Everything Is Better in Texas, But What About NFL Super Bowl Wins?
Having professional sports teams in your state seems to be a common thing, but there are quite a few states that don't have even one professional sports franchise. Those with those teams have a tendency to take them for granted at times.
Some are big enough and lucky enough to have multiple professional sports teams, and some with multiple professional teams in the state playing the same sport.
I decided to do a little deep dive into the NFL a little bit based on its immense popularity in the United States. Out of the 32 NFL teams, I was curious as to how many states had more than one NFL team residing in it, and which state has had the most success in the league.
What I found was that out of 32 NFL teams, they reside in 22 states. Seven of those states have more than one NFL team in it, and three of them actually have THREE teams that reside in their state. Let's see who is where when it comes to those states with multiple NFL teams in it.
Of the states with three teams in it, California is proud to call the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, and San Francisco 49ers theirs. Florida lays claim to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. New York is the other state with three NFL teams, where the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, and New York Jets reside...even though TECHNICALLY the Giants and Jets home stadium is in New Jersey. I know, it's confusing.
The other four states with multiple teams in it all have two NFL franchises. Obviously, we know Texas is the proud home of the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans. Maryland checks in with the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Commanders. Ohio lays claim to the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. Pennsylvania is the final state with two teams in it, with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles calling it home.
Ok, now that we've gotten everything sorted out, let's dive in a bit. Just because you have multiple teams in the state, it doesn't guarantee you'll have a champion in the state. However, it does give you a far better chance of celebrating a champion in the state and attending a fancy parade.
The first number I looked at was how many Super Bowl champions have come out of states with multiple teams. Out of 52 Super Bowls played, 36 champions have come from a state where there are multiple teams in it. To be fair, I counted teams that may no longer be IN the state, such as the Raiders who have moved more than a nomad, but they were in a state with multiple teams when they won. I also included early championships by Baltimore before the Ravens moved in.
Let's break this down a bit more in-depth and see which states have gotten to celebrate the most.
CALIFORNIA
Let's start in the Golden State, where they currently have three teams, but for the purposes of this exercise, we will also include the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, as well as the San Diego Chargers, which are now the Los Angeles Chargers.
OAKLAND/LOS ANGELES RAIDERS
We start with the team that started in Oakland, moved to Los Angeles, then back to Oakland before settling currently in Las Vegas. The Raiders found the majority of their success in Oakland where two of their three Super Bowl wins came. The other win came as the Los Angeles Raiders. They're currently on a Super Bowl drought though as their last win came in 1984.
LOS ANGELES RAMS
So this one is a tricky one because as a franchise, the Rams have won two Super Bowls. One of those wins however came as the St. Louis Rams, so they only get credit for one win as a California team, and that win came recently as they won Super Bowl 51 in 2022.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
Not a whole lot to break down here with the Chargers. They're one of the NFL teams that have never won a Super Bowl, but it doesn't mean they haven't had their chances. They did make it to a Super Bowl in 1995 where they lost to the next team we'll mention.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
The most successful team in California, the 49ers are responsible for five Super Bowl wins, which is more than the rest of the California teams combined. They have been to a total of seven Super Bowls, but haven't won since they beat the Chargers back in 1995.
FLORIDA
Off to the Sunshine State we go, where Florida is home to three different NFL franchises. So how successful are they as a state?
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
We start in Jacksonville with the newest team in the state, the Jaguars. To be fair, the Jags were an expansion team and didn't start playing until 1995, but they haven't been overly successful since they joined the league. Zero championships have come their way, but they have also never played in the Super Bowl. Tough to win if you don't get there.
MIAMI DOLPHINS
The proud owner of two Super Bowl victories, the Miami Dolphins are a storied franchise that may be better known for the fact that they're the ONLY franchise to have a perfect, undefeated season which they pulled off in 1972, which culminated in a Super Bowl victory over the then Washington Redskins.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
The Bucs were a laughingstock of the NFL for a long time, but they broke through in Super Bowl 37 where their vaunted defense carried them to a Super Bowl title. They'd win another one in 2021 after adding the legendary Tom Brady at QB to give them a total of two Super Bowl titles.
MARYLAND
Here's a state that you probably don't realize has two teams in it, simply because when you hear Washington, you think of the state or the nation's capital. You would be correct, the Commanders are located in Washington DC, which when attached to a state belongs to Maryland.
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS/REDSKINS
Since we're already talking about it, let's start with the Commanders. Formerly known as the Washington Redskins, the franchise has three Super Bowl titles to its name, well sort of. All three of their championships came when they were the Redskins, and they haven't won or appeared in a Super Bowl since 1992.
BALTIMORE RAVENS/COLTS
The Baltimore Ravens became a team starting with the 1996 season. They were formally the Cleveland Browns, and if you don't know the history of the move, it was a contentious one by then-owner Art Modell, but I digress. When you talk about heartbreak, this is a definite case of one for the city of Cleveland. Just five season after moving away from Cleveland, the Ravens would win their first Super Bowl title. They would add another in 2013 to bring their total to two. However, they also won one as the Baltimore Colts back in Super Bowl 5, bringing the city of Baltimore to three championships.
NEW YORK
Ok, this is where things get tricky. Technically, the Giants and Jets play in New Jersey, but they didn't ALWAYS play there, so they've got New York in their title and belong to the state.
BUFFALO BILLS
You could feasibly call them the Bad Luck Bills if you wanted to because Buffalo fans have endured a lot of it over the years. The Bills had a run in the early 90s where they made the Super Bowl FOUR YEARS IN A ROW...and came out on the losing end of it each time. Those are their only four Super Bowl appearances leaving them with a record of 0-4, therefore not helping the states win total.
NEW YORK GIANTS
On the other end of the spectrum, we have the New York Giants, who have as many Super Bowl wins as the Bills have appearances, four. Their last victory came in 2012 when they knocked off the New England Patriots, and it featured one of the most famous catches in NFL history when Giants WR David Tyree caught a ball against his helmet and maintained control all the way to the ground.
NEW YORK JETS
Last, but not least, we have the New York Jets. In recent years, the Jets have been bottom-dwellers in the NFL and haven't found much success. In fact, the last time they saw the Super Bowl was all the way back in 1969 for Super Bowl 3, which they won. However, it also stands as their only appearance in the big game.
OHIO
It's not a state where you would immediately allow your brain to go when thinking about which states have two teams. They do though, even if there was a stretch where they only had one.
CINCINNATI BENGALS
The Bengals are the more successful team out of the two Ohio teams, but they haven't achieved that ultimate success as of yet. The Bengals have reached the Super Bowl on three different occasions, but have yet to pull out a victory in the big game.
CLEVELAND BROWNS
The case of the Cleveland Browns is a curious one. They were beloved by the fans in the state, but then their owner inexplicably moved them to Baltimore. While Cleveland would be without an NFL franchise, they would watch their former team win the first Super Bowl in the franchise's history. Unfortunately for Ohio, that title wouldn't come in the state, thus the Cleveland Browns are stuck on zero Super titles...and zero Super Bowl appearances.
PENNSYLVANIA
Maybe another state that you wouldn't immediately think about having more than one NFL team in it, but Pennsylvania has seen a lot of success in the NFL with its two teams.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
The Eagles are riding a wave at the moment. They were just in the most recent Super Bowl where they fell to the Kansas City Chiefs, and have a roster loaded to continue making runs at the big game. Even though they fell short recently, they do have one Super Bowl title to their name, and that came in 2018 when they knocked off the vaunted New England Patriots in a high-scoring affair. It was their first and only victory in three Super Bowl appearances.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
The other team belonging to the state of Pennsylvania is actually the most successful team in NFL history when it comes to the Super Bowl. The Steelers are the proud owner of SIX Super Bowl titles, and it stands as the most won by any NFL franchise. They last saw the big game in 2011, but they are ALWAYS seemingly in the playoffs with a chance to go all the way.
TEXAS
We've finally made it to our great state and its two franchises. They are two very starkly different teams in so many ways, so let's take a look at them.
HOUSTON TEXANS
We'll start with one of the newest teams in the NFL. The Texans started play back in 2002, so they've only got 20 years worth of history to go off of. It feels unfair to say that they are unsuccessful with such a limited history, and they have had several good seasons. However, those seasons weren't good enough as the Texans have never reached the big game, which obviously means they've never won it.
DALLAS COWBOYS
This brings us to the last team on the list, yet one of the most successful in the history of the NFL. The Cowboys are the proud owner of five Super Bowl titles, tying the 49ers for second-most all-time. The Cowboys are known affectionately as "America's Team" and have fans all over the world. Their penchant for doing everything bigger and flashier than any other professional sports franchise has a tendency to leak onto the field and that mentality has led to a whopping EIGHT Super Bowl appearances.
CONCLUSION
We've broken down all the teams in the states with multiple NFL teams, and now it's time to go to the scorecard. Which state has the most Super Bowl titles that technically reside in the state?
Ohio - Zero
Florida - Four
New York - Five
Texas - Five
Maryland - Six
California - Ten
Like it or not, California reigns supreme as they've won a touch less than 20% of the Super Bowls that have been played. Maybe one day Texas will catch up, but that remains to be seen over the upcoming seasons.