Who Is The Most Iconic Franchise In Each Of The 4 Major Pro Sports Leagues?

In sports, there have been teams over the years who have been more successful than others and who have formed more of a more historic legacy than their counterparts.

Taking that into consideration, here are in my opinion, the most iconic franchises in each of the four major sports leagues in North America.

NBA: Los Angeles Lakers

In the NBA, there really are only two options, the Los Angeles Lakers or the Boston Celtics. However, I do understand if you favor Boston over LA, as an argument I do not see brought up enough is that the Lakers did win five titles as the Minneapolis Lakers before winning their remaining twelve in LA.

Even though the Celtics just once again took over as the league's titles leader with 18 in the history of the franchise, when accounting for who the best franchise is, I obviously also have to look at the players who suited up for those teams, and the Lakers all-time is simply better than Boston's.

Give me the Lakers as the NBA's best franchise.

Other Teams Considered:

• Boston Celtics

MLB: New York Yankees

Ruth, Mantle, DiMaggio, Gehrig, Jeter.

Those are just five of the all-time greats who have helped shape the New York Yankees into being baseball's premier franchise.

The Bronx Bombers are no doubt the most recognizable team in Major League Baseball as they are synonymous with winning their league-record 27 World Series titles.

But it's not just the championships, it's the Yankee tradition. Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York, New York" playing after every win, Monument Park at Yankee Stadium honoring the franchise all-time greats, the nameless uniforms, the Bat in the hat logo, and god the pinstripes, how beautiful are the pinstripes.

If you said the Yankees are the most iconic franchise in all of sports I would not argue with you, let alone in all of Major League Baseball, you can try to make an argument for other teams but at the end of the day, nobody can top New York.

Other Teams Considered:

• Boston Red Sox

• Los Angeles Dodgers

NHL: Montreal Canadiens

Everyone reading this will call me biased but it is the god's honest truth, the Montreal Canadiens are and forever will be the most iconic franchise in professional hockey.

the Habs are the oldest franchise in the history of the game, they have appeared in 33 Cup Finals, have won 24 Stanley Cups, and over 50 players who are Hockey Hall of Famers have worn the red, white, and blue in their legendary careers, and not to mention perhaps the most iconic award in hockey, "The Rocket Richard" trophy is named after the best player in the history of the franchise, and they have the most beautiful uniforms in hockey.

Montreal is to hockey, what the Yankees are to baseball. Sure there is no denying there are other iconic franchises in the sport but it is a battle for who is second behind the Habs.

Other Team Considered:

Detroit Red Wings

NFL: Green Bay Packers

This one might be a bit controversial but for the NFL, I am going with the Green Bay Packers as the league's most iconic franchise.

I am not sure what it is because they don't have the most titles, they aren't the franchise worth the most and they play in a small market. It's just when I think of the NFL, the first team I think about is the Packers.

Maybe it is because the championship trophy is named after their legendary coach Vince Lombardi, maybe it is the fact that they play at perhaps the most iconic venue in the league in Lambeau Field, or maybe it is because the Green Bay Packers represent what makes sports so great.

The Packers play in the smallest town in North America to have a professional team and many people have said there is not much to do in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and with that, the town is brought together by cheering on their football team.

That is why we love sports, we love sports because they unite us. We can have different views on a variety of worldwide topics that divide us, but when we step into a stadium of people wearing the same colours and rooting for the same team, we are then one of the same.

The Packers in my opinion demonstrate this like no other franchise in the NFL which is why I give them the nod in terms of who is the most iconic franchise in the sport.

Other Teams Considered:

• New England Patriots

• Pittsburgh Steelers

• Dallas Cowboys