125-662: The Badger Institute , formerly the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute , is a nonprofit policy research organization based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin . It supports free markets and limited government. It played a prominent role in the development of the state's school voucher program and has formulated recommendations for the state's higher education system. 43°02′20″N 87°55′12″W / 43.0388°N 87.9200°W / 43.0388; -87.9200 This Wisconsin -related article
250-468: A $ 150 million expansion fee, a significant increase from the $ 100 million that New York City FC paid to join MLS in 2015. MLS announced plans to expand to 30 teams by 2023, and set the expansion fee for the 28th and 29th teams (ultimately Sacramento Republic FC and St. Louis City SC) at $ 200 million. The 30th team, ultimately unveiled as 2022 entry Charlotte FC, reportedly paid $ 325 million. For comparison,
375-502: A city as high numbers of immigrants, mainly German , made their way to Wisconsin during the 1840s and 1850s. Scholars classify German immigration to the United States in three major waves, and Wisconsin received a significant number of immigrants from all three. The first wave from 1845 to 1855 consisted mainly of people from Southwestern Germany , the second wave from 1865 to 1873 concerned primarily Northwestern Germany , while
500-421: A combined metro area of over 2 million), a league business model that relies more heavily on equally distributed television revenue that puts small-market teams at less of a disadvantage, and the loyalty of their Cheesehead fan base, whose fans and their next of kin typically renew their season tickets every year until their issue expires, resulting in a centuries-long waiting list for season tickets. Green Bay
625-674: A first-division league, with that title going instead to the Canadian Premier League (CPL). However, Canadian teams in the MLS are regarded as Division I teams, and MLS is generally acknowledged as having a higher quality of play than the CPL, significantly more media coverage and economic success, and has teams based in Canada's three largest metropolitan areas, who together have dominated the Canadian Championship ,
750-464: A large Serbian population, who have developed Serbian restaurants, a Serbian K–8 School , and Serbian churches, along with an American Serb Hall. The American Serb Hall in Milwaukee is known for its Friday fish fries and popular events. Many U.S. presidents have visited Milwaukee's Serb Hall in the past. The Bosnian population is growing in Milwaukee as well due to late-20th-century immigration after
875-623: A large music festival. Milwaukee is home to the Fortune 500 companies of Northwestern Mutual , Fiserv , WEC Energy Group , Rockwell Automation , and Harley-Davidson . It is also home to several colleges, including Marquette University , the Medical College of Wisconsin , Milwaukee School of Engineering , and University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee . The city is represented in two of the four major professional sports leagues —the Bucks of
1000-588: A lasting influence on the American school system. Kindergarten was created as a pre-school for children, and sports programs of all levels, as well as music and art, were incorporated as elements of the regular school curriculum. These ideas were first introduced by radical-democratic German groups, such as the Turner Societies, known today as the American Turners . Specifically in Milwaukee,
1125-695: A line by Alice Cooper in the 1992 comedy film Wayne's World . The name of the future city was spelled in many ways prior to 1844. People living west of the Milwaukee River preferred the modern-day spelling, while those east of the river often called it Milwaukie . Other spellings included Melleokii (1679), Millioki (1679), Meleki (1684), Milwarik (1699), Milwacky (1761), Milwakie (1779), Millewackie (1817), Milwahkie (1820), and Milwalky (1821). The Milwaukee Sentinel used Milwaukie in its headline until it switched to Milwaukee on November 30, 1844. Indigenous cultures lived along
1250-726: A metro area of that size being the Buffalo Sabres ). While only one MLB team, the San Diego Padres , is located in a market that has no other major league teams, six NBA teams are located in cities devoid of any additional "Big Four" franchises: the Memphis Grizzlies , Oklahoma City Thunder , Orlando Magic , Portland Trail Blazers , Sacramento Kings , and San Antonio Spurs . Four of these six NBA-only cities also lack an MLS team (Memphis, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, San Antonio). The Salt Lake City market, home to
1375-411: A multi-league knockout competition which technically decides the national champions of Canada. This makes Canada unusual in awarding its national soccer championship to the winner of its premier knockout tournament, rather than the winners of its highest-level league competition. MLS is unique among U.S. and Canada's major sports leagues in that the teams take part in multiple separate tournament outside
SECTION 10
#17327871318381500-609: A population of more than 1 million host at least one major sports franchise. All five U.S.-based major leagues each currently have at least two teams in both the New York/North Jersey area and the Los Angeles/Anaheim market. MLB, which historically (as a result of its history as two rival leagues) had a team in each component league in Boston, Philadelphia and St. Louis up until the mid-20th century, and in
1625-526: A slow upward trend for the league. Its level of play is generally recognized as on the second tier of professional football, with the CFL having a slight advantage in player recruitment compared to second-tier American leagues such as the UFL due to the CFL's longer established history. Major professional sports leagues are distinguished from other sports leagues in terms of business and economic factors, popularity of
1750-728: A small part of North Carolina. The largest TV market without a major franchise is the Hartford – New Haven market, covering all of Connecticut except the former Fairfield County ; Hartford's last major league squad, the NHL's Whalers , left in 1997. The NHL has been the dominant professional sports league in Canada, and was first established in Canada in 1917. The NHL was initially based entirely in eastern Canada. By 1925, Hamilton and Quebec City no longer had NHL teams, while Ottawa left in 1934, by which point American teams were slowly being added. The first Canadian expansion launched in 1970 with
1875-522: A team from the league's unsuccessful 1990s-era South Division . The CFL has had either eight or nine teams in operation since its inception except for the 1994 and 1995 seasons in which the league temporarily expanded into the United States. Each of the Big Four leagues has at least 30 teams (the NFL has had 32 teams since 2002 and the NHL added its 32nd team in 2021), and each has had at least 29 teams since
2000-574: A team in Vancouver ; the NHL later added teams in Edmonton , Winnipeg and Quebec City (through absorption of WHA franchises), Calgary (via relocation from Atlanta ) and Ottawa (via expansion) to go with the still-extant Toronto and Montreal teams. The distinctive place ice hockey holds in Canadian culture allowed these franchises to compete with teams in larger cities for some time. However,
2125-442: A variety of occupations: grocers, blacksmiths, tavernkeepers, coopers, butchers, broommakers, shoemakers, draymen, laborers, and farmers. Three distinct Polish communities evolved in Milwaukee, with the majority settling in the area south of Greenfield Avenue. Milwaukee County's Polish population of 30,000 in 1890 rose to 100,000 by 1915. Poles historically have had a strong national cultural and social identity, often maintained through
2250-482: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( / m ɪ l ˈ w ɔː k i / mil- WAW -kee ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County . With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census , Milwaukee is the 31st-most populous city in the United States and the fifth-most populous city in
2375-532: Is a relatively recent situation. Historically, the league was concentrated in the northeast, with no teams south of New York City or west of Chicago from 1935 until 1967. The league expanded its footprint westward in a 1967 expansion but, other than the unsuccessful Atlanta Flames , avoided the South until making a major expansion into the territory in the 1990s. Both the NBA and MLS have higher concentrations of teams in
2500-597: Is along the Menomonee River (east of Hawley Road) and Fairview Avenue/Golfview Parkway (west of Hawley Road), with the east–west numbering line defined along 1st Street (north of Oklahoma Avenue) and Chase/Howell Avenue (south of Oklahoma Avenue). This numbering system is also used to the north by Mequon in Ozaukee County , and by some Waukesha County communities. Milwaukee is crossed by Interstate 43 and Interstate 94 , which come together downtown at
2625-637: Is offered for children in grades K–5 . Although the German presence in Milwaukee after the Civil War remained strong and their largest wave of immigrants had yet to land, other groups also made their way to the city. Foremost among these were Polish immigrants. The Poles had many reasons for leaving their homeland, mainly poverty and political oppression. Because Milwaukee offered the Polish immigrants an abundance of low-paying entry-level jobs, it became one of
SECTION 20
#17327871318382750-533: Is one of two NFL teams, the other being the Jacksonville Jaguars , that are the only major league franchises in their metropolitan area. Both MLB and the NFL have had two prolonged recent exceptions in which the league was absent from one of the U.S.'s ten most populous metropolitan areas; from 1972 to 2004, ninth-place Washington, D.C., had no MLB team , and from 1995 to 2016, second-place Los Angeles had no NFL teams . The NHL's national footprint
2875-545: Is the only "Big Four" league to have been founded in Canada. It was formed in 1917 as a successor to the Canadian National Hockey Association (founded in 1909), taking all but one of the NHA's teams. The NHL partially absorbed the rival World Hockey Association in 1979. There are 32 teams, with 25 in the U.S. and 7 in Canada. The most popular sports league in Canada, and widely followed across
3000-629: Is the only major league that does not have any teams in markets with fewer than 1.75 million people; both it and the NFL have teams in every U.S. market with over 4 million people. The NHL is the major league that least follows the general trend, due to the fact that a disproportionate number of its franchises are in cities with cold winters. The NHL lacks teams in a number of southern metropolitan areas with populations of over 3 million (Houston, Atlanta, San Diego) but has five teams in northern metropolitan areas with fewer than 1.25 million people, all of which are in or adjacent to Canada (the lone American team in
3125-442: Is the top-level men's professional soccer league in the United States. As of the league's 2024 season, MLS has 29 teams, with 26 in the United States and 3 in Canada, with one more U.S. team, San Diego FC , scheduled to start play in 2025. The league began play in 1996, its creation a requirement by FIFA for awarding the United States the right to host the 1994 World Cup . MLS was the first major Division I outdoor soccer league in
3250-552: The American Football League in 1970. It has 32 teams, all located in the United States. As of 2015 , NFL games have the largest per-game attendance among domestic professional leagues in the world, and is the most popular league in the U.S. in terms of television ratings and merchandising. Its championship game, the Super Bowl , is the most watched annual event on U.S. television, with Super Bowl XLIX being
3375-617: The American Soccer League (1921–1933) (ASL) and original North American Soccer League (1968–1984) (NASL). Major League Soccer (MLS) was established in 1996. Major League Baseball is the highest level of play of baseball in the United States and Canada. and the oldest of the major American leagues. It consists of the National League (founded in 1876) and the American League (founded in 1901). With
3500-701: The Battle of Fort Dearborn on August 15, 1812, the only known armed conflict in Chicago. This battle convinced the American government to remove these groups of Native Americans from their indigenous land. After being attacked in the Black Hawk War in 1832, the Native Americans in Milwaukee signed the 1833 Treaty of Chicago with the United States. In exchange for ceding their lands in the area, they were to receive monetary payments and lands west of
3625-622: The Bradley Symphony Center , and Discovery World , as well as major renovations to the UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena . Fiserv Forum opened in late 2018, and hosts sporting events and concerts. Milwaukee is categorized as a "Gamma minus" city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network , with a regional GDP of over $ 102 billion in 2020. Since 1968, Milwaukee has been home to Summerfest ,
3750-467: The Catholic Church . A view of Milwaukee's South Side skyline is replete with the steeples of the many churches these immigrants built that are still vital centers of the community. St. Stanislaus Catholic Church and the surrounding neighborhood was the center of Polish life in Milwaukee. As the Polish community surrounding St. Stanislaus continued to grow, Mitchell Street became known as
3875-457: The East Side , and more recently Walker's Point and Bay View , along with attracting new businesses to its downtown area. These efforts have substantially slowed the population decline and have stabilized many parts of Milwaukee. Milwaukee's European history is evident today. Largely through its efforts to preserve its history, Milwaukee was named one of the "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" by
Badger Institute - Misplaced Pages Continue
4000-614: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts , trace their origins to the late 1860s and early 1870s, which ranks them amongst the oldest professional sports teams of any kind still in existence on the continent. From 1993 to 1995, the CFL attempted expansion into the United States to cities without NFL teams, but all the clubs folded, while the management structure of the Baltimore Stallions
4125-674: The Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (which dated to 1907) and the Western Interprovincial Football Union (which was founded in 1936), and became independent from the Canadian Rugby Union in 1958. The league now consists of nine teams, all based in Canada. The Grey Cup is awarded annually to the champion every November and is the highest-attended sporting event in the nation. The oldest extant teams,
4250-527: The Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. Each of the current major leagues has franchises placed nationwide, with multiple franchises in each of the United States' four census regions —Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. Major leagues tend to place franchises only in the largest, most populated metropolitan areas. Most major league teams are in metropolitan areas having populations of more than 2 million. All but 12 continental U.S. metropolitan areas with
4375-652: The Marquette Interchange . The Interstate 894 bypass (which as of May 2015 also contains Interstate 41 ) runs through portions of the city's southwest side, and Interstate 794 comes out of the Marquette interchange eastbound, bends south along the lakefront and crosses the harbor over the Hoan Bridge , then ends near the Bay View neighborhood and becomes the "Lake Parkway" ( WIS-794 ). One of
4500-462: The Midwest . It is the central city of the Milwaukee metropolitan area , the 40th-most populous metro area in the U.S. with 1.57 million residents. Milwaukee is an ethnically and culturally diverse city. However, it continues to be one of the most racially segregated cities, largely as a result of early-20th-century redlining . Its history was heavily influenced by German immigrants in
4625-561: The Milwaukee . Smaller rivers, such as the Root River and Lincoln Creek, also flow through the city. Milwaukee's terrain is sculpted by the glacier path and includes steep bluffs along Lake Michigan that begin about a mile (1.6 km) north of downtown. In addition, 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Milwaukee is the Kettle Moraine and lake country that provides an industrial landscape combined with inland lakes. According to
4750-598: The NBA and the Brewers of MLB . The etymological origin of the name Milwaukee is disputed. Wisconsin academic Virgil J. Vogel has said, "the name [...] Milwaukee is not difficult to explain, yet there are a number of conflicting claims made concerning it. One theory says it comes from the Anishinaabemowin/Ojibwe word mino-akking , meaning "good land", or words in closely related languages that mean
4875-707: The National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL). Other prominent leagues include Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Canadian Football League (CFL). MLB, the NBA, the NFL, and the NHL are commonly referred to as the " Big Four ". Each of these is the wealthiest professional club competition in its sport worldwide, and along with the English Premier League they make up
5000-652: The National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2006. Historic Milwaukee walking tours provide a guided tour of Milwaukee's historic districts, including topics on Milwaukee's architectural heritage, its glass skywalk system, and the Milwaukee Riverwalk . Milwaukee lies along the shores and bluffs of Lake Michigan at the confluence of three rivers: the Menomonee , the Kinnickinnic , and
5125-513: The New York Yankees ) may even partially or fully own the cable network upon which their games are broadcast, and often receive more revenue from local broadcasts than any other source. NFL teams, which generally play once per week, do not negotiate local broadcast contracts, but are allowed to negotiate their own television deals for preseason games with syndication and broadcast stations. The current MLS broadcast deals took effect with
Badger Institute - Misplaced Pages Continue
5250-563: The Ohio League , and the National Hockey Association formed the basis of the modern MLB, NFL, and NHL, respectively. Basketball was invented in 1891, and its first professional league formed in the 1920s. The Basketball Association of America , founded in 1946, formed the basis of the NBA in 1949 and has lasted for over 75 years. Soccer was first professionalized in 1894, with past U.S.-based leagues including
5375-577: The Ohio League , the New York Pro Football League , and the Chicago circuit as a successor to Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit . For its first two seasons, 1920 and 1921, it was known as the "American Professional Football Association" (APFA) before changing its name to the current name in 1922. The NFL partially absorbed the All-America Football Conference in 1949 and merged with
5500-695: The Saskatchewan Roughriders , in a market not served by any other major league (the Hamilton Tiger-Cats , while having their city to themselves, are on the outskirts of both the Niagara Frontier (less than 50 miles from Buffalo) and the extended Greater Toronto Area ). The newest market any of the Big Four leagues has entered is the Las Vegas Valley , which received the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 and
5625-697: The United States Census Bureau as Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), California's Inland Empire is the largest without a major franchise. However, it is part of Greater Los Angeles , a region defined by the US Census as a Combined Statistical Area (CSA), and is thus part of the Los Angeles television market. The largest CSA without a major franchise is the Hampton Roads area of southeastern Virginia, spilling over into
5750-610: The United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 96.80 square miles (250.71 km ), of which, 96.12 square miles (248.95 km ) is land and 0.68 square miles (1.76 km ) is water. The city is overwhelmingly (99.89% of its area) in Milwaukee County , but there are two tiny unpopulated portions that extend into neighboring counties. North–south streets are numbered, and east–west streets are named. However, north–south streets east of 1st Street are named, like east–west streets. The north–south numbering line
5875-534: The Utah Jazz (as well as MLS team Real Salt Lake ), lacked another major-league team before the quasi-relocation of the Arizona Coyotes after the 2023–24 season. The NFL has one major exception. The Green Bay Packers survive in major league sports' smallest metropolitan area (300,000 population) thanks to unique nonprofit corporate ownership , proximity to the neighboring Milwaukee market (giving
6000-537: The " Forty-Eighters ", immigrated to the U.S. to avoid imprisonment and persecution by German authorities. One of the most famous "liberal revolutionaries" of 1848 was Carl Schurz . He later explained in 1854 why he came to Milwaukee, "It is true, similar things [cultural events and societies] were done in other cities where the Forty-eighters [ sic ] had congregated. But so far as I know, nowhere did their influence so quickly impress itself upon
6125-445: The "Big Four" leagues are televised on the four largest U.S. broadcast TV networks— ABC , CBS , NBC , and Fox . They enjoy strong TV viewer ratings, and their leagues earn significant revenues from these TV contracts. All of the top four major sports leagues have had television contracts with at least one of the original "big three" U.S. broadcast television networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) since those networks' early years, indicative of
6250-655: The "Polish Grand Avenue". As Mitchell Street grew more dense, the Polish population started moving south to the Lincoln Village neighborhood , home to the Basilica of St. Josaphat and Kosciuszko Park . Other Polish communities started on the East Side of Milwaukee . Jones Island was a major commercial fishing center settled mostly by Kashubians and other Poles from around the Baltic Sea . Milwaukee has
6375-400: The 1930s the city was severely segregated via "redlining". In 1960, African-American residents made up 15 percent of the Milwaukee's population, yet the city was still among the most segregated of that time. As of 2019, at least three out of four black residents in Milwaukee would have to move in order to create "racially integrated" neighborhoods. By 1960, Milwaukee had grown to become one of
SECTION 50
#17327871318386500-407: The 1950s, the Hispanic community was beginning to emerge. They arrived for jobs, filling positions in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. During this time there were labor shortages due to the immigration laws that had reduced immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe. Additionally, strikes contributed to the labor shortages. In the mid-20th century, African-Americans from Chicago moved to
6625-437: The 19th century, and it continues to be a center for German-American culture, specifically becoming well known for its brewing industry . In recent years, Milwaukee has undergone several development projects. Major additions to the city since the turn of the 21st century include the Wisconsin Center , American Family Field , The Hop streetcar system , an expansion to the Milwaukee Art Museum , Milwaukee Repertory Theater ,
6750-459: The 2023 season. The league's primary media partner is Apple , which paid a reported $ 2.5 billion for exclusive worldwide streaming rights from 2023 to 2032. All league games are streamed on the MLS Season Pass service on Apple TV+ . English and Spanish commentary are available for all matches, and games involving Canadian teams are also available in French. Linear television rights for 2023–2026 are held by Fox Sports in both English and Spanish in
6875-422: The 2035–36 season, will be with ABC/ESPN, NBC, Peacock , and Amazon , and also covers the WNBA for its 2026–2036 seasons. It is expected to generate total annual revenues of $ 6.9 billion, with a reported split of roughly $ 6.7 billion for the NBA and $ 200 million for the WNBA. The NHL's current U.S. television deal with ABC/ESPN and Turner Sports took effect with the 2021–22 season and runs through 2027–28. While
7000-434: The American Turners established its own Normal College for teachers of physical education and the German-English Academy . Milwaukee's German element is still strongly present today. The city celebrates its German culture by annually hosting a German Fest in July and an Oktoberfest in October. Milwaukee boasts a number of German restaurants, as well as a traditional German beer hall. A German language immersion school
7125-550: The Arizona Coyotes. Since 2002 expansion franchises have commanded huge entry fees, which represent the price the new team must pay to gain its share of the existing teams' often guaranteed revenue streams. The Houston Texans paid $ 700 million to join the NFL in 2002. By comparison, the Charlotte Bobcats (now the Hornets) paid $ 300 million to join the NBA. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays (originally Devil Rays) paid $ 130 million each to join MLB. The NHL's Seattle Kraken (which started play in 2021), paid $ 650 million to join
7250-418: The City of Milwaukee began in 1835, following removal of the tribes in the Council of Three Fires. Early that year it became known that Juneau and Kilbourn intended to lay out competing town-sites. By the year's end both had purchased their lands from the government and made their first sales. There were perhaps 100 new settlers in this year, mostly from New England and other Eastern states. On September 17, 1835,
7375-445: The German lands between 1835 and 1910, 90 percent went to the United States, most of them traveling to the Mid-Atlantic states and the Midwest. By 1900, 34 percent of Milwaukee's population was of German background. The largest number of German immigrants to Milwaukee came from Prussia , followed by Bavaria , Saxony , Hanover , and Hesse-Darmstadt . Milwaukee gained its reputation as the most German of American cities not just from
7500-437: The Los Angeles-based Chivas USA squad folded in 2014. MLS has had one franchise relocate, the San Jose Earthquakes , which became Houston Dynamo FC in 2006; the Earthquakes returned as an expansion club in 2008, inheriting the pre-relocation history of the original Earthquakes. All seven CFL franchises between Vancouver and Toronto have been in place since the BC Lions were founded in 1954. The league has had problems in
7625-439: The MLS regular and playoff season; the knockout U.S. Open Cup for United States teams and Canadian Championship for Canadian teams, cross-border/regional Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup and the continental CONCACAF Champions Cup and FIFA Club World Cup . The Canadian Football League is the highest level of play in Canadian football . The league was organized in 1956 as a cooperative agreement between two regional leagues,
SECTION 60
#17327871318387750-412: The Mississippi in Indian Territory . Europeans arrived in the Milwaukee area before the 1833 Treaty of Chicago. French missionaries and traders first passed through the area in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Alexis Laframboise, coming from Michilimackinac (now in Michigan), settled a trading post in 1785 and is considered the first resident of European descent in the Milwaukee region. One story on
7875-462: The NFL plays a limited number of annual games in stadiums of Germany's Bundesliga , and less often plays games in stadiums of Mexico's Liga MX , Brazil's Brasileirão , and Spain's La Liga . The Big Four leagues currently have 30 to 32 teams each, most of which are concentrated in the most populous metropolitan areas of the United States and Canada. Unlike the promotion and relegation systems used in sports leagues in various other regions around
8000-467: The NHL and NBA, play mostly in arenas that hold 18,000 to 20,000 seats. There is a significant number of multi-purpose venues that host events in both NFL and MLS (5), CFL and MLS (2), MLB and MLS (1), and NBA and NHL (10). Teams in MLB and the NFL no longer share stadiums, although there are frequent examples of MLB and NFL teams sharing stadiums in the past. The NFL and MLB also play a limited number of annual games in English Premier League stadiums, and
8125-412: The NHL did not announce the amount, outside reports indicated that ABC and ESPN parent company Disney was paying a total of about $ 400 million and Turner about $ 225 million annually. This $ 625 million annual contract for American rights is in addition to the $ 433 million annual fee Rogers Sportsnet pays for Canadian rights. All four major sports leagues have launched a network of their own— NBA TV in
8250-449: The Native Americans around Milwaukee were some of the few groups to ally with the rebel Continentals. After the American Revolutionary War , the Native Americans fought the United States in the Northwest Indian War as part of the Council of Three Fires . During the War of 1812 , they held a council in Milwaukee in June 1812, which resulted in their decision to attack Chicago in retaliation against American expansion. This resulted in
8375-415: The North side of Milwaukee. Milwaukee's East Side has attracted a population of Russians and other Eastern Europeans who began migrating in the 1990s, after the end of the Cold War . Many Hispanics of mostly Puerto Rican and Mexican heritage live on the south side of Milwaukee. During the first sixty years of the 20th century, Milwaukee was the major city in which the Socialist Party of America earned
8500-474: The Ottawa Redblacks paid C$ 7 million to join the Canadian Football League. All of the top four major leagues exhibit stability in most of their franchises . No team from the top four leagues has collapsed outright since the 1970s. The last team to contract was the NHL's Cleveland Barons in 1978, when financial pressures forced a merger with the Minnesota North Stars . MLB voted in 2001 to contract from 30 teams to 28 , but ran into opposition and never executed
8625-399: The San Francisco Bay Area until the Athletics move from Oakland to Las Vegas following the 2024 season , still has separate AL and NL teams in Chicago. Twelve American metropolitan areas have a complete set of one or more teams in each of the Big Four leagues; of these, only Detroit does not have an MLS team. MLB, more than any other major league, focuses its teams in the largest markets. MLB
8750-522: The U.S. in 1999 and in Canada in 2001, the NFL Network in 2003, the NHL Network in Canada in 2001 and in the U.S. in 2007, and the MLB Network in 2009. All networks remain in operation today except for the Canadian NHL Network, which was shut down shortly before the league's 2015–16 season. Teams in MLB, the NBA, and the NHL—which play several days per week—negotiate contracts with local broadcasters to air most of their games, both terrestrial networks and regional sports networks . Some teams (such as
8875-628: The U.S. since the North American Soccer League (NASL) operated from 1968 to 1984. MLS has increased in popularity following the adoption of the Designated Player Rule in 2007, which allowed MLS to sign stars such as David Beckham (from whom the rule took its colloquial name 'the Beckham rule'), Thierry Henry , and Lionel Messi . In 2017, MLS reported an average attendance of 22,112 per game, with total attendance exceeding 8.2 million overall, both breaking previous MLS attendance records, while 2018 saw Atlanta United FC break multiple single-game attendance records, with crowd figures of over 70,000 among
9000-788: The US, and the English-language TSN and French-language RDS in Canada. Before the Apple TV+ deal, MLS matches were shown in English on ESPN and Fox Sports, and in Spanish on Univision. MLS's eight-year contracts for U.S. rights for the 2015–2022 seasons earned a combined $ 105 million annually. The CFL's current television deal with TSN pays the league at least $ 50 million per year until 2026. Its American broadcast contract with CBS Sports Network pays $ 1 million per year for 34 of
9125-471: The World Series and it was 90 years until another World Series was not played, in 1994, due to a work stoppage. The two leagues merged on an organizational level in 2000 with the elimination of separate league offices; they have shared a single Commissioner since 1920. There are currently 30 member teams, with 29 located in the U.S. and 1 in Canada. Traditionally called the " National Pastime ", baseball
9250-428: The addition of Minnesota United FC in 2017 and Inter Miami CF in 2020, along with the departure of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes from Phoenix in 2024, MLS has a team in every market with a complete set of teams in each of the Big Four major leagues except Detroit. The CFL had a total of six teams in the United States over a three-year period between 1993 and 1995, all in medium-sized markets that lacked an NFL team at
9375-527: The addition of another team in the same market unless the current team's owners consent, to avoid competition for ticket sales and televesion rights. Agreements to share are market are generally obtained in exchange for compensation, residual rights, or both. For example, to obtain the consent of the Baltimore Orioles to place an MLB team in Washington (about 35 miles (56 km) away), a deal
9500-489: The area prized land ownership, this solution, which was prominent in their areas of settlement within the city, came to be associated with them. Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada traditionally include four leagues: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA),
9625-513: The area which only showed Kilbourntown, implying Juneautown did not exist or the river's east side was uninhabited and thus undesirable. The third prominent developer was George H. Walker. He claimed land to the south of the Milwaukee River, along with Juneautown, where he built a log house in 1834. This area grew and became known as Walker's Point. The first large wave of settlement to the areas that would later become Milwaukee County and
9750-411: The average attendance of all professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada that have an average attendance of 15,000 or higher. Major-league franchises are generally worth very large amounts of money, due in large part to high revenues earned by the league's teams. These franchise valuations are reflected in periodic analyses of teams' values, as well as by the expansion fees commanded by
9875-605: The city's total population of 373,857. Milwaukee has a strong Greek Orthodox Community, many of whom attend the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church on Milwaukee's northwest side, designed by Wisconsin-born architect Frank Lloyd Wright . Milwaukee has a sizable Croatian population, with Croatian churches and their own historic and successful soccer club The Croatian Eagles at the 30-acre Croatian Park in Franklin, Wisconsin. Milwaukee also has
10000-504: The city, but in Milwaukee County, they number at 38,286. The largest Italian-American festival in the area, Festa Italiana , is held in the city, while Irishfest is the largest Irish-American festival in southeast Wisconsin. By 1910, Milwaukee shared the distinction with New York City of having the largest percentage of foreign-born residents in the United States. In 1910, European descendants ("Whites") represented 99.7% of
10125-452: The contraction plan. Unlike leagues that use a system of promotion and relegation , franchises in these leagues are stable and do not change annually. Relocation of teams is generally uncommon compared to minor leagues. However, all of the top four major leagues have had at least one franchise relocate to another city since 2004. Among the Big Four leagues, the NFL has had the most relocations occurring recently, relocating three teams over
10250-440: The country's very high level of hockey fandom. A 2013 study by Nate Silver estimated that all of these markets had roughly the same numbers of avid hockey fans as U.S. markets with several times their total population. The Canadian Football League has teams in all seven current NHL markets, in addition to Hamilton, Ontario , and Regina, Saskatchewan . At least eight of these nine markets have hosted CFL teams every year since
10375-578: The course of the late 2010s. The NHL is the most recent of the Big Four to expand, having added the Las Vegas-based Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 and the Seattle Kraken in 2021. None of the other Big Four leagues have added expansion teams since 2004. In the fifty years between 1903 and 1953, MLB experienced no franchise changes—no new franchises, no franchises ceasing operations, and no franchises moving—marking
10500-403: The distinctive traits of Milwaukee's residential areas are the neighborhoods full of so-called Polish flats . These are two- family homes with separate entrances, but with the units stacked one on top of another instead of side-by-side. This arrangement enables a family of limited means to purchase both a home and a modestly priced rental apartment unit. Since Polish-American immigrants to
10625-479: The early 20th century, West Allis (1902), and West Milwaukee (1906) were added, which completed the first generation of "inner-ring" suburbs. In the 1920s, Chicago gangster activity came north to Milwaukee during the Prohibition era . Al Capone , noted Chicago mobster, owned a home in the Milwaukee suburb Brookfield , where moonshine was made. The house still stands on a street named after Capone. In
10750-510: The establishment of the American League in 1901 also came the trademarking of "Major League Baseball". Cooperation between the two leagues began in 1903 inasmuch as the two league champions began playing a " World Series ". In 1904, however, there was no World Series played because one of the league champions refused to play. During the offseason, the owners of each league voted to have the league champions automatically play one another in
10875-592: The fifth-largest Polish population in the U.S. at 45,467, ranking behind New York City (211,203), Chicago (165,784), Los Angeles (60,316) and Philadelphia (52,648). The city holds Polish Fest , an annual celebration of Polish culture and cuisine . In addition to the Germans and Poles, Milwaukee received a large influx of other European immigrants from Lithuania , Italy , Ireland , France , Russia , Bohemia , and Sweden , who included Jews , Lutherans , and Catholics . Italian Americans total 16,992 in
11000-659: The first election was held in Milwaukee; the number of votes cast was 39. By 1840, the three towns had grown, along with their rivalries. There were intense battles between the towns, mainly Juneautown and Kilbourntown, which culminated with the Milwaukee Bridge War of 1845. Following the Bridge War, on January 31, 1846, the towns were combined to incorporate as the City of Milwaukee, and elected Solomon Juneau as Milwaukee's first mayor. Milwaukee began to grow as
11125-420: The highest team attendances worldwide. With a total attendance of nearly 11 million and an average of over 22,000, MLS has the fifth-largest and third-largest, total and average attendances respectively, among the sports league in U.S. and Canada ( see § Attendance ), had the seventh-highest attendance among global professional soccer leagues. The Canadian Soccer Association does not sanction MLS as
11250-684: The highest votes. Milwaukee elected three mayors who ran on the ticket of the Socialist Party: Emil Seidel (1910–1912), Daniel Hoan (1916–1940), and Frank Zeidler (1948–1960). Often referred to as " Sewer Socialists ", the Milwaukee Socialists were characterized by their practical approach to government and labor. In 1892, Whitefish Bay , South Milwaukee , and Wauwatosa were incorporated. They were followed by Cudahy (1895), North Milwaukee (1897) and East Milwaukee, later known as Shorewood , in 1900. In
11375-500: The large number of German immigrants it received, but for the sense of community which the immigrants established here. Most German immigrants came to Wisconsin in search of inexpensive farmland. However, immigration began to change in character and size in the late 1840s and early 1850s, due to the 1848 revolutionary movements in Europe . After 1848, hopes for a united Germany had failed, and revolutionary and radical Germans, known as
11500-563: The largest Polish settlements in the USA . For many residents, Milwaukee's South Side is synonymous with the Polish community that developed here. The group maintained a high profile here for decades, and it was not until the 1950s and 1960s that families began to disperse to the southern suburbs. By 1850, there were seventy-five Poles in Milwaukee County and the US Census shows they had
11625-511: The largest TV contracts, and earns roughly $ 9 billion annually from its contracts with Amazon , CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC, and DirecTV for the 2023 through 2033 seasons. MLB earns $ 1.5 billion annually from its contracts for the 2014 through 2021 seasons with ESPN, Fox, and Turner Sports (TBS). The NBA's nine-year television deal beginning with the 2016–17 season with ABC/ESPN and TNT generates annual league TV revenues of $ 2.7 billion. The NBA's next TV deal, set to take effect in 2025–26 and run through
11750-474: The largest cities in the United States. Its population peaked at 741,324. In 1960, the Census Bureau reported city's population as 91.1% white and 8.4% black. By the late 1960s, Milwaukee's population had started to decline as people moved to suburbs, aided by ease of highways and offering the advantages of less crime, new housing, and lower taxation. Milwaukee had a population of 594,833 by 2010, while
11875-422: The league's 81 games; prior to its deal with CBS Sports Network, the CFL had bundled its TSN rights with ESPN (a minority owner of TSN), who contributed a negligible $ 100,000 to the annual rights fees. The remainder of the CFL's games are carried online in the United States for free. Major professional sports leagues generally have significantly larger attendance than other sports leagues. The following table shows
12000-627: The league's officially listed inception in 1958, and no other Canadian market has ever had a CFL team of its own. A conditional expansion franchise was awarded to the Atlantic Schooners in 1982; it folded before ever playing a game. Another bid for a Schooners franchise by Schooners Sports and Entertainment in the late 2010s also failed. The first Major League Baseball team in Canada was the Montreal Expos , who began play in 1969. In 2005, they moved to Washington, D.C., and became
12125-575: The league, a 30% increase from the $ 500 million paid by the Vegas Golden Knights to join the league in 2017. The Golden Knights' fee was a dramatic increase from the $ 80 million paid by each of the previous two teams to enter the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild. Two of the six most recently announced Major League Soccer expansion teams, 2019 entrant FC Cincinnati and 2020 arrival Nashville SC , each paid
12250-423: The league, and quality of play. The following table compares the Big Four leagues, plus the CFL and MLS, on certain attributes that collectively attempt to indicate whether the league has "major league" status. The table includes the longevity and stability of the league, as measured by the number of teams in the league, the year founded, the last time the league underwent contraction, expansion, and relocation, and
12375-501: The leagues. The highest value franchises in the respective leagues tend to be located in the largest markets (e.g., MLB's New York Yankees , NHL's New York Rangers ), whereas the lowest value franchises tend to be in smaller markets (e.g., NFL's Buffalo Bills , NBA's New Orleans Pelicans ). The NHL has the largest multiples between the highest-value and lowest-value teams, with the New York Rangers worth 5.5 times as much as
12500-648: The longest such period of stability of any Big Four league. In contrast to the Big Four leagues, MLS has operated on a policy of continuous expansion since 2005. After bottoming out at 10 teams in 2004, it has never gone more than one season without adding one or two expansion teams, with a further expansion team scheduled for 2025 and no indication that the league will cease awarding expansion teams. As of 2023 , MLS nearly tripled in size from its 2005 minimum, with 29 teams. The league has contracted three teams in its history: teams in Miami and Tampa Bay folded in 2002, and
12625-691: The merger of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL) though it later adopted the BAA's founding date in 1946 as its own. Four teams from the rival American Basketball Association joined the NBA with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. It currently has 30 teams, 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. The NBA is watched by audiences both domestically and internationally, and as of 2022 it
12750-437: The northern and northeastern U.S., the NHL has expanded westward and southward in recent decades to attempt to gain a more national following in the United States, in cities such as Denver , San Jose , Dallas , Miami , Nashville , Salt Lake City , Raleigh , Tampa , Las Vegas , and Seattle with varying success. The NHL has more Canadian teams (seven) than MLB, the NBA, and MLS combined (five). Major League Soccer (MLS)
12875-581: The origin of Milwaukee's name says, [O]ne day during the thirties of the last century [1800s] a newspaper calmly changed the name to Milwaukee, and Milwaukee it has remained until this day. The spelling "Milwaukie" lives on in Milwaukie , Oregon , named after the Wisconsin city in 1847, before the current spelling was universally accepted. Milwaukee has three " founding fathers ": Solomon Juneau , Byron Kilbourn , and George H. Walker . Solomon Juneau
13000-444: The popularity of the league, as measured by annual revenue and average attendance. The "Big Four" leagues each have revenues that can be many times greater than the payrolls of less popular sports leagues in the two nations. In terms of overall league revenue, the NFL, MLB, and NBA rank as the top three most lucrative sports leagues in the world, with the English Premier League and the NHL ranked at fourth and fifth place. Games of
13125-484: The population of the overall metropolitan area increased. Given its large immigrant population and historic neighborhoods, Milwaukee avoided the severe declines of some of its fellow " Rust Belt " cities. Since the 1980s, the city has begun to make strides in improving its economy, neighborhoods, and image, resulting in the revitalization of neighborhoods such as the Historic Third Ward , Lincoln Village ,
13250-481: The same. These included Menominee and Potawatomi. Another theory is that it stems from the Meskwaki or Algonquian languages, whose term for "gathering place" is mahn-a-waukee . The city of Milwaukee itself claims that the name is derived from mahn-ah-wauk , a Potawatomi word for "council grounds". Some sources have claimed that Milwaukee stems from an Algonquian word meaning "the good land", popularized by
13375-706: The second half of the 18th century, the Native Americans living near Milwaukee played a role in all the major European wars on the American continent. During the French and Indian War , a group of "Ojibwas and Pottawattamies from the far [Lake] Michigan" (i.e., the area from Milwaukee to Green Bay) joined the French-Canadian Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu at the Battle of the Monongahela . In the American Revolutionary War ,
13500-432: The single most-watched program in U.S. television history. The NFL is the only one of the "Big Four" leagues not to have a team in Canada, where the Canadian Football League ( see § Canadian Football League ) is the premier professional league in a similar gridiron football sport of Canadian football . The National Hockey League is widely recognized as the world's premier professional ice hockey league, and
13625-489: The sports' widespread appeal since their inception, continuing today additionally with Fox. In Canada, the NHL has been broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation since 1952. In Canada, there is only one MLB team and one NBA team, and no Canadian NFL team exists; therefore, the U.S. national telecasts for those three leagues are usually simulcast by a Canadian broadcaster. The NFL has
13750-727: The teams in Winnipeg and Quebec City were eventually moved to larger media markets in the U.S. The NHL returned to Winnipeg in 2011 with the Atlanta Thrashers relocating to become the current version of the Winnipeg Jets . Excluding the CFL, the NHL is the only major league to have teams in Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg or Ottawa, all markets with populations of less than 1.25 million, smaller than any U.S. NHL market except Buffalo. However, those Canadian cities benefit from
13875-404: The third wave from 1880 to 1893 came from Northeastern Germany . In the 1840s, the number of people who left German-speaking lands was 385,434, in the 1850s it reached 976,072, and an all-time high of 1.4 million immigrated in the 1880s. In 1890, the 2.78 million first-generation German Americans represented the second-largest foreign-born group in the United States. Of all those who left
14000-444: The time. Of the seven markets those teams occupied, three (Baltimore, San Antonio and Sacramento) had other major league franchises at the time, and two later received a major team (Memphis and Las Vegas). The league also played occasional games in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. The largest metropolitan area without a major professional sports franchise depends on the definition of "metropolitan area". Among areas defined by
14125-506: The top five sports leagues by revenue in the world. Each of the Big Four leagues, as well as MLS and the CFL, averages at least 15,000 fans in attendance per game as of 2023 . The NFL has the largest stadiums on average in the world, ranging in capacity from just under 60,000 to almost 100,000 spectators, while MLB ballparks generally hold between 30,000 and 50,000 fans. Venues used primarily by MLS and CFL vary more widely in capacity, from about 20,000 to about 60,000. The two indoor leagues,
14250-534: The two markets east of Toronto; both Montreal and Ottawa have each seen two CFL teams fail since the 1980s, although both cities have active teams as of the 2014 season. The cities are now represented by the Alouettes and Redblacks , respectively. Among existing teams, none has ever formally relocated from one city to another; the Alouettes, however, inherited a management structure from the Baltimore Stallions ,
14375-701: The war in Bosnia-Herzegovina . During this time, a small community of African Americans migrated from the South in the Great Migration . They settled near each other, forming a community that came to be known as Bronzeville . As industry boomed, more migrants came, and African-American influence grew in Milwaukee. By 1925, around 9,000 Mexicans lived in Milwaukee, but the Great Depression forced many of them to move back south. In
14500-524: The waterways for thousands of years. The first recorded inhabitants of the Milwaukee area were various Native American tribes: the Menominee , Fox , Mascouten , Sauk , Potawatomi , and Ojibwe (all Algic/Algonquian peoples), and the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago, a Siouan people). Many of these people had lived around Green Bay before migrating to the Milwaukee area about the time of European contact. In
14625-429: The western United States than the other major leagues. Whereas the NBA's teams tend to be somewhat more evenly distributed across the United States, MLS's presence in areas of the southern United States has historically been sparse; after MLS folded its two Florida-based teams after the 2001 season, it did not re-enter the South until Orlando City SC joined the league in 2015, with Atlanta United FC following in 2017. With
14750-520: The whole social atmosphere as in 'German Athens of America' as Milwaukee was called at the time." Schurz was referring to the various clubs and societies Germans developed in Milwaukee. The pattern of German immigrants settling near each other encouraged the continuation of the German lifestyle and customs. This resulted in German language organizations that encompassed all aspects of life; for example, singing societies and gymnastics clubs. Germans also had
14875-510: The world, North American sports leagues are closed leagues that maintain the same teams from season-to-season. Expansion of the league usually occurs by adding newly formed teams, though mergers with competing leagues have also occurred. Baseball , American football , and ice hockey have had professional leagues continuously for over 100 years; early leagues such as the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players ,
15000-548: The year 2000. Major League Soccer has 29 teams; it adopted a policy of continuous expansion at a rate of one to two new franchises a year since 2005,and was set to reach its long-range target of 30 teams in 2023 before the Sacramento expansion bid collapsed. A 30th team in San Diego is set to join in 2025. The CFL has nine franchises. All of the top four major leagues grant territorial exclusivity to their owners, precluding
15125-417: Was moved to a relaunched Montreal Alouettes franchise. By 2009 the CFL was the second-most-popular league in Canada, after the NHL. A 2023 study shows that interest in the CFL had dropped over the previous 10 years. The CFL has the fourth-highest average attendance of leagues in the United States and Canada, behind the NFL, MLB and MLS. As of 2024 , the CFL's average attendance number was 22,795, continuing
15250-561: Was struck under the terms of which television and radio broadcast rights to Nationals games are handled by the Orioles franchise. As of 2022 , 49 metropolitan areas (42 in the U.S., seven in Canada) have at least one team in the Big Four leagues. Austin FC , which started play in 2021, is the first and only MLS team in a market not also occupied by at least one Big Four team. The CFL has one team,
15375-464: Was the first of the three to come to the area, in 1818. He founded a town called Juneau's Side, or Juneautown, that began attracting more settlers. In competition with Juneau, Byron Kilbourn established Kilbourntown west of the Milwaukee River . He ensured the roads running toward the river did not join with those on the east side. This accounts for the large number of angled bridges that still exist in Milwaukee today. Further, Kilbourn distributed maps of
15500-489: Was the first professional team sport in the U.S. MLB consistently draws the largest total attendance of any sports league in the world. Josh Martin of Bleacher Report described the National Basketball Association as "the best basketball league in the world" in a 2012 power ranking of international leagues, and it is the youngest of the major American leagues. It was founded in 1949 with
15625-533: Was the most popular league out of the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB worldwide in desktop web traffic. While the NBA is the most viewed basketball league in Canada, Canada Basketball recognizes the Canadian Elite Basketball League as the country's first-division professional league. The National Football League is a professional American football league and was founded in 1920 as a combination of various teams from regional leagues such as
#837162