta Thrashers, Quebec Nordiques. No, being a Canadian team in Canada's sport wouldn't have boosted the Nords much.

As for WNBA and MLS teams, sorry, but even the biggest of their teams -- the New York Liberty and Red Bulls, the Los Angeles Sparks and Galaxy, the Detroit Shock, the Seattle Sounders and D.C. United -- would only be Intermediate Clubs.