Today's topic: parity in the NFL vs. parity in MLB
This topic came up as a by-product of the NFL Los Angeles debacle.
Mike's observation: more championship parity in the World Series than in the Super Bowl.
Here's the distribution of Super Bowl championships all-time:
- Pittsburgh Steelers - 6
- Dallas Cowboys - 5
- San Francisco 49'ers - 5
- Green Bay Packers - 4
- New England Patriots - 4
- New York Giants - 4
- Denver Broncos - 3
- LA/Oakland Raiders - 3
- Washington - 3
- 3 teams - 2 each
- 7 teams - 1 each
Here's the distribution of World Series championships since 1966 (the season that ended with Super Bowl I). Please note that there was no World Series in 1994 because of the players' strike:
- New York Yankees - 7
- Oakland Athletics - 4
- St. Louis Cardinals - 4
- Baltimore Orioles - 3
- Boston Red Sox - 3
- Cincinnati Reds - 3
- San Francisco Giants - 3
- 9 teams - 2 each
- 4 teams - 1 each
Tim makes the argument that in the immediate aftermath of the 1994 players' strike, MLB had significant disparity as the Yankees were able to buy all the big-name talent while lower-revenue teams - like the Royals and the priced-out-of-existence-so-they-moved-to-DC Montreal Expos - struggled at the gate and on the field. We're starting to see the attitudes of then-Yankees owner George Steinbrenner manifest themselves in the NFL in the form of Jerry F. Jones.
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