Or these former teams:
[h=2]Cities formerly with teams in all four leagues[/h]
Cleveland,
Kansas City,
Los Angeles,
St. Louis, and
Atlanta formerly hosted teams in all four major sports leagues.
- Greater Los Angeles became a four-sport city in 1967 and remained so for 28 years. In fact, for two years (1993–1995) it joined New York as the only cities with two teams in each of the four major sports (MLB's Dodgers and Angels, NFL's Rams and Raiders, NBA's Lakers and Clippers, and NHL's Kings and Ducks). However, Los Angeles lost both of its NFL teams in 1995.
- St. Louis was briefly a four-sport city (MLB's Cardinals, NFL's Cardinals, NBA's Hawks, and NHL's Blues) from the 1967 NHL expansion until the Hawks left for Atlanta the following year.
- Kansas City had all four sports (MLB's Royals, NFL's Chiefs, NBA's Kings, and NHL's Scouts) from 1974 to 1976. After two unsuccessful years in Kansas City, the Scouts moved to Denver (and later to New Jersey). The Kings moved to Sacramento in 1985.
- Cleveland briefly held four-sport status (MLB's Indians, NFL's Browns, NBA's Cavaliers, and NHL's Barons) when the Oakland Seals moved there in 1976 as the Cleveland Barons, only to lose it when the Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars (currently the Dallas Stars) in 1978. The original Browns relocated to Baltimore to become the Ravens in 1996; however, Cleveland regained NFL football in 1999.
- Atlanta featured teams from all four sports from 1972 to 1980, as the home of the NHL's Flames (the team moved to Calgary) and from 1999 to 2011, as home of the Thrashers (who relocated to Winnipeg).
Cities that have lost, then regained four-sport status are Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Atlanta.
- Boston had the Yanks of the NFL at the start of the four-major-sport era in 1946, along with the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, and Braves. Four-sport status ended when the Yanks became the New York Bulldogs in 1949.
- Detroit had a charter franchise of the NBA when it was called the Basketball Association of America at the start of the four-major-sport era in 1946. It folded after one season; Detroit rejoined the four-sport club when the Fort Wayne Pistons moved to Detroit in 1957.
- Chicago had a BAA/NBA team fold in 1950, then attracted an expansion franchise in 1961 only to see it move to Baltimore two years later. Chicago rejoined the four-sport club in 1966 with the expansion Bulls.
- The San Francisco Bay Area had teams in all four sports from the NHL expansion in 1967 until the Seals departed for Cleveland in 1976. It regained four-sport status when the expansion San Jose Sharks joined the NHL in 1991. Oakland alone had a grand slam without help from San Francisco from 1971 (when the Golden State Warriors moved to Oakland) to 1976.
- Minneapolis-St. Paul became a member with the arrival of the Minnesota Timberwolves as an expansion NBA franchise in 1989, only to see the NHL's North Stars depart for Dallas in 1993. The Twin Cities regained their status with the NHL's expansion Minnesota Wild in 2000.
If the
American Basketball Association (1967–1976) is considered to have been a major professional sports league, additional cities formerly made the list. In addition to the MLB
Pirates, the NFL
Steelers and the NHL
Penguins;
Pittsburgh also hosted the ABA's
Pittsburgh Condors, originally called the Pipers, in 1967 and from 1969 until the team's demise in 1972. Similarly, if the ABA is counted, St. Louis would have regained four-sport status between 1974 and 1976, as the city was home to the
Spirits of St. Louis. Also, Minneapolis-St. Paul was a four-sport city from 1967 to 1969 as they hosted the ABA's
Minnesota Muskies in 1967–68 and the
Minnesota Pipers in 1968–69.
If the
World Hockey Association (1972–1979) is considered to have been a major league,
Houston would have made the list; the
Houston Aeros operated from 1972 to 1978, but were ultimately left out of the NHL-WHA merger negotiations and folded before the merger. Under the same assumption, Cleveland would have joined the four-sports club in 1972 with the arrival of the WHA
Cleveland Crusaders, which were displaced in 1976 by the NHL's Barons.
If the ABA and WHA are
both considered to have been major leagues, then
San Diego would have made the list from Fall 1974 through Fall 1975. Alongside the MLB
Padres (1969 to date) and the AFL/NFL
Chargers (1961 to date), there were the ABA
Conquistadors/Sails (1972-1975) and the WHA
Mariners (1974-1977).
