It's Time To Rank All Eight Of South Florida's Pro Sports Championships

The Florida Panthers finally did it. After three decades of a ton of failure, South Florida is a champion once again. This franchise has been through A TON of losing seasons, irrelevance, and a bad reputation. But all of that changed on Monday night. The Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup. 

Last night's win puts South Florida in an exclusive club of areas that can claim to have won titles in the four major North American pro sports leagues: the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. The Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area joins Boston (obviously), Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and St. Louis as markets who have won it all at least once with all four teams.

A handful of those aforementioned cities have multiple shots at each sport, though, given that they are some of the biggest markets in the country. South Florida only has one of each, and after years and years of misery, it has joined that prestigious crew. 

South Florida's four major pro sports teams now have eight total titles, and today, we are going to rank them because... why not? Let's get to it.

8. 1973 Miami Dolphins

Bettmann. Getty Images.

I'll be honest, I really don't know much about this Super Bowl run. When you think of the Miami Dolphins winning the Super Bowl, you think of 1972. Plain and simple. Completing a back-to-back is very difficult, unless you're Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady. Fins Up.

7. 1997 Florida Marlins

South Florida's baseball franchise did not have to wait long to win a World Series. The Florida Marlins were introduced to Major League Baseball in 1993, and just four years later, won it all.

That walk-off winner above has some notable names: Edgar Renteria with the hit, current Cubs manager Craig Counsell win the run, and Jim Leyland as the skipper. Bring back the teal!

6. 2012 Miami Heat

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After a failure in Year One of the "Big Three" era, LeBron finally got the monkey off his back and won his first NBA Title with the Heat in 2012. Miami dismantled the KD-Russ-Harden trio and beat the Thunder in 5. It was about damn time.

5. 2006 Miami Heat

The first championship in franchise history just hits different. After losing the first two games against the Mavericks, the D-Wade and Shaq combo carried the Heat to four wins in a row to win the title.

4. 2003 Florida Marlins

This was the baseball version of David vs. Goliath. You have the Florida Marlins, who snuck into the playoffs via the Wild Card. The franchise itself was just a decade old. The New York Yankees were riding high off of Aaron Boone's spectacular ALCS Game 7 walk-off to win the pennant. But in this series, the world was introduced to a young Josh Beckett and a 20-year-old Miguel Cabrera. The rest is history.

3. 2024 Florida Panthers

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It took the Dolphins and Marlins less than a decade to win it all for the first time in franchise history. The Heat had a longer wait (18 years), but eventually won it in 2006. But nobody in this city had a longer title drought than the Florida Panthers. They made it to the SCF last year, but Vegas dominated. The P's brought back the majority of that team from last year, and looked great in Games 1-3. After that, Games 4-6 were a nightmare for the P's. But that doesn't matter anymore. Last night, the Florida Panthers became Stanley Cup Champions for the first time. 

2. 2013 Miami Heat

The route that Miami made this title reality is why it is so high up my list. The Ray Allen tweet shot is one of the most iconic in the history of the NBA. Everyone remembers where they were for this moment, and everyone remembers the details that came with it: the fans who left early, the yellow security guards, the iconic Mike Breen "BANG." All of this to complete the back-to-back title run for The Big Three and the Heat. 

1. 1972 Miami Dolphins 

There will certainly be people who disagree with a bunch on this list, but I don't think many folks will have an issue with the team that occupies the top spot. To this day, the 1972 Miami Dolphins remain the only team to complete a regular season and postseason undefeated. Sure, the scheduling and competition are much different now, but undefeated is undefeated. The Patriots were close in 2007, but the Giants played spoiler in the Super Bowl. Will we see another undefeated NFL team any time soon? With an added 17th game (and potentially 18th?), it's harder to do now than ever before.