Whoever wins Saturday's MLS Cup final between Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders (8 pm ET; FOX, UniMás, TSN1/3/4, RDS) will be hoisting the league's championship trophy for the first time.
How does the total title count shape up for the two cities, though?
By "title," we mean "postseason league championship in one of the top five North American professional sports." Under those criteria, the Sounders' four Lamar Hunt US Open Cup titles and one Supporters' Shield don't count. Neither do TFC's five Amway Canadian Championship titles. No slight intended, we promise.
Also, we know that the "other" kind of football is played (albeit with some interesting rules differences) on each side of the border, so we count Grey Cups as well as Super Bowl titles.
Without further ado, then: here's the tally, home team first:
Toronto
Grey Cup: 16 (Toronto Argonauts 1914, 1921, 1933, 1937-38, 1945-47, 1950, 1952, 1983, 1991, 1996-97, 2004, 2012)
World Series: 2 (Toronto Blue Jays 1992-93)
NBA Finals: None
Stanley Cup: 13 (Toronto Maple Leafs 1918, 1922, 1932, 1942, 1945, 1947-49, 1951, 1962-64, 1967)
NASL (1968-84): 1 (Toronto Metros Croatia 1976)
WNBA Finals: N/A
NWSL: N/A
Total: 32
Seattle
Super Bowl: 1 (2013, after 2012 season)
World Series: 0
NBA Finals: 1 (Seattle SuperSonics 1979)
Stanley Cup: 1 (Seattle Metrpolitans 1917)
NASL (1968-84): 0
WNBA Finals: 2 (Seattle Storm 2004, 2010)
NWSL: 0
Total: 5
That's pretty overwhelmingly in Toronto's favor. Still, it's only fair to note that 23 of that city's titles came before the Sonics, Seattle's first franchise in any current major league, began play in 1967. Also, Seattle has never had an NHL team (a conditional expansion bid in 1974 failed to materialize); the 1917 Stanley Cup title came before that league's formal founding.
Also, Seattle does not currently have a team in the NBA, the Sonics having moved to Oklahoma City to become the Thunder before the 2008-09 season.
In the end, really, the only title that matters is the most recent one. The way we see it, no matter the previous tally, the city celebrating an MLS Cup victory on Saturday night at BMO Field will have all the bragging rights in the world.
