At a surface level, there wouldn’t appear to be much similarities between the Chicago and Arizona sports scenes. Both sports scenes are widely different in their location, the attitude of their sports scene as a whole, and the overall level of expectations that come with being in each sports city. But at the same time, the two places also have quite a bit of similarities.
Below, we take a look at those differences and similarities.
First, let’s start off with how the two are similar in their sports landscape.
Similarities:
Major metropolitan areas
Both sports landscapes also call two of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country home. Chicago is home to well over nine million people, making it the third biggest metropolitan area in the United States. Phoenix, on the other hand, is the 10th biggest metropolitan area in the country with nearly five million people calling the area home. This means both are considered major television markets, which allows for more money to be given to each franchise through their league’s television and revenue sharing contracts.
Historically successful but down sports franchise
Chicago’s sports franchises have a rich history especially over the last 30-35 years. The Chicago Bulls dominated the 1990s, the Bears for a long time were among the best teams in the NFC, the Blackhawks had a dynasty in the 2010s and both the Cubs and White Sox have won the World Series since the turn of the millennium.
Arizona may not have the same level of success but they have seen the Diamondbacks win a World Series and for the most part be a rather competitive team in their franchise’s history. The Phoenix Suns have had their fair share of great seasons despite still looking for the first NBA Finals victory as well.
But overall in their current state, both are experiencing down periods across the sports landscape. In Chicago, the Blachawks and Cubs are rebuilding, while the Bears and White Sox seemingly can’t over their respective humps to be competitive for a full season. Additionally, while the Bulls have been a respectable team since Michael Jordan left the franchise, they have not had anywhere close to the same amount of success that they had in the 1990s.
In Arizona, the Phoenix Suns are one of the lone bright spots while the Arizona Coyotes of the NHL continue to be one of the league’s worst teams. The Cardinals despite having one of the best young quarterbacks in the league just had to make a switch at head coach as well, hoping to turn around the fortune of their franchise. Finally, the Diamondbacks and Coyotes are both scraping the bottom of the barrel in their respective sports. Arizona sports fans can bet on their favorite in-state sports teams and more by signing up at Caesars Arizona by using one of their many promo codes which you can find, here.
But how about how the two cities differentiate? We take a look at two ways below.
Differences:
The atmosphere –
We’re not going to say Arizona doesn’t care about their sports but it’s fair to say as well that the city of Chicago is one of the most passionate sports cities in the country. The only true comparisons for Chicago are cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. In Arizona, the atmosphere is a little bit more laid back, sports are still popular but it’s not nearly the same type of atmosphere compared to Chicago. In cities like Chicago, the sports culture runs through the lifeline of the city and the results of games have an impact on the overall vibe of the city, in Arizona, it’s not as much of a “life or death” situation as it would be in other cities. But that’s okay as well, every sports city is different.
Accessibility / support of local government –
One of the biggest drawbacks of sports in Arizona is the lack of accessibility and support of local government overall. In general, many of Arizona’s sports franchises are located outside of Phoenix, however, for most Phoenix residents, this becomes a nuisance. With little public transportation outside of car sharing, location of stadiums and arenas make it tougher for both local and non-local fans to show up to sporting events. Chicago, however, has seen most of their stadiums built in the general metropolitan area with plenty of different public transportation being used by the public.
Overall, both Chicago and Arizona as a whole are great places if you’re a sports fan but they offer two very different experiences. Chicago, a blue collar town has a much more blue collar fanbase, many wake up and look forward to their favorite team playing that day.
Arizona, on the other hand, has more of a laid back environment thanks to natural beauty and lifestyle that comes with living on the west coast. That being said, because of the more naturally laid back environment of Phoenix and the surrounding areas, that passion level is just not the same as it is in Phoenix and that’s perfectly fine. Both are great sports cities and should continue to be for years to come .
