The Kansas City Royals are the most recent small-market MLB team to win the World Series, accomplishing the feat in 2015.
Kansas City is one of the smallest cities with an MLB team, ranking 28th out of 30 teams in metro population. Since the Royals’ championship run in 2015, each of the last 10 World Series winners has come from a team ranked in the top half of the league in market size.
For comparison, the NFL, NBA, and NHL have produced a combined 16 small-market champions over the last decade.
- NFL: Kansas City Chiefs (2020, 2023, 2024) and Denver Broncos (2016)
- NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers (2016), Milwaukee Bucks (2021), Denver Nuggets (2023), and Oklahoma City Thunder (2025)
- NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins (2016, 2017), Florida Panthers (2024, 2025), St. Louis Blues (2019), Colorado Avalanche (2022), Vegas Golden Knights (2023), Carolina Hurricanes (2026)
So far during the 2026 MLB season, the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays lead their respective leagues as small-market teams. Will they break a decade-long drought?
Get updated World Series odds for the 2026 campaign:
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