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New York is a city of a storied sports history. There are six professional sport franchises, between the NHL, NFL, NBA and MLB, who call the 5 county – 305 square mile city their home. The New York Rangers representing  the NHL; New York Knicks, the NBA; New York Jets and New York Giants, the NFL; and New York Yankees and Mets, the MLB.

Not counting former NYC sport franchises, the city’s current teams own a total of 43 league championship; 4 Stanley Cups, 2 NBA Finals, 9 Super Bowl / NFL-AFL Championships (8 by the Giants, 1 by the Jets) and 29 World Series (27 by the Yankees, 2 by the Mets). Counting its former franchises and the teams within its greater metropolitan area the league championships would total up to 57 overall championships, 23 more than the runner-up metropolitan area and of the Greater Los Angeles. If championships were equivalent to fan support and popularity though, it could be argued only the Yankees and their 27 World Series would correspond to the championship juxtaposition.

More college basketball prospects come out of the city of New York, than all other major sports combined. With a population density of 26,403 people per square mile, basketball is the most easily accessible and most played sport in the city’s famous parks. So it comes as no surprise, the sport’s team that would come up second in a city-wide popularity contest would not be Giants. But tying for second least in championships, in a city that owns two MLB and NFL franchises, the city’s lone NBA Knicks would win the popular contest. The Knicks have long proved mettle in country as one of the two teams from the original NBA, Boston Celtics being the other, that are still located in their city of origin.

Testament to the Knick’s popularity is the venue they play in, Madison Square Garden, also known to the press as “The World’s Most Famous Arena”. The Garden’s famous moniker isn’t without precedent; the arena is the oldest active arena in the NYC metropolitan area (second oldest in the NBA), and is the third busiest music arena in terms of ticket sales in the world. Located in downtown Manhattan, any team that plays in the Garden has the distinct advantage of playing in the central media hub of America’s most populous city. For a number of years college basketball’s NIT was held in higher esteem than the official NCAA Tournament, mostly because it was played at Madison Square Garden’s venue in front of more NBA scouts. In a time when media coverage was harder to mainstream to individual households, the garden was the best place to garner state and world-wide attention.

Billy Joel said it best when he said, “Madison Square Garden is the center of the universe as far as I’m concerned. It has the best acoustics, the best audiences, the best reputation…”. The Yankees may have a longer history of winning in the city, but if you strip off all the shiny accolades and trophies, and look at the brass tax, the team that anybody could root for in New York would be the Knicks. More than just an underperforming winner in a city of champions, more than just lovable losers, the Knicks are New York’s team, and New York’s team alone.

-Martin