City Color Combinations
Click on the tabs below to view each individual city’s color combinations. The Team Color Table shows the number of teams within the city, their primary, secondary and tertiary color scores, and their overall two-color and three-color averages. For each score, remember that lower numbers are better. Also please keep in mind that the two-color score tends to be a better metric to compare cities than the three-color score - many cities don’t have many (or any) teams with tertiary colors, so those scores are representative of a subset of the teams in those cases. You can refer to this summary table to get a better idea of where each city ranks:
Summary of Scores
|
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
min
|
22.2
|
71.0
|
3.2
|
35.9
|
9.6
|
|
median
|
118.0
|
123.8
|
85.0
|
111.1
|
136.1
|
|
max
|
235.9
|
190.8
|
238.7
|
265.2
|
314.1
|
Underneath the Team Color Table are the logos and color combinations for each team, along with their hexadecimal codes. Does any color inclusion or ordering seem wrong to you? Let me know!
Anaheim
Team Color Table: Anaheim
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Anaheim
|
2
|
166.1
|
186.2
|
105.3
|
226.8
|
226.5
|
The Angels ditched Anaheim from their name, but that doesn’t mean I have to include them in the Los Angeles bucket. The primary colors are in the bottom half of all cities in terms of similarity. Same goes for secondary and tertiary colors, as the blue for the Angels is not very close to the gold of the Ducks. Anaheim ranks second-to-last among two-team cities in two-color similarity, and dead last in three-color similarity.

Atlanta
Team Color Table: Atlanta
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Atlanta
|
4
|
59.6
|
81
|
66.1
|
53.2
|
123.6
|
Atlanta’s red and blue/black combos for all four teams lands it just outside of the top five city in terms of two-color score. It scores well in three-color, and ranks second among four-team cities in two-color score and first in three-color. Atlanta is well-rounded, with a top-15 ranking in primary, secondary, and tertiary colors.

Baltimore
Team Color Table: Baltimore
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Baltimore
|
2
|
142.5
|
NA
|
222.9
|
62.1
|
NA
|
While the secondary color for both the Orioles and Ravens is black, the primary colors of orange and purple really clash. Its primary color score is second-worst among all cities, leading to a bottom-ten ranking in two-color score.

Boston
Team Color Table: Boston
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Boston
|
5
|
73.1
|
79.9
|
68.8
|
77.4
|
93.5
|
Boston ranks high in all three underlying color scores, as most teams have blue or black for a primary color and red for a secondary. The green for the Celtics and the yellow for the Bruins detract from the scores a bit, but ultimately Boston is in the top ten in two-color score and places second in three-color score. Among cities with at least five teams, Boston is behind only Chicago in two-color similarity.

Buffalo
Team Color Table: Buffalo
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Buffalo
|
2
|
119
|
NA
|
58.5
|
179.6
|
NA
|
Both the Sabers and the Bills sport blue as a primary color, ranking Buffalo just outside the top ten in that metric. But the secondary colors of yellow and blue, respectively, rank in the bottom ten and gives the city a middling two-color score.

Charlotte
Team Color Table: Charlotte
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Charlotte
|
3
|
160.4
|
118.5
|
217.5
|
103.3
|
34.8
|
The Hurricanes stand out for their lack of blue. Charlotte ranks third-to-last in primary color score because of this, but is actually quite similar in secondary and tertiary colors. Thanks to the poor primary color score, Charlotte ranks in the bottom five in two-color similarity and is in th bottom half in three-color similarity.

Chicago
Team Color Table: Chicago
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Chicago
|
6
|
49.3
|
NA
|
49.9
|
48.7
|
NA
|
Chicago is one of the cities that benefits the most from using medians instead of averages when looking at the underlying colors. The White Sox hurt the primary score a bit, but Chicago still ranks second among all cities in two-color score. Chicago is in the top ten in primary color score and is a top-five city in secondary color score.

Cincinnati
Team Color Table: Cincinnati
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Cincinnati
|
3
|
83.9
|
NA
|
72.3
|
95.5
|
NA
|
Cincinnati has fairly good primary and secondary color scores, giving it a near top-ten two-color score. It ranks third in two-color score among three-team cities, behind only Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

Cleveland
Team Color Table: Cleveland
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Cleveland
|
3
|
79.5
|
NA
|
104.5
|
54.6
|
NA
|
Cleveland’s primary colors rank in the bottom half thanks to the different reds from the Indians and Cavs clashing with the orange from the Browns. The secondary color score is very good though, landing Cleveland in the top ten in two-color score. It trails only Pittsburgh in two-color score among three-team cities.

Columbus
Team Color Table: Columbus
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Columbus
|
2
|
235.9
|
NA
|
238.7
|
233.2
|
NA
|
Columbus has only two teams, and the colors for those two teams are not similar in any way. The city ranks last in primary color score and is second-to-last (ahead of Nashville) in secondary color score. Columbus ranks last in two-color score, and the gap in score between Columbus and second-to-last (Anaheim) is equal to the gap between Anaheim and the 16th ranked city (New York). It’s not even close.

Dallas
Team Color Table: Dallas
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Dallas
|
5
|
126.6
|
114.6
|
67.3
|
185.9
|
90.5
|
Despite the prevalence of different shades of blues, Dallas ranks in the bottom half in two-color score. The reds for the Rangers and FC Dallas cause the secondary color score to be in the bottom 10, but both the primary and tertiary color scores rank in the top ten. Among cities with three-color scores, Dallas ranks in the top ten. Among 5-team cities, Dallas places fifth in two-color score but trails only Boston in three-color score.

Denver
Team Color Table: Denver
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Denver
|
5
|
118
|
123.8
|
106
|
130
|
135.4
|
Denver has very similar two-color and three-color scores. The Rockies are the oddballs among these five teams and takes a fair amount of the blame for the city’s middling rankings. Denver ranks in the lower half in primary and secondary color scores but ranks fairly well in tertiary color.

Detroit
Team Color Table: Detroit
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Detroit
|
4
|
136.9
|
94.9
|
169.9
|
103.9
|
11
|
The Red Wings only have one color listed since I did not factor white into any of these rankings. I tried rearranging some colors, however, Detroit’s two-color score could not be saved from the bottom ten. The primary score is one of the worst among all cities, but the secondary score is in the top half. The tertiary score trails only St. Louis, and that’s why Detroit is in the top ten in three-color score.

Houston
Team Color Table: Houston
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Houston
|
4
|
153.7
|
183.8
|
146.9
|
160.4
|
244.2
|
The Orange for the Astros and blue from the Dynamo clash with the red of the other two teams. Houston’s primary color score is predictably poor, and the secondary score isn’t much better. The tertiary score, mainly impacted by the light orange from the Astros, is worse than all other cities outside of Tampa Bay. This all amounts to a bottom-ten ranking in two-color score and a bottom-three three-color ranking.

Indianapolis
Team Color Table: Indianapolis
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Indianapolis
|
2
|
22.2
|
NA
|
3.2
|
41.3
|
NA
|
Yellow was listed as the secondary color for the Pacers, allowing me to move their colors around a bit. Because of this, they align incredibly well with the Colts. Indianapolis has the best primary color score and second-best secondary color score, leading to easily the best two-color score among all cities. Does it feel wrong to list yellow as the tertiary color for the Pacers? Kinda!

Kansas City
Team Color Table: Kansas City
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Kansas City
|
3
|
161.8
|
NA
|
175.7
|
147.8
|
NA
|
Kansas City has one of the worst primary color scores, mainly thanks to the Chiefs. The secondary color score is a bit better, but not enough to help the city out of a bottom three two-color score ranking.

Las Vegas
Team Color Table: Las Vegas
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Las Vegas
|
2
|
99.7
|
NA
|
110.4
|
88.9
|
NA
|
The Raiders have moved out of Oakland, joining the Golden Knights. The shades of black for the two teams are not as close as one would think, but the gold and silver secondary colors are actually fairly close. This gives Vegas a top-half two-color score overall and a top-five score among two-team cities.

Los Angeles
Team Color Table: Los Angeles
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Los Angeles
|
8
|
124.7
|
150.1
|
82.8
|
166.5
|
201
|
Los Angeles trails only New York in total number of teams across the five major sports. There’s a lot of blue and yellow going on, but also a lot of other color combinations. LA ranks in the lower half in two-color score and the bottom five in three-color score. The city’s primary color score is solidly in the top half, but the secondary and tertitary color scores bring the overall scores down. Given the number of teams in the city, would it make sense to run the similarity test on a subset of teams? If so, which ones?

Miami
Team Color Table: Miami
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Miami
|
5
|
146.9
|
145.8
|
159.4
|
134.4
|
143.5
|
I think Miami wins the award for brightest colors across all teams. This doesn’t help its rankings though, as the city is in the bottom ten of two-color scores and the bottom five of three-color scores. As far as underlying rankings go, Miami is near the bottom in primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. The Heat cause the most damage among the primary colors, as the other teams have blues and black for primary.

Milwaukee
Team Color Table: Milwaukee
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Milwaukee
|
3
|
86.6
|
NA
|
46.3
|
126.9
|
NA
|
I don’t think anybody will object with me including the Packers in this grouping. Milwaukee ranks fairly high in the two-color score thanks to a very similar primary color score. The city would rank even higher if not for the secondary color of the Bucks (“Cream City Cream”) compared to the yellow for the other two teams.

Minneapolis
Team Color Table: Minneapolis
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Minneapolis
|
5
|
144.9
|
142
|
91.5
|
198.3
|
136.1
|
Minneapolis is similar to Miami in that it has a lot of different colors going on. Despite purple (Vikings) and green (Wild) in the mix for primary colors, the primary color score actually ranks in the middle of the pack. The secondary score is lacking, however, and that’s why Minneapolis is in the bottom ten of two-color scores. When looking at just five-team cities, only Miami is worse in both two-color and three-color scores.

Montreal
Team Color Table: Montreal
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Montreal
|
2
|
121.2
|
NA
|
45.9
|
196.4
|
NA
|
The primary blues for the two Montreal teams gives it a high-ranking primary color score, but the secondary color score is in the bottom ten. This balances out to give Montreal a middle-of-the-road two-color score.

Nashville
Team Color Table: Nashville
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Nashville
|
2
|
137.4
|
NA
|
9.6
|
265.2
|
NA
|
Nashville has a top-three primary color score, but its secondary score is the worst among all cities. The blue of the Titans really clashes with the gold of the Predators, and that’s what lands Nashville in the bottom ten in two-color score.

New Orleans
Team Color Table: New Orleans
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
New Orleans
|
2
|
53.9
|
NA
|
37.6
|
70.2
|
NA
|
New Orleans is a top-five city in two-color score. The primary color score is top five, and the secondary color score just barely misses the top ten.

New York
Team Color Table: New York
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
New York
|
10
|
98.9
|
131.2
|
89.2
|
108.6
|
195.9
|
New York has ten teams, two for each of the five major sports. Despite so many teams potentially clashing, the city has a surprising top-15 ranking in two-color score. The general blue colors give New York a middle ranking in primary color score, and the red/orange secondary colors slot the city in the top half of that metric. New York’s tertiary color score is not great though, and the city’s three-color ranking drops because of it. Because New York has mutliple teams for each sport, it could probably easily be split into two subsets that separately might have even better similarity scores. Which subset of teams should I look into?

Orlando
Team Color Table: Orlando
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Orlando
|
2
|
113
|
NA
|
136.7
|
89.3
|
NA
|
The purple for Orlando City SC does not match very closely with “Magic Blue,” as evidenced by the poor primary color score. The secondary color score is pretty good though, leading to a top-half ranking in two-color score.

Philadelphia
Team Color Table: Philadelphia
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Philadelphia
|
5
|
118
|
138.3
|
99.9
|
136
|
179
|
I moved some colors around a bit for Philadelphia, and that resulted in a respectable middle ranking in two-color score. The city isn’t as aligned as others with three-color scores though. Philadelphia is behind just Boston and Washington in two-color score among five-team cities, but falls behind Denver and Dallas when adding in the tertiary colors. The primary color score for the city is much better than the secondary and tertiary color scores.

Phoenix
Team Color Table: Phoenix
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Phoenix
|
4
|
120.2
|
89.9
|
75.9
|
164.5
|
29.4
|
Phoenix has a strong primary color score and a bottom-half secondary color score, leading to a middling two-color score. Thanks to each team’s tertiary color being black, Phoenix jumps to just outside the top five in three-color score. Among four-team cities, Phoenix is third in both overall scores.

Pittsburgh
Team Color Table: Pittsburgh
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Pittsburgh
|
3
|
68.2
|
NA
|
92.5
|
43.9
|
NA
|
Pittsburgh has one of the best two-color scores, thanks to its consistent black and yellow color combo across all three teams. It would rank even higher if not for the gold that is listed higher for the Penguins than yellow. Because of this, Pittsburgh is in the middle in primary color score, while it ranks in the top five for secondary color score. It is the highest-ranked among three-team cities in two-color score.

Portland
Team Color Table: Portland
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Portland
|
2
|
81.2
|
NA
|
48.2
|
114.1
|
NA
|
Portland barely misses out on the top ten in two-color score thanks to the similarity between the primary colors. The secondary color similarity is in the middle of the pack.

Salt Lake City
Team Color Table: Salt Lake City
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Salt Lake City
|
2
|
116
|
102.7
|
39.9
|
192
|
76.1
|
The two teams in Salt Lake City have blue as a primary color, but the secondary color similarity is very poor. The city’s two-color score settles in the middle of all cities as well as two-team cities. The three-color score ranking is much better thanks to the strength of the tertiary color score.

San Francisco
Team Color Table: San Francisco
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
San Francisco
|
3
|
132.4
|
NA
|
153
|
111.9
|
NA
|
The Warriors have made the move from Oakland to San Francisco, and join the already-dissimilar primary color score among the Giants and Niners. The primary color score is in the bottom half while the secondary score is in the middle. The two-color score for San Francisco ends up in the bottom then, though is ahead of other three-team cities like Kansas City and Charlotte.

San Jose
Team Color Table: San Jose
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
San Jose
|
2
|
49.8
|
71
|
45.8
|
53.7
|
113.5
|
San Jose has a top-10 score for both primary and secondary colors, which places it in third place overall in two-color score. The tertiary color score is strong enough to vault it into the top spot for three-color score.

Seattle
Team Color Table: Seattle
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Seattle
|
3
|
91.1
|
125.3
|
71.1
|
111.1
|
193.7
|
The blues and greens of the Seattle teams mesh quite well, though surprisingly the city just barely misses out on the top ten in two-color score. The primary and secondary color scores are both in the top half, but the tertiary color score is not good, so Seattle’s ranking falls when looking at three-color score. Seattle ranks fifth among three-team cities in two-color score.

St. Louis
Team Color Table: St. Louis
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
St. Louis
|
2
|
127.2
|
88
|
211.3
|
43
|
9.6
|
St. Louis was a tough city to organize the order of colors. The two-color ranking is quite bad even with sliding blue down to tertiary for the Cardinals, however, the city is ranked fourth in three-color score. The primary color score is in the bottom five, but the secondary score is very good and the tertiary score is the best among all cities.

Tampa Bay
Team Color Table: Tampa Bay
|
|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Tampa Bay
|
3
|
129.2
|
190.8
|
157.6
|
100.7
|
314.1
|
Tampa Bay is a weird case. The Lightning have just one color, because I didn’t use white in any of these rankings. The primary color score is messed up thanks to the Buccaneers, while the secondary and tertiary scores are just among the Rays and Buccaneers. The secondary score is decent, but the tertiary score is the worst among all cities. The two-color score is not terrible, but the three-color score is the worst among all cities.

Toronto
Team Color Table: Toronto
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Toronto
|
4
|
57.5
|
88.1
|
79.1
|
35.9
|
149.3
|
The Maple Leafs only contribute to the primary color score, but they help Toronto to a decent primary color score. Among the other three teams, the reds give Toronto the top secondary color score but the tertiary score is not great. Toronto is a top-five city in both two-color score and three-color scores.

Vancouver
Team Color Table: Vancouver
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Vancouver
|
2
|
116.1
|
141.3
|
7.3
|
224.8
|
191.9
|
Vancouver trails jus Indianapolis in primary color score but is on the other end of the rankings in secondary and tertiary color scores. The strength of the primary color similarity keeps Vancouver in the middle for two-color score but is not enough to save the city from a poor three-color ranking.

Washington
Team Color Table: Washington
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|
Overall Scores
|
Underlying Scores
|
|
City
|
Teams
|
Two-Color Score
|
Three-Color Score
|
Primary Score
|
Secondary Score
|
Tertiary Score
|
|
Washington
|
5
|
75.1
|
NA
|
85
|
65.2
|
NA
|
The City of Champions is fairly strong with the primary red colors, but surprisingly the secondary color score is even better. The gold of the Washington Football Team drags it down a bit, but it still finishes in the top ten. DC is a top ten city in two-color score, and is a prime example of why I used medians for larger cities. DC would place way lower in the rankings if I averaged primary and secondary colors, but the poor ranking didn’t feel correct to me. Washington trails only Boston in two-color score when looking at just five-team cities.

Main Findings
Overall Thoughts: I had a lot of fun putting this together, and it was cool verifying with numbers some of the cities that I figured would score well (like Pittsburgh, DC and Atlanta). But I was also surprised with some of the cities that didn’t rank as high as I thought (Seattle and Milwaukee come to mind). I think that color similarity overall is pretty common within cities, with only a handful of examples of teams completely mismatching. By no means do I think cities should match colors for their teams, but I think it’s pretty cool when they do!
Geographic: Looking at the cities geographically, I was drawn to just how well the midwestern cities coordinated. Chicago and Indianapolis crush it, but you also have Milwaukee, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh matching quite well. Good work, Midwest!
Most Similar: The city with the best two-color score is Indianapolis, with Chicago and San Jose coming in second and third. When adding in the tertiary color, San Jose, Boston and Atlanta are the most aligned.
Least Similar: On the other end of the spectrum, Columbus easily is the most dissimilar city, with the black and yellow of the Crew clashing with the blue and red of the Blue Jackets. Anaheim and Kansas City are also in the top three in terms of two-color dissimilarity.
2-Team Cities: 15 of the 39 cities in this analysis have just two teams.This can either be an advantage or a disadvantage when it comes to similarity scores. In addition to cities mentioned above, New Orleans, Portland, and Las Vegas are also well-aligned. Some additional cities that are misaligned are Baltimore and Nashville. Among cities with three-color scores, St. Louis is not far behind San Jose in similarity.
3-Team Cities: There are nine cities with three teams, with Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Cincinnati coming out on top in two-color similarity. Only three cities have three-color scores, and Charlotte comes out on top here despite a bad two-color score. San Francisco joins some aforementioned cities with low two-color scores, while Tampa Bay easily has the most disimilar three-color score among all cities.
4-Team Cities: Moving on to four-team cities, we see Toronto, Atlanta, and Phoenix leading the pack in two-color score. Each city has a three-color score, and we see the same top-3 here, though Atlanta takes the top spot. On the other end, Houston ranks last among both overall scores.
5-Team Cities: There are seven cities with teams in all five leagues. Boston is the most similar for both scores, while Miami is the lowest-ranked city for both scores.
Chicago, New York, and LA: These three cities not only have a team in each league, but multiple teams in some of the leagues. The number of teams hurt their similarity scores a bit, but surprisingly they are more alike than you’d think. Chicago’s two-color score is fantastic, while New York and LA are firmly in the middle of the pack. It’s at the three-color level where the issues come in for New York and LA (Chicago doesn’t have a three-color score), as they are both in the bottom ten (of 21 cities). The case can definitely be made to break up these cities so that the scoring only takes into account one team from each league. In that case, how would you break up the teams?