Where Does Montana Rank With Professional Athletes? Not High

Becoming a professional athlete takes a lot including dedication and sacrifice. Not only for the athlete but for those that help support the athletes. From family, coaches, schools, and friends, they all have a part in helping an athlete get to the professional level. Being from Montana makes it that much harder to become a professional athlete, especially in the four major leagues, the NFL, NBA, MLB and the NHL.

Becoming a Professional Athlete From Montana is Tough

According to a report from Casinos.com, Montanans have the 5th lowest chance when it comes to becoming a professional athlete in one of the four major sports. Behind Montana is Alaska, Idaho, West Virginia and Vermont. Vermont actually has no athletes from the state currently in any of the four pro leagues.

More Professional Athletes Come From Louisiana

The report looks at current players across the four major leagues from each state and using birth rates they have calculated the chances of a child becoming a professional athlete in one of the four major leagues in the U.S. The state with athletes that have the best chance at a professional career is Louisiana. Followed by Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Florida, rounding out the top five.

Montana Athletes are Special

According to the report, athletes from southern states seem to have a better chance at becoming professional athletes. Montana has a lot of issues when it comes to competing in the four major sports. The weather in Montana is a huge obstacle. In Montana athletes can't play any of the four sports outside for a big portion of the year. Travel in Montana is another issue. Montana is big, and expensive to travel for sports. Montana is also isolated and has a smaller population than a lot of states. In order to compete at a higher level, a lot of athletes need to travel to other states to compete.

Montana Has Other Professional Athletes

What Montana may lack in current professional athletes in the four major leagues, we make up for with talented athletes that compete in what some may consider "non-traditional" sports. Look at rodeo or skiing and you will see Montana's number of professional athletes increase by a lot.

We Can All Root for Montana

The college football season is getting ready to get underway in Montana. Some of these young men from Montana may make it into the NFL someday. When that happens it doesn't matter if you are a Bobcat or a Griz fan, we can all cheer them on as a "Montana" fan.