Both NYC and LA have sporting teams with rich histories and achievements. Residents of both cities can feel justified in raising their hands as being better than the other.
To define which city holds the current boasting rights, we have to forget these sporting histories and focus on the present. Do NYC or LA teams in the “Big 4” of American sport hold the upper hand at present? To do this, we’ll look at the most recent achievements of both cities’ teams in the MLB, the NBA, the NFL, and the NHL to draw our conclusions.
In Major League Baseball, both NYC teams, the Mets and the Yankees, find themselves with losing averages 10 games into the 2023/24 season. In fact, both are 4-6 as things stand, occupying 4th positions in the NL East and AL East leagues respectively.
In contrast, the LA teams are better positioned in their leagues. The Dodgers head up the NL West league with a 7-3 winning average, while the Angels (6-4) sit in 3rd position in the AL West.
According to bookmakers, the team from the two cities most likely to triumph in the World Series is the LA Dodgers, with futures odds available between +430 and +500. The New York Yankees are attracting a little betting action at around +2200 while you’ll get longer odds upwards from +6400 on the NY Mets and +10000 on the LA Angels. As the odds vary between bookmakers, it’s wise to compare the available odds and find more information on legal betting in California before placing your bets.
On current form, the first point in our assessment goes to Los Angeles.
In the National Basketball Association, we have to analyze the completed 2022/23 season as the new one hasn’t started. Unfortunately for NYC, the Brooklyn Nets lost at the first playoff hurdle. The NY Knicks later fell to the Miami Heat in the Conference semi-finals.
LA’s NBA representatives, the Clippers and the Lakers, had contrasting success in 2022/23. Both progressed to the play-offs after the regular season, but the Clippers fell at the first play-off hurdle. The Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 4-2 in the play-offs before defeating Florida’s Golden State Warriors in the Conference semi-finals.
Sadly, the run ended one tie short of the NBA final. The Denver Nuggets outclassed the Lakers 4-0 in the Conference final. Despite this loss, the LA Lakers ensured its city achieved more in the NBA season than NYC’s teams did.
It’s not surprising that, with futures odds of +1200 to +1500, the LA Lakers are currently most favored for the new season’s NBA title than others from the two cities. The LA Clippers (+1800) are also attracting more betting action than either of the NYC teams are at present.
Based on last season’s performances, we’re awarding a second point to Los Angeles.
The most recent 2022/23 National Football League season didn’t end successfully for either NYC or LA. The reigning Superbowl champions, the LA Rams, failed to even make the NFC West Conference playoffs. The NY Jets didn’t make the AFC East Conference playoffs either. As such, the remaining two sides, LA’s Chargers and NYC’s Giants had to wave their respective cities’ flags.
The LA Chargers qualified for the Wild Card Play-offs, but that’s where its participation ended. The Chargers lost at the first playoff hurdle by a single point to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Fortunately for NYC, the Giants fared a little better.
The NYC team beat the Minnesota Vikings by seven in the Wild Card playoffs. Thereafter, it lost by 31 to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional playoffs. The Giants still fared best among the teams from the two centers last season.
Despite a poor last season, bookmakers most favor the NY Jets to win the Superbowl out of teams from the two major cities, with futures odds of +1600 at many bookmakers. Bookmakers also give the LA Chargers a decent chance (+2500) but bettors should expect long odds on the other two teams.
Thanks to the NY Giants’ fair season, NYC scrapes back a point in our assessment. 2-1 Los Angeles.
Finally, we compare the National Hockey League accomplishments between NYC and LA. NYC is home to the Rangers and the Islanders in the NHL. Unlike NYC, the city of Los Angeles hosts only one NHL team, the LA Kings.
All three of these teams entered the playoffs after the regular season, but none of them made it past that stage. Both NYC’s and LA’s NHL teams were never favored by bookmakers and didn’t defy their odds.
With the 2023/24 season approaching, neither NYC’s or LA’s teams feature among the favorites for the Stanley Cup. Of the three participating teams, bookmakers only expect the NY Rangers to have any kind of chance (+1500), with longer odds available on the other two. Based on the poor last seasons from all the teams, we’re sharing the performance points between the cities.
Except for the LA Lakers, both NYC’s and LA’s sporting teams have been underwhelming. On these performances alone, Los Angeles wins our assessment as the city with the best current overall men’s sports teams. Both cities performed similarly, though, so this could well change over the current and upcoming “Big 4” seasons.
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