Canadians are a passionate bunch and if there was ever any doubt just how passionate they are, then an individual would only need to have to look at the fanbases of the professional sports teams that are located within their unique country.
Indeed, many of the professional sports teams are participants in the major leagues that are played across the United States, with organizations currently competing across the National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Soccer (MLS). In fact, the only sports league that they are not a part of is the National Football League (NFL), although that might be due to the fact that there is the Canadian Football League (CFL) instead.
Either way, this has not stopped their fans from heading to online sportsbooks such as casumo.com where they are provided with a huge selection of bets to choose from when their favorite teams are in action across whichever sporting discipline, they compete in.
Nonetheless, which of the Canadian sports teams that exist have the biggest fanbases? Well, recent figures from a recent study help us to further understand where much of the support from the nation is.
Sports play a huge role within Canadian culture, with many from the country being extremely passionate about many of the activities that are played, whether they originate or are not even played in Canada.
Of course, whilst there are a handful of sports leagues that can be found within the great nation, much of the most competitive action that involves the best Canada has to offer will typically be found south of the border and in the United States of America.
The States is home to some of the biggest professional sports leagues in the world for some sports, and several teams from Canada are represented within almost all of them. Only the National Football League (NFL) does not feature a team from north of the border, however the Canadian Football League (CFL) has provided an alternative.
For instance, there are a number of well-supported teams to feature in the National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Soccer (MLS). But it does provide a question that would provide an interesting answer: which Canadian sports teams have the biggest fanbases?
Thankfully, there is a report that has managed to shed some light on that, with one particular city boasting the most popular teams within the entire country.
Toronto home to top three most popular sports teams
According to data collected in a study by Statista at the end of 2019, Toronto is the sporting city for Canada, with the Ontario-based city boasting the top three most supported franchises in the country.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the three teams that are the most popular all compete in different sports disciplines, although the organization that came out on top might be rather surprising.
The Toronto Blue Jays came out on top in the study that was conducted, with the baseball team being popular with a quarter of those who responded. Furthermore, of the 25% that picked them, 29% of those claimed to be die-hard fans.
The Toronto Raptors came second in the poll with the NBA side being named by 21% as fans, although 27% of those had claimed to be die-hard supporters, with the historic Toronto Maple Leafs concluding the top three. The storied NHL franchise was identified by 27% of respondents as a team that they support, with 20% claiming that they followed them everywhere.
NHL teams dominate the list
When heading further down the list, it is clear that ice hockey is the favored sport of Canadians as many of the teams that feature in the list amongst the most popular teams with the biggest fanbases all play within the NHL.
For instance, the Montreal Canadiens, the Vancouver Canucks, the Winnipeg Jets, the Ottawa Senators, the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames all come next on the list, thus providing them with positions four through to ninth.
The Montreal Alouettes breaks the NHL spell, although that is only because there are no further professional ice hockey teams to support from Canada available, with the CFL franchise rounding off the top 10 in the study that was compiled.
Many would suggest it is rather unsurprising, but a recent study from Statista in 2019 which had collected data on the most popular Canadian sports teams found that each of the top three teams was from the city of Toronto.
Indeed, the province of Ontario is Canada’s most populous province, with 38.3% of the country’s population, thus making it no real shock that the teams from the region are heavily backed by fans.
According to the data that was found, it has been revealed that the MLB team, the Toronto Blue Jays, are the team from Canada to have the biggest fanbase, with 25% of respondents choosing them. However, the figure might be skewed as the franchise is the only team from the country to be competing in the major league.
The same could be said about the second franchise with the biggest fanbase, as the NBA’s Toronto Raptors (the only team in the league from north of the U.S. border) were found to rank highly, with a total of 21% of respondents revealing that they backed them.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are Canada’s biggest NHL team in regard to fanbase, with 27% of respondents revealing that they supported the team, although a large part of this could be down to the franchise’s historic and iconic legacy within ice hockey and the league in which they compete.
With ice hockey being the country’s national sport, it is hardly a surprise that each of the teams that play in the NHL finds themselves amongst the top 10 teams in Canada with the biggest fanbases possible.
The Montreal Canadiens, the Vancouver Canucks, the Winnipeg Jets, the Ottawa Senators, the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames all come next on the list after the Toronto Maple Leafs, with the Montreal Alouettes (who are a CFL organisation) concluding the top 10.
