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Golden Gate Country: A City of Champions

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Golden Gate Country: A City of Champions

Southern California is known for its stars, celebrities, and the glitz and glamour life that follows Hollywood, Los Angeles, but up north, Northern Californians are accustomed to winning championships thanks to the rise of teams like the Golden State Warriors.

The San Francisco Bay Area has become a region of stars in its own right, and not just because of the scenic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the mystique of Alcatraz Island, or the tech bubble of Silicon Valley but because of the Bay Area major sports teams.

While the Warriors have recently put the Bay Area sports landscape on the map thanks to three titles in the span of four years (2015, 2017, 2018), the city of San Francisco and the surrounding metropolitan area has had its fair share of championship seasons.

San Francisco Bay Area major sports teams

While the city of San Francisco doesn’t host all of the “big four” major sports leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL), all four major sports reside in the metropolitan area.

The San Francisco Giants of baseball and San Francisco 49ers of football live by their name and call San Francisco home (despite the 49ers’ new stadium is in a Santa Clara location).

Within the Bay Area are the Golden State Warriors (Oakland) of the NBA, Oakland Athletics (Oakland) of MLB, and San Jose Sharks (San Jose) of the NHL.

The San Jose Earthquakes, a professional soccer team, are also a professional Bay Area sports team.

Total number of championships

Thanks to the rise to dominance by the Golden State Warriors, they have joined dynasty-status teams like the San Francisco Giants, the Oakland Athletics, and the San Francisco 49ers.

The Warriors have won six national championships (1947, 1956, 1975, 2015, 2017, and 2018), including several that came before the modern NBA was established.

The 49ers have won five Super Bowl titles, with their first coming in 1982 and their most recent coming in 1995. The three other Super Bowl victories came in 1985, 1989, and 1990.

The Giants have won eight World Series titles dating all the way back to 1905. Their other championships came in 1921, 1922, 1933, 1954, 2010, 2012, and 2014.

The other MLB team, the Athletics, have won nine World Series titles (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, 1930, 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1989).

The Earthquakes won the MLS Cup in 2001 and 2003 for a total of two national championships.

The Sharks, however, have sadly yet to win a Stanley Cup in the National Hockey League.

Championships since 2000

Since 2000, Bay Area sports teams have brought home eight championships. While the Warriors have won titles as recent as 2018, 2017, and 2015, the Giants had championship seasons in 2010, 2012, and 2014. The Earthquakes round out the eight titles with victories in 2001 and 2003.

A 2016 Bleacher Report article ranked the Bay Area No. 2 when it comes to the best sports cities of the 2010s, and the Warriors have since added two titles to the Bay Area sports total.

The Bay Area is filled with entertainment and views on land and water and the sports scene has a lot to do with that. AT&T stores in California can be seen from land to water, especially since AT&T Park, where the Giants play, has McCovey Cove in right field.

Travelers and tourists alike come to San Francisco from all over the world to take in a city that’s known for its hills, cable cars, sourdough bread, iconic “golden” bridge, Alcatraz Island, and so many other Bay Area delights and attractions, but it’s the major sports teams that give the San Francisco Bay Area its championship pedigree.