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Most Guessed North American Teams by Sport

For each of the major pro sports leagues, name the 5 most guessed teams on their quizzes.
Featured Quizzes used: NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA
as of October 11th 2021
Quiz by Stewart
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Last updated: October 12, 2021
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First submittedOctober 16, 2019
Times taken38,567
Average score60.0%
Rating4.16
3:00
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Hockey (NHL)
88%
Toronto Maple Leafs
87%
Montreal Canadiens
86%
New York Rangers
86%
Boston Bruins
85%
New York Islanders
 
 
Football (NFL)
92%
New England Patriots
91%
New York Giants
89%
Dallas Cowboys
88%
New York Jets
87%
Miami Dolphins
Baseball (MLB)
97%
New York Yankees
95%
Boston Red Sox
91%
Chicago White Sox
86%
Oakland Athletics
85%
New York Mets
 
 
Basketball (NBA)
96%
Los Angeles Lakers
90%
Boston Celtics
89%
Miami Heat
86%
New York Knicks
85%
Chicago Bulls
+15
Level 72
Oct 16, 2019
Interesting. As a Brit who, like most people over here, doesn't follow American sports, it is amazing the difference in the four. I know the names of most NFL sides and got 4 of the 5 answers. I got four of the MLB teams, but had never even heard of the fourth answer in the list. I got 2 of the NBA teams but recognised, and should probably have got, the other 3.

As for the NHL, I got one by mistake and have never heard of the other four teams.

Strange how some US sports have seeped into my subconscious and others are totally blank.

+3
Level 95
Oct 16, 2019
You may have heard of the fourth MLB team without realizing it. They're more well known by what their logo says (trying to follow your lead and keep from giving away the answer here); try googling their logo and see if maybe you really did know them. :)
+12
Level 85
Oct 16, 2019
Plus, you get the A's for free if you guess the Astros.
+18
Level 86
Oct 16, 2019
That's why I thought Reds would be there, because you get that free when you're guessing Red Sox.
+1
Level 92
Oct 12, 2021
@pants: Nope no idea who they are, but then I rarely do any sport quizzes. Maybe someday I'll catch up on that.
+2
Level 77
Oct 16, 2019
I thought some quizzes accepted either AT or AC for that MLB team, so was confused when it wasn't and then didn't guess them further. Also, in Finland, much more likely to know the NHL team names, just can't avoid hearing them on tv. MLB, NBA, NFL .. much easier to avoid.
+3
Level 75
Oct 18, 2019
On a multi-sports quiz I always guess the New York baseball, football, and basketball teams named the Mets, Jets, and Nets because they're easy to remember.
+2
Level 90
Oct 16, 2019
If I were a statistics major in college and looking for a good term paper subject, the various reasoning for why the Penguins top the NHL list (as opposed to how the other 3 sports pan out), why Oakland has a spot on the MLB list, why the less-popular teams from multi-team cities make the list, and why Toronto is on the NHL list would make for a pretty wide-ranging discussion.
+2
Level 76
Oct 16, 2019
I'm from Pennsylvania and I would not have guessed the Penguins. As for Toronto Maple Leafs, my first guesses were the six original NHL teams which includes Toronto
+2
Level 67
Oct 18, 2019
Most people just don't know the NHL that well, and the Penguins have been consistently in and around the Stanley Cup Finals for the last decade, much more so than any other team. They won the Cup (pretty much the only time an NHL team gets national press) back-to-back in 2016 and 2017, and they have the league's biggest star in Sidney Crosby. The Leafs are one of the NHL's signature franchises, and are Canada's most famous team. A lot of people probably think of Canada when they think of hockey (I know I do). People probably think of the White Sox immediately after thinking of the much more famous Red Sox, although I'll admit I was amazed they topped the Cubs on this list. I'm pretty baffled by the A's, whom even most baseball fans forget about. The only reasonable guess is that lots of people get credit for them after typing just "As," so anyone typing the Astros (another perennial powerhouse and recent champ) automatically gets the A's.
+4
Level 77
Jun 1, 2021
for the A's, I was going for the Astros and got them by chance. For the Penguins, I would have to guess many people think that sounds like a hockey name since penguins live in icy environments.
+1
Level 67
Nov 10, 2021
This would be my guess why they are on, because they get twice the guesses as people put As in for both them and the astros, if that is how jetpunk registers guesses.
+8
Level 88
Oct 16, 2019
Major sports haven Boston is the only city to have all its teams guessed. New York City also has 4 on the list, out of 9 total.
+1
Level 63
Oct 18, 2019
5 NY teams
+3
Level 86
Oct 16, 2019
Man, I have been on Jetpunk too long. I was completely stumped as to how "Red Sox" could be so much higher than "Reds" because I didn't think it was possible to type "Red Sox" without typing "Reds" first.

Then I remembered that in the rest of the world, spaces are a thing . . .

+1
Level 84
Oct 17, 2019
But the data set comes from Jetpunk quizzes. So I'm still not sure how that's possible
+5
Level 66
Oct 18, 2019
Has to be because of the people that actually type in "Boston Red Sox" instead of just "Red Sox"
+1
Level 86
Oct 12, 2021
And now, taking the quiz again years later, I got "A(thletic)s" accidentally because I was trying to type "Astros" lol.
+3
Level 70
Oct 17, 2019
No dodgers, and cubs over white sox?..da Bears not makin it?
+11
Level 48
Oct 17, 2019
I'd guess White Sox make it because people think that right after they type Red Sox
+1
Level 59
Oct 21, 2021
I also thought white sox only b/c Red Sox were there. I'm shocked Dodgers aren't on the list. Also shocked that Penguins weren't on there. I would think Raiders or Steelers before Dolphins, too
+1
Level 82
Oct 17, 2019
Wow I got 5 points on a sports quiz.
+2
Level 57
Oct 18, 2019
At least Pittsburgh is here for something. (Not that I really care about sports, but it's always nice to see the Burgh represented.)
+1
Level 75
Oct 18, 2019
Since the answers did not include the St. Louis Blues or Cardinals I am adding them here even though the Cards just did miserably against the Nationals in the NLCS. But we still have the Stanley Cup. Go Blues!
+3
Level 28
Oct 18, 2019
As a german who isn't into any sports this was a bit funny. First I remembered Baseball-Caps with Yankees and Red Sox Logos, second somewhere in my mind a team named "Chicago Bulls" popped up. I didn't know fur sure, what sport those three could have been since baseball-caps arent exclusive to baseball. The fourth and last I got was "Oh ice hockey, maybe there is a team called 'Icebears'... no, well then maybe 'penguins'... Here we go!!!" ;)
+1
Level 82
Oct 18, 2019
probably would be called the Polar Bears if anything
+1
Level 82
Oct 22, 2019
The German just used literal translation
+1
Level 67
Oct 19, 2021
If Fairbanks ever gets a team...
+1
Level 82
Oct 18, 2019
and I'm kind of surprised the Chicago Bears (NFL) aren't here. They're from a big city and also have the 2nd-best all time record in the league after the Cowboys.
+2
Level 67
Oct 18, 2019
They must have just missed it. The Cowboys are, generally speaking, the league's most famous team. The Patriots are known everywhere for now because they are in the Super Bowl every freaking year. Then you've got the two New York teams, and the Packers are an iconic team that is always on national television and has had a superstar quarterback (which always translates to national press) leading them for twenty straight years. I'd imagine the Bears have to be next on the list. Maybe the Chiefs if the results skew toward recency. Also everyone knows the Browns, but for all the wrong reasons.
+1
Level 82
Oct 19, 2021
By all the wrong reasons I assume you mean when this song tore up the international pop charts.
+1
Level 79
Nov 5, 2023
I was sort of surprised too, but it makes sense. As of this comment, they're not even in the top ten on the NFL teams quiz. Neither the Bears nor the Cowboys have been relevant in the playoffs this century despite being famous teams. I don't know what the stats were in 2019, but the Bears are not second for all-time record.
+1
Level 88
Oct 18, 2019
I got 17/20 for 4 points. This has got to be one of my best ever scores on a sports quiz!
+1
Level 67
Oct 18, 2019
Nice job. I feel that way when I do well on a science quiz.
+1
Level 65
Oct 19, 2019
Don't buy for 1 second that the white sox were guessed more than the cubs...
+3
Level 53
Jul 24, 2020
Well when I think of baseball the Red Sox pop immediately into my mind after the Yankees, and then with sox in my head I think of the White Sox
+2
Level 88
Oct 12, 2021
Mungo Jerry, thanks for the great song from 1970.
+5
Level 70
Oct 19, 2019
It's an objective fact that if you're a Patriots fan, you're a bad person.
+1
Level 88
Oct 12, 2021
It's an objective fact that haters ignored all signs of reality during the Brady years.
+2
Level 48
Oct 25, 2019
Go A's!
+4
Level 28
Oct 27, 2019
I typed in Astros but the "as" counted as the Athletic's (A's)
+1
Level 76
Sep 4, 2020
Not gonna lie, as someone that lives in the US it did take me a minute to realise why the NY Jets and Giants are both on here and the Pittsburgh Steelers aren't
+1
Level 21
Dec 10, 2020
I get 100% but get 0 points?
+2
Level 68
Dec 10, 2020
Did you take it untimed by any chance? You don't get points for untimed
+4
Level 74
Dec 16, 2020
I still don't get how the A's are here because of the Astros but the Reds aren't here despite the Red Sox being here. Reds are currently 7th behind the Cubs. Apparently a significant portion of people really are typing out the city names.
+2
Level 20
Mar 1, 2021
Me when I see the Jets there: CONFUSION
+4
Level 83
Oct 11, 2021
"Guess what the majority is thinking" can be even more frustrating than "Guess what I'm thinking"!
+1
Level 85
Oct 12, 2021
It'll never be Royals.
+4
Level 88
Oct 12, 2021
Not enough Lorde fans taking the quiz.
+1
Level 81
Oct 13, 2021
only Boston..who is with me?
+1
Level 76
Oct 19, 2021
Ha, it's pretty much "Name Every Team in NYC".
+1
Level 56
Oct 19, 2021
Well, yeah. The NYC teams are located in the biggest market in the country.
+1
Level 63
Oct 19, 2021
Oooooof, I guessed red socks and white socks. I never watch MLB, pain.
+1
Level 77
Dec 15, 2021
White Sox but not Cubs? I'm shocked. I wonder if some of those are people guessing "sox" for the Red Sox and getting both.
+1
Level 60
Jul 23, 2023
I don't think Sox works. I think it's just the train of thought.
+1
Level 76
Mar 7, 2022
Struggled with 3/4 leagues. My least-watched sport I went 5/5 on guesses (NBA). How did you avoid "Reds" as an answer for MLB? I can see that coming up every time a user wants to type "Red Sox."