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New York named world’s top sport city as London trails in fourth place

New York has been crowned the world’s leading sport city while London continues to lag in fourth place in a new independent ranking published today. The Big Apple has benefited from increased visibility in 2026, driven by hosting the World Cup final and the Knicks ending their long wait for the NBA championship.
New York named world’s top sport city as London trails in fourth place

Tuesday 15 September 2026 10:28 am | Updated: Tuesday 15 September 2026 10:29 am

New York has been crowned the world’s leading sport city while London continues to lag in fourth place in a new independent ranking published today.

The Big Apple has benefited from increased visibility in 2026, driven by hosting the World Cup final and the Knicks ending their long wait for the NBA championship.

That lifted New York above Paris and Los Angeles, the hosts of the last and next Olympic Games respectively, in the ranking compiled by WPP-owned sports agency Burson.

Despite its long-standing pedigree, the return of NBA basketball and Arsenal’s Premier League title win, London remained fourth in the list, with Madrid completing the top five.

“Hosting matters, but the 2026 Ranking of Sports Cities shows that reputation is no longer built around a single event,” said Greg Curchod, Senior Client Lead EMEA at Burson Switzerland.

“The cities rising fastest are those that combine major events with long-term investment, emerging sports and strong connections to the global sports community.

“The winners are not always the loudest cities, but those who stay connected to the global sport conversation throughout the year.”

London’s absence from the top three is a blow to Mayor Sadiq Khan’s frequent claims that it is the world’s sporting capital and comes as the city looks set to lose the biggest British boxing event of recent times, the long-awaited Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury fight, to Cardiff.

Nonetheless, it can still boast of being the home of renowned football, rugby union and cricket stadia – Wembley, Twickenham and Lord’s – as well as the O2 and the London Stadium.

London has six Premier League clubs, two Prem Rugby teams and – like New York and Paris – is home to one of the four tennis Grand Slams.

New York City benefits from world-renowned franchises the Knicks and Brooklyn Nets in basketball, baseball’s Yankees and Mets, the Giants and Jets in NFL and ice hockey’s Rangers and Islanders.

It also has Major League Soccer’s New York City and Red Bulls and hosts high-profile boxing and MMA cards.

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It was published on September 15, 2026 and last updated on October 9, 2026. The time of the story is shown in your own time zone on the page.

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