Why are some professional sports teams named after cities, and some named after states?

Question

Like every team from the state of Minnesota has always been after the state, not for example the city of Minneapolis, or St Paul.
Then there are others, like Seattle, or Miami, that are named after a city.

Answer 1

Thats a good question. Would probably depend on the creator of the team.

Answer 2

These teams take their names after states: all other teams are named after cities.
NFL
Arizona Cardinals
Carolina Panthers
Minnesota Vikings
Tennessee Titans
Washington Redskins*
New England Patriots* named after the New England Region

NBA
New Jersey Nets
Minnesota Timberwolves

MLB
Texas Rangers
Minnesota Twins
Florida Marlins
Arizona Diamond Backs
Colorado Rockies

NHL
Carolina Hurricanes
Florida Hurricanes
New Jersey Devils

I think that with a few exceptions they were named after the state or region for marketing or fan base reasons. It would make no sense to locate a team in a smaller city in these areas and lose the draw of larger support. It would also be because of division crowding and the need to break the teams up so name them to a larger area? Just a thought esp. with expansion teams. Fans that had long been without a team in their area wanted to share in a piece ot the team. It all comes down to marketing strategy.
I may have missed a team or put a team in where it did not belong, there are * marks for those that are not fitting into a certain category

Answer 3

The ones that are named after the state are usually located in the suburbs and since they do not want to leave out the place where they are playing, they use the states name rather than using the major city near that area. For example; the Texas Rangers use Texas rather than use the name where they play (Arlington) or the closest big city (Dallas). Minnesota is used because it has two major cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) and doesn't want to leave one out of its name.

Answer 4

Minnesota names their teams that way as not to offend either Minneapolis OR St. Paul. BTW Twins is short for "Twin Cities".

In general if a team plays in city itself it will take the name of the city. Example: Boston Red Sox play in Boston.

If the team plays in the suburbs the team will usually take the name of the state or the region.
Example: New England Patriots play in Foxboro, MA. Well nobody has ever heard of Foxboro, so they take the name NewEngland.

Answer 5

It's up to the teams' owners. Some want a state identity, others prefer a city identity.

I remember when the Cardinals (of the NFL) moved from St. Louis to Arizona, they were known as the Phoenix Cardinals. After a few years, they changed to the Arizona Cardinals.

Answer 6

it depends on how it's best marketed. seattle would be confusing if it was called washington, because then people might mistake it for washington dc, where the redskins play. also, the minnesota twins are technically meant to represent st paul AND minneapolis because of the whole twin cities thing. its really up to the owners of the team and how they think the name will be most attractive. the owner of the baseball angels changed the name from the anaheim angels to the los angeles angels of anaheim because he thought it would be more attractive to the worldwide market.

Answer 7

It depends on the emotion you are going for.

Some want city pride (San Francisco 49ers), others want State appeal (Golden State Warriors), a few want the region (New Englan Patriots)