A championship season and the FIFA World Cup Final have vaulted New York past a three-time leader in Burson’s closely watched read of global sports relevance, a sign that a busy year-round calendar of marquee events now outweighs long-held prestige in how cities are ranked.
New York has taken the top spot in Burson’s 2026 Ranking of Sports Cities. Paris, which had topped the ranking for three consecutive years, has moved to second place, while Los Angeles, London and Madrid complete the global top five.
Now in its 15th edition, Burson’s annual ranking identifies the top 100 cities from around the world with the strongest association with sport based on a combination of perception-based insights and quantitative analysis, including feedback from international sports leaders, sports media representatives and industry experts, as well as social media and media coverage analytics. Together, these data are expected to offer a thorough picture of how cities use sport to increase their visibility and impact.
It was a landmark year for New York, featuring the Knicks’ NBA Championship and the FIFA World Cup Final at New York New Jersey Stadium, which strengthened the city’s global profile. “More importantly, New York’s strength lies in a year-round sports ecosystem that combines major professional franchises, international events and sustained global media attention,” explains the report.
Among the biggest climbs of the year, Dakar rose from #80 to #47, a performance that primarily relates to the organization of the upcoming Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic sporting event ever held in Africa, from October 31 to November 13. Budapest, which hosted the 2026 UEFA Champions League Final, climbed from #42 to #15.
Each year, the five lowest-ranked cities drop off the list while the top five non-listed cities named by the survey respondents are added. The new cities in the 2027 edition of the ranking are: Astana, Helsinki, Nice, Valencia, and Warsaw. The ranking is an initiative from Burson’s Lausanne office.
