IN OTHER NEWS – New research into US athletes across America finds that the odds of Floridians going pro in boxing is least likely to happen.
Release:
- New research into the birthplaces of US athletes across the America’s most popular sports from Gambling.com has revealed each state’s odds of going pro.
- The research revealed the chances residents of every US state have of becoming a professional athlete in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, Soccer, Golf, Tennis, Boxing and the Olympics.
- Louisiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,and New Hampshire lead the way as the state’s most likely to produce a professional sports star across all nine sports analyzed.
For many people, growing up to be a professional athlete in the US and it is a dream that lives with them forever. However, this dream is a very unlikely one as the odds of making it and becoming a sports star are extremely low – but in which state is are you most likely to become a sporting superstar?
To discover this, Gambling.com decided to take a look into the birthplace of every athlete across America’s favorite sports and sporting leagues, which consist of the following: NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, Soccer, Golf, Boxing, Tennis, and the Olympics. They then compared these figures to the current male birth rate in every US state to reveal in which state you have the best odds of becoming a sports star for each sport.
The following table shows the states in which you have the highest odds of becoming a sports star across all nine of the analyzed sports based on the total number of athletes per 1,000 male births:
| Sport | Top State | Male Births | Number of Sports Stars | Number of Sports stars per 1,000 births |
| NFL | Louisiana | 28,719 | 141 | 4.91 |
| NBA | Kentucky | 26,107 | 34 | 1.30 |
| NHL | Minnesota | 32,213 | 59 | 1.83 |
| MLB | Pennsylvania | 66,311 | 113 | 1.70 |
| Soccer | Rhode Island | 5,232 | 18 | 3.44 |
| Golf | Rhode Island | 5,232 | 10 | 1.91 |
| Boxers | Rhode Island | 5,232 | 1 | 0.19 |
| Olympians | New Hampshire | 6,313 | 12 | 1.90 |
| Tennis | Rhode Island | 5,232 | 2 | 0.38 |
The findings reveal that Louisiana produces the most NFL stars as there are 4.91 NFL players per 1,000 births – which is the highest odds from every state in the USA!
Rhode Island is the state that produces the most sports stars for four of America’s favorite sports! The sports that Rhode Island is the top state for is, Soccer, Golf, Boxing and Tennis.
The other states that feature as the top state for their respective sports are, Kentucky for the NBA, Minnesota for the NHL, Pennsylvania for the MLB, and New Hampshire for Olympians!
However, the following table ranks where it is least likely to become a sports star in order of professional athletes per 1,000 male births:
| Sport | State | Male Births | Number of Sports Stars | Number of Sports stars per 1,000 births |
| NFL | Connecticut | 17,835 | 2 | 0.11 |
| NBA | New York | 105,371 | 6 | 0.06 |
| NHL | North Carolina | 60,233 | 2 | 0.03 |
| MLB | Utah | 23,356 | 3 | 0.13 |
| Soccer | Idaho | 11,214 | 1 | 0.09 |
| Golf | Idaho | 11,214 | 1 | 0.09 |
| Boxers | Florida | 108,130 | 1 | 0.01 |
| Olympians | New Mexico | 10,696 | 1 | 0.09 |
| Tennis | South Carolina | 28,593 | 1 | 0.03 |
When it comes to the states where you are least likely to become a professional athlete, Idaho comes up twice – for Soccer and Golf. Other states that have the lowest chance for their sport are Connecticut for the NFL, New York for the NBA, North Carolina for the NHL, Utah for the MLB, Florida with Boxing, New Mexico for the Olympics, and South Carolina for Tennis.
Please feel free to use any of the above data and information as inspiration for a story of your own and if you’d be kind enough to reference the original study by linking back to Gambling.com’s source article on this research, it would be much appreciated: https://www.gambling.com/us/news/where-to-live-for-the-best-odds-of-going-pro
