Parity
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The subject of "Parity" often comes up when talking about the NFL, and other leagues. Which one has the most parity?
One way I have devised to look at it is to simply say: In a "perfect" world, a different team would win a leagues title every year, i.e. all the teams in a league would take turns having a title. Obviously such a thing is neither possible, nor desirable. This is not grade school. Nevertheless, it can be looked at in such manner.
So, we have the Big Four: NFL/MLB/NHL/NBA. There are 30 teams each in the NHL/NBA/MLB and 32 in the NFL. So, the simple equation to determine the league with the most parity is to see how many teams have actually won a title in the time that would constitue a "round robin" of 30 or 32 years. So, I have done that, and here are the results:
NFL: 32 teams, 32 years. Teams that have won a title in the last 32 NFL seasons. 1980-2011 season:
Raiders, 49ers, Redskins, Bears, Giants, Cowboys, Packers, Broncos, Rams, Ravens, Buccaneers, Patriots, Steelers, Colts, Saints
Fifteen of the 32 teams have won those 32 titles....led by the 49ers and Giants with 4 each and the Cowboys, Patriots and Redskins with 3 each. Of the 15, 6 won only 1 title.
MLB: 30 teams, 30 seasons. (I am not counting the 1994 season where the World Series was cancelled by a strike) Teams that have won a title the last 30 MLB seasons, 1982-2012:
Cardinals, Orioles, Tigers, Royals, Mets, Twins, Dodgers, As, Reds, Blue Jays, Braves, Yankees, Marlins, Diamondbacks, Angels, Red Sox, White Sox, Phillies, Giants.
Nineteen of the 30 teams have won those 30 titles...led by the Yankees with at least 4-5 titles. The Cardinals have won 3 and the Red Sox, Giants, Twins, Marlins and Blue Jays two. Thirteen teams only won once.
NHL: 30 teams, 30 seasons. (Note: entire 2004-2005 season cancelled). Teams that have won a title the last 30 NHL seasons:
Islanders, Oilers, Canadiens, Flames, Penguins, Rangers, Devils, Avalanche, RedWings, Stars, Lightning, Hurricanes, Ducks, Blackhawks, Bruins, Kings
Sixteen of the 30 teams have won those 30 titles. I didn't count the totals for each but the Oilers and Red Wings won the most. Penguins won 3. Eight of them only won once.
NBA: 30 teams, 30 seasons. No cancelled seasons!! Teams that have won 1983-2012:
76ers, Celtics, Lakers, Pistons, Bulls, Rocket, Spurs, Heat, Mavericks
Only 9 teams have won the last 30 years. And note, the 76ers won their only title in thie era exactly 30 years ago. So you could say it is only 8. Obviously the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls and Spurs have each won over 5. The Rockets won two, the Heat two, the Pistons 3.
ONLY the 76ers and Mavericks have won just one title.
So, in terms of parity the last 30-32 years the leagues rank as follows:
MLB 19 different teams
NHL 16 different teams
NFL 15 different teams
NBA 9 different teams.
(honestly, in my view, it is the lack of parity in the NBA that detracts from that league. It seems to me that the league conspires to put the best talent in only a few teams over the years....as if it couldn't survive if the Lakers and Celtics weren't contenders. Well, guess what....this year, neither of them is a contender from what I see)
The odd thing is that it is MLB that seems to have the worst financial system that favors the large markets. They will allow the NYC/Boston/LA teams to spend as much as they can.
And to my view, even though teams like the Royals, Twins, Orioles etc. have won the last 30 years....some of that was the 80s. The system now works against those teams. So, the MLB may not become as bad as the NBA in the future...but it seems like it is trying to.
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The NBA may be extinct in 20 years, or down to about 12 teams. All the marketing they do promotes the "glitz" of LA, Boston, NY, Chicago, & Miami. I think David Stern got headaches when the Spurs & Rockets won. Their magical salary cap never pertains to the Lakers & Celtics.
Baseball may be headed in the same direction, but their fa nbase is a lot wider. Baseball appeals to all ages, and has a large female following as well.
Football should be fine- unless Goodell keeps cheapening it. The socialist-type mentality keeps all teams pretty much on the same plane.
NHL is in trouble, IMHO.
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Note, in baseball also, The Indians were 2 outs away from winning a title in that span. The Rangers were one strike away. Also, the Rays, Brewers, Rockies, Astros, and Padres each had World Series appearances.
The only teams that did not appear in the WS in the last 30 seasons are the Nationals/Expos who have never made it since their creation in 1969; the Mariners who in their history have never made it (2 ALCS is closest), the Pirates who last appeared in the WS in 1979 when they won.....and the Cubs, last appearance, 1945.
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In the NFL over the last 32 years, 15 teams have won titles. But, the following teams have made SB appearances in that time, but lost ( few were real squeakers):
Cardinals
Falcons
Bills
Panthers
Bengals
Dolphins
Eagles
Titans
Chargers
Seahawks
The following teams have not appeared in the Super Bowl in the last 32 years:
Browns
Lions
Texans
Jaguars
Chiefs
Vikings
Jets
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In the NBA in the last 30 seasons, only those 9 teams have won, but the following teams did make at least on Finals appearance only to lose:
OKC Thunder
Seattle Supersonics (I consider these 2 different franchises)
Magic
Cavaliers
Nets
Pacers
Knicks
Jazz
Sun
Trailblzers
The following teams have NOT made an NBA Finals appearance in the last 30 years:
Raptors
Bucks
Hawks
Bobcats
Bullets/Wizards
Nuggets
T-Wolves
Warriors
Clippers
Kings
Grizzlies
Hornets
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And in hockey, 16 teams have won but the following 6 have appeared in a Stanley Cup Final but came out losers:
Canucks
Flyers
Senators
Sabres
Capitals
Panthers
The following teams have not made an NHL Final appearance in the last 30 years:
St. Louis Blues
Columbus Bluejackets
Nashville Predators
Toronto Maple Leafs
Minnesota Wild
Winnipeg Jets nee Atlanta Threshers
Phoenix Coyotes nee Jets
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The NBA is unwatchable. I wish the NBA and NHL would swap the Blue Jackets for the Cavs. I would much rather have a hockey team then a basketball team.
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So, bottom line on parity:
MLB: 19 teams win in last 30 years. Only 4 teams fail to make WS appearance
NFL: 15 teams win in last 32 years. Only 7 teams fail to make SB appearance
NHL: 16 teams win in last 30 years. Only 7 teams fail to make Stanley Cup Final
NBA: Only 9 teams win in last 30 years. 12 teams fail to make a single Final.
So, it would seem that MLB has the most parity, while the NBA has the least.
Caveat: it must be noted that any number of the teams that have not made finals appearances in these sports have not been around the whole time. I only use the raw numbers above.
The likes of the Texans, Bluejackets, Wild, Raptors, etc. have only been around for less than 15 years.
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What about expansion teams? I know the NFL has at least 4 expansion teams in that time. MLB has 4 in the time as well I think. Not sure about NBA/ NHL.
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What about expansion teams? I know the NFL has at least 4 expansion teams in that time. MLB has 4 in the time as well I think. Not sure about NBA/ NHL.
What about expansion teams? I know the NFL has at least 4 expansion teams in that time. MLB has 4 in the time as well I think. Not sure about NBA/ NHL.
Yes, I edited that notation in above.
I will note that the last few MLB expansion teams, the Rays and Rockies were each in a WS and the Diamondbacks won one and the Marlins won two.
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I love the NBA, hockey blows.
No one would go to hockey games.
There is more to the NBA than the result of one season, if you love watching basketball it doesn't get better than the NBA.
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