Boston, Massachusetts, goes by many names—Beantown, The City on a Hill, America’s Walking City, and The Cradle of Liberty, to name a few. But, above all else, sports fans should know Boston as TitleTown; dozens of major professional sports championships make it an apt nickname. Cities across America describe themselves as a “sports town.” A few others—like Green Bay, Gainesville, and Pittsburgh—go farther, using TitleTown as a self-proclaimed badge of honor though both labels are overplayed and misused across the nation. If you live in Boston, have spent time in the city, or argued with Beantown sports fans, you know “sports town” is an understatement. Boston is a thriving city, and the sports industry is its heartbeat.
Boston isn’t the size of New York, Chicago, or even Detroit or Memphis. The city proper has 650,000 residents crammed into just 48 square miles of land. For some perspective, Fargo—that’s in North Dakota—and Peoria—that one’s in Illinois—both have the same amount of land but host just over 100,000 people each. Boston doesn’t stack up on the world’s biggest cities lists but makes up for it with history, cityscape, industry, culture, and, of course, a winning sports scene. Telling you Boston is history is more accurate than suggesting it has a history. The unofficial capital of New England sits at the edge of Massachusetts Bay and is home to pages and pages of America’s past. Game-changing American Revolution events—like the Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre, and Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride—took place on its cobbled streets and countryside. The city was also a driving force behind the abolitionist movements. And it was a major hub for European immigrants and remains a symbol of freedom, liberty, and free speech in a nation that stands strong for all three.
Boston’s economic past relied on manufacturing and foreign trade, while its present depends on education, technology, finance, and tourism. The Greater Boston area—now the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the country—is home to dozens of colleges and universities. Some of the nation’s best schools, including Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Tufts University, Boston College, and Brandeis University, call this New England region home. Students contribute billions of dollars to the local economy, and thousands of faculty and staffers are employed to educate and care for these young minds. All that smarts naturally bring plenty of government-funded research and recently educated talent to the city too.
Boston—with tourist attractions like the Freedom Trail, Harvard Yard, Boston Public Library, and the Institute of Contemporary Art—had over 16 million visitors trek through its streets in 2014. There is plenty of high-end capitalism happening there, too, with financial institutions like Fidelity Investments and publishing companies like Houghton Mifflin Harcourt creating jobs and boosting the economy. Boston is a truly global city, considered one of the strongest economic metropolises in the world. But wait, we were talking about the city’s sports prowess, right? Let’s get back to that.
With 36 championships, dating way back to the 1903 Red Sox victory over the Pirates, Boston sports teams exude confidence. The Red Sox 8 World Series championships have played baseball since 1901 and have hosted visiting teams in historic Fenway Park—the oldest ballpark in the nation—since 1912. That unfortunate championship drought, which lasted from 1918 through 2004, is often blamed on the 1920 trade of Babe Ruth to the rival Yankees. But, since that curse was broken with the ‘04 championship, the perennial pennant challenger has won two more, in ‘07 and ‘13. The New England Patriots, founded in 1960, have won 4 Super Bowls since 2002 while playing in Foxborough’s beautiful Gillette Stadium, about 2o miles southwest of Boston. A winning combination of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick has kept the team on top of the AFC for more than a decade now. Bill Russell, Red Auerbach, Larry Bird, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale are just a few of the famed Celtics that ran the parquet floor of the famed Boston Garden. The Celtics have won 17 championships, more than any other National Basketball Association club. Although the team’s latest crew of future Hall of Famers—Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen—along with talented-yet-prickly point guard Rajon Rondo have left town, new coach Brad Stevens has this lackluster squad in playoff contention yet again. Last but not least are the Bruins, an Original Six club that has brought 6 Stanley Cups to Boston since it was founded way back in 1924. These teams, plus New England Revolution soccer club and the Boston Marathon, along with a strong passion for rugby, make an overwhelming case for Boston’s dibs on the TitleTown, USA moniker.
Boston-area sports teams, vendors, and supporters are hiring professionals and interns! A local arena needs a Director of Guest Experience. Board operators, producers, and interns are in demand for Boston media networks. Sports apparel and equipment merchandisers are seeking hard-working inventory specialists, operations coordinators, and marketing managers. And data analysts are being hired to help set Boston sports franchises apart from the competition.
The “Boston Strong” slogan encapsulated Beantown’s mentality after the horrific 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The community came together to heal and stand strong. But even before that unifying moment in history, the city’s past, strength, and willingness to do what’s right make it a uniquely amazing place to live and work.
