Sports in Florida

The U.S. state of Florida has three National Football League teams, two Major League Baseball teams, two National Basketball Association teams, two National Hockey League teams, two Major League Soccer teams and 13 NCAA Division I college teams.

Florida gained its first permanent major-league professional sports team in 1966 when the American Football League added the Miami Dolphins. The state of Florida has given professional sports franchises some subsidies in the form of tax breaks since 1991.^[1]

By sport[]

American football[]

Miami's first entry into the American Football League was the Miami Dolphins, which competed in the fourth AFL league from 1966 to 1969. In 1970 the Dolphins joined the National Football League when the AFL–NFL merger, agreed to in 1966, was finalized. The team made its first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl VI, but lost to the Dallas Cowboys. The following year, the Dolphins completed the NFL's only perfect season culminating in a Super Bowl win. The 1972 Dolphins were the third NFL team to accomplish a perfect regular season, and won Super Bowl VIII, Miami also appeared in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX, losing both games.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers began in 1976 as an expansion team of the NFL. They struggled at first, losing their first 26 games in a row to set a league record for futility. After a brief taste of success in the late 1970s, the Bucs again returned to their losing ways, and at one point lost 10+ games for 12 seasons in a row. The hiring of Tony Dungy in 1996 started an improving trend that eventually led to the team's victory in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003 under coach Jon Gruden. Tampa has hosted five Super Bowls: Super Bowl XVIII (1984), Super Bowl XXV (1991), Super Bowl XXXV (2001), Super Bowl XLIII (2009), and Super Bowl LV (2020). The first two events were held at Tampa Stadium, and the other three at Raymond James Stadium. In Super Bowl LV, the Bucs became the first NFL team to host and play in the Super Bowl, where they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9.

The Jacksonville Jaguars joined the NFL as an expansion team in the 1995 season; they play their home games at EverBank Field.^[2] In 2005, Jacksonville hosted Super Bowl XXXIX.

The Tampa Bay Vipers began play in the XFL in February 2020; they play their home games at Raymond James Stadium.

The World Football League featured the Florida Blazers, Jacksonville Sharks and Jacksonville Express, whereas the United States Football League included the Tampa Bay Bandits, Jacksonville Bulls and Orlando Renegades. The Orlando Rage played in the original XFL in 2001, and the Orlando Apollos played in the Alliance of American Football in 2019.

The Orange Bowl is a major college football bowl, held at the Miami metropolitan area since 1935, currently as a member of the College Football Playoff. The Miami metro area has hosted the Super Bowl a total of eleven times (six Super Bowls at Hard Rock Stadium, including Super Bowl LIV and five at the Miami Orange Bowl), tying New Orleans for the most games.^{[citation needed]}

Camping World Stadium (the former Citrus Bowl stadium) hosts three annual college football bowl games: the Citrus Bowl since 1947, the Camping World Bowl since 2001, and the Cure Bowl since 2015.

Jacksonville hosts the Florida–Georgia game, an annual college football game between the University of Florida and the University of Georgia since 1933, as well as the Gator Bowl, a post-season college bowl game since 1946.

Baseball[]

The Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball began play in the 1993 season. They won the World Series in both seasons they qualified for the postseason, doing so in 1997 and 2003.

The Tampa Bay Rays began playing in 1998 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. After a decade of futility, the Rays won the 2008 American League Pennant and made it to the World Series. The team won the 2020 AL Pennant and made it back to the World Series but lost to the Dodgers in Game 6.

About half of all Major League Baseball teams conduct spring training in the state, with teams informally organized into the "Grapefruit League". Throughout MLB history, other teams have held spring training in Florida.

Several Major League baseball teams conduct spring training in the state, and most also operate minor league teams in the Low-A Southeast.

Basketball[]

Before Florida had its first NBA franchise, the Miami Floridians, later in their history known as The Floridians, played in the American Basketball Association from 1968 through 1972.

The Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association was formed in 1988 as an expansion team. They have won three league championships (in 2006, 2012 and 2013), plus six conference titles.

The Orlando Magic began playing in NBA in 1989 as an expansion franchise. They have won the Eastern Conference championships in 1995 and 2009.

In 2020, the NBA decided to finish the delayed NBA season in a bubble in the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida. All of the teams relocated to Walt Disney World and played their games there.

Due to the travel restricts derived from the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Toronto Raptors temporarily relocated to Tampa, playing their home games at Amalie Arena.

Florida also had two WNBA teams: the Orlando Miracle (1999-2002) and Miami Sol (2000-2002).

Ice hockey[]

The Miami Screaming Eagles co-founded the World Hockey Association in 1971, but never played due to a lack of a suitable arena.

The Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League was founded in 1993 as an expansion team. It originally played at the Miami Arena, and moved to the BB&T Center in 1998. They have made one appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996.

The Tampa Bay Lightning was established in 1992, and currently play their home games in the Amalie Arena, located in downtown Tampa. In 2004, the team won their first Stanley Cup. In the [2019–20 Tampa Bay Lightning season] the Lightning won their second Stanley Cup. The Lightning made the Eastern Conference Final in 2011 and were Eastern Conference Champions in 2015. They returned to the Eastern Conference Final in 2016. They won the Stanley Cup in 2020's season that was shortened due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Florida has three ECHL minor hockey league teams—the Florida Everblades, Jacksonville Icemen, and Orlando Solar Bears.

Soccer[]

Two metro areas in Florida — Orlando and Miami — field a Major League Soccer team as well as other professional soccer teams. The Tampa area formerly fielded an MLS team, and today has a minor league professional team.

After over a decade without an MLS team, Orlando City SC joined the league in 2015 after five seasons as a second-level team. The team played its first two MLS seasons at the venue now known as Camping World Stadium before opening Orlando City Stadium, now known as Exploria Stadium, in 2017. Orlando City's reserve side, Orlando City B, began play in the league now known as the USL Championship in 2016, suspended play after the 2017 season, and resumed play in 2019 as a founding member of the third-level USL League One. In 2016, the Orlando Pride, operated by Orlando City, began play in the National Women's Soccer League. They have played at the same venue as their parent club throughout their history ever since.

Miami's MLS team, Inter Miami CF, is owned by David Beckham and began league play in 2020. Inter Miami placed its own reserve side in USL League One in 2020. Miami's other professional team, Miami FC, was founded in 2016 and currently play in the USL Championship. The team initially played in the North American Soccer League, then transitioned into the National Premier Soccer League, before a season in the National Independent Soccer Association, before making the jump to the Division II USL where it plays today. The Miami Fusion played in MLS from 1998 to 2001, winning the Supporters' Shield in their last season before folding.

The Tampa Bay Rowdies, founded in 2008 as F.C. Tampa Bay, currently play in the USL Championship (known before 2019 as the United Soccer League), joining the league after leaving the North American Soccer League in 2016. In this time, they've won one championship in the 2012 North American Soccer League season.

Tampa Bay previously fielded two Division I soccer teams. The Tampa Bay Rowdies of the original North American Soccer League began play in 1975, drawing good crowds and winning Soccer Bowl '75, but the team and the league ultimately folded. The Tampa Bay Mutiny operated in MLS from the league's inaugural 1996 season until the team folded after the 2001 MLS season.

Motorsports[]

NASCAR (headquartered in Daytona Beach) begins all three of its major auto racing series in Florida at Daytona International Speedway in February, featuring the Daytona 500, and ends all three Series in November at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Daytona also has the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR race weekend around Independence Day in July. The 24 Hours of Daytona is one of the world's most prestigious endurance auto races.

The 12 Hours of Sebring sports car endurance race is the second largest sporting event in the State of Florida. Each year drawing a total of over 100,000+ fans. It is held in Sebring, Florida at the Sebring International Raceway on the third week of March each year. It is one of the most prestigious car races in the world. Sebring International Raceway's legendary 12-hour endurance race was voted the fourth best auto race of the world's motorsports races in the USAToday 10Best competition. First run in 1952, the world's leading drivers and manufacturers have competed at the 12 Hours of Sebring for over six decades. The race attracts drivers and fans from all over the world.

The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and Grand Prix of Miami have held IndyCar races as well.

The Gainesville Raceway hosts the annual Gatornationals, one of the major NHRA drag events.

Other sports[]

The PGA of America is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, the PGA Tour is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, and the LPGA is headquartered in Daytona Beach.

The Players Championship, WGC-Cadillac Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational, Honda Classic and Valspar Championship are PGA Tour rounds.

The Miami Open is an ATP Tour Masters 1000 and WTA Premier Mandatory tennis event, whereas the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships is an ATP World Tour 250 event.

Florida is a major horse and greyhound racing market. Notable horse racetracks include Gulfstream Park, Calder, Hialeah Park, Pompano Park and Tampa Bay Downs, whereas notable greyhound racetracks include Big Easy Casino and Derby Lane.

Minor league sports[]

Several minor league baseball, football, basketball, soccer and indoor football teams are based in Florida.

Previously, the Arena Football League had four different teams in Florida: the Florida Bobcats (1993-2001), Orlando Predators (1991-2016), Tampa Bay Storm (1991-2017) and Jacksonville Sharks (2010-2016).

College sports[]

Florida's universities have a number of National Collegiate Athletic Association programs, especially the Florida State Seminoles and Miami Hurricanes of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference. Other notable college teams are the Florida Atlantic Owls, FIU Panthers, UCF Knights and South Florida Bulls.

By metro area[]

Miami[]

Miami's main four sports teams are the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League, the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association, the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball, and the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. Miami is also the home to Inter Miami CF, the Major League Soccer expansion team led by David Beckham.

Previously, the Miami Sol played at the Women's National Basketball Association from 2000 to 2002.

Tampa Bay[]

Tampa Bay is represented by three major sports teams: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League, the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League, and the Tampa Bay Rays of MLB, but is also home to USL Championship's Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL.

The Tampa Bay area is also home to four Minor League Baseball teams: the Bradenton Marauders, Clearwater Threshers, Dunedin Blue Jays, and Tampa Tarpons.

Tampa was previously the home of the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League and the Tampa Bay Mutiny of Major League Soccer.

Orlando[]

Orlando is the home city of two major league professional sports teams — the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and Orlando City SC of Major League Soccer (MLS). Also, the Orlando Pride has competed in the National Women's Soccer League since 2016.

Orlando also has two minor league professional teams — the Orlando Solar Bears ECHL ice hockey team, and the Orlando Anarchy of the Women's Football Alliance. From 1991 to 2016, it was also home to the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League and during 2019 it was home of the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football.

From 1999 to 2002, the Orlando Miracle competed in the Women's National Basketball Association before relocating to the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut as the Connecticut Sun.

Orlando's sports teams have collectively won two ArenaBowls (1998, 2000), two titles in ice hockey, three titles in minor league baseball, and two titles in soccer.

Jacksonville[]

Jacksonville is home to one major league sports team, the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL).

Teams[]

Major league professional teams[]

Team	League	Venue	Location	Founded	Championships
Florida Panthers	National Hockey League	BB&T Center	Sunrise	1993	0
Inter Miami CF	Major League Soccer	Inter Miami CF Stadium (temporary) Miami Freedom Park (future)	Fort Lauderdale (temporary) Miami (future)	2018	0
Jacksonville Jaguars	National Football League	TIAA Bank Field	Jacksonville	1995	0
Miami Dolphins	National Football League	Hard Rock Stadium	Miami Gardens	1966	2 (1973, 1974)
Miami Heat	National Basketball Association	American Airlines Arena	Miami	1988	3 (2006, 2012, 2013)
Miami Marlins	Major League Baseball	Marlins Park	Miami	1993	2 (1997, 2003)
Orlando City SC	Major League Soccer	Exploria Stadium	Orlando	2015	0
Orlando Magic	National Basketball Association	Amway Center	Orlando	1989	0
Orlando Pride	National Women's Soccer League	Exploria Stadium	Orlando	2016	0
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	National Football League	Raymond James Stadium	Tampa	1976	2 (2003, 2021)
Tampa Bay Lightning	National Hockey League	Amalie Arena	Tampa	1992	3 (2004, 2020, 2021)
Tampa Bay Rays	Major League Baseball	Tropicana Field	St. Petersburg	1998	0

NCAA Division I college teams[]

School	Team	City	Conference	NCAA National Championships[3][a]
Bethune-Cookman University	Wildcats	Daytona Beach	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (FCS)	0
University of Central Florida	Knights	Orlando	American Athletic Conference (FBS)	0
University of Florida	Gators	Gainesville	Southeastern Conference (FBS)	36
Florida A&M University	Rattlers and Lady Rattlers	Tallahassee	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (FCS)	1
Florida Atlantic University	Owls	Boca Raton	Conference USA (FBS)	0
Florida Gulf Coast University	Eagles	Fort Myers	ASUN Conference (non-football)	0
Florida International University	Panthers	Miami	Conference USA (FBS)	2 (Both while in NCAA Division II)
Florida State University	Seminoles	Tallahassee	Atlantic Coast Conference (FBS)	9
Jacksonville University	Dolphins	Jacksonville	ASUN Conference (non-football)	0
University of Miami	Hurricanes	Coral Gables	Atlantic Coast Conference (FBS)	5
University of North Florida	Ospreys and Lady Ospreys	Jacksonville	ASUN Conference (non-football)	1 (While in NCAA Division II)
University of South Florida	Bulls	Tampa	American Athletic Conference (FBS)	1 (While in NCAA Division II)
Stetson University	Hatters	DeLand	ASUN Conference (non-football) Pioneer Football League (FCS)	0

Sports venues[]

Stadiums and arenas[]

Stadium	City	Capacity	Type	Tenants	Opened
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium[4]	Gainesville	88,548	Football	Florida Gators	1930
Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium	Tallahassee	79,560	Football	Florida State Seminoles	1950
Camping World Stadium	Orlando	65,194	Football	Florida Classic, Citrus Bowl, Camping World Bowl	1936
TIAA Bank Field	Jacksonville	67,246	Football	Jacksonville Jaguars Florida vs. Georgia Classic Gator Bowl	1949
Raymond James Stadium	Tampa	65,857	Football	Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tampa Bay Vipers South Florida Bulls Outback Bowl	1998
Hard Rock Stadium	Miami Gardens	65,326	Football	Miami Dolphins, Miami Hurricanes; Orange Bowl; Miami Open (tennis) (from 2019)	1987
Spectrum Stadium	Orlando	45,301	Football	UCF Knights	2007
Marlins Park[5]	Miami	37,000	Baseball	Miami Marlins	2012
Tropicana Field[6]	St. Petersburg	36,973	Baseball	Tampa Bay Rays Gasparilla Bowl	1990
FAU Stadium	Boca Raton	30,000	Football	Florida Atlantic Owls, Boca Raton Bowl	2011
Bragg Memorial Stadium	Tallahassee	25,500	Football	Florida A&M Rattlers	1957
Orlando City Stadium	Orlando	25,500	Soccer	Orlando City SC, Orlando Pride, Cure Bowl	2017
BB&T Center	Sunrise	20,737	Arena	Florida Panthers	1998
Amalie Arena	Tampa	20,500	Arena	Tampa Bay Lightning	1996
Lockhart Stadium	Fort Lauderdale	20,450	Soccer	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	1959
Riccardo Silva Stadium	Miami	20,000	Football	FIU Panthers, Miami FC	1995
American Airlines Arena	Miami	19,600	Arena	Miami Heat	1999
Amway Center	Orlando	18,846	Arena	Orlando Magic Orlando Solar Bears	2010
Inter Miami CF Stadium	Fort Lauderdale	18,000	Soccer	Inter Miami CF Fort Lauderdale CF	2020
VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena	Jacksonville	14,091	Arena	Jacksonville Icemen Jacksonville Sharks	2003
Donald L. Tucker Center	Tallahassee	12,100	Arena	Florida State Seminoles	1981
Expo Hall	Tampa	11,700	Arena		1976
Silver Spurs Arena	Kissimmee	10,500	Arena		2003
Yuengling Center	Tampa	10,411	Arena	South Florida Bulls	1980
Jostens Center	Lake Buena Vista	10,000	Arena		2008
Addition Financial Arena	Orlando	9,465	Arena	UCF Knights	2007
Ocean Center	Daytona Beach	8,362	Arena		1985
Pensacola Bay Center	Pensacola	8,300	Arena	Pensacola Ice Flyers	1985
RP Funding Center	Lakeland	8,178	Arena	Florida Tropics SC Lakeland Magic Tampa Bay Tornadoes	1974
Watsco Center	Coral Gables	7,972	Arena	Miami Hurricanes	2003
Hertz Arena	Estero	7,128	Arena	Florida Everblades	1998

Auto racing tracks[]

• Daytona International Speedway
• Gainesville Raceway
• Homestead-Miami Speedway
• Sebring International Raceway
• Streets of St. Petersburg
• Palm Beach International Raceway
• Five Flags Speedway

See also[]

• Sports teams in Florida
• Florida Sports Hall of Fame

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sports in Florida.