Sports in New York City
Encyclopedia : S : SP : SPO : Sports in New York City
Sports in New York City have a long and distinguished history. The city has a few historic sports venues: Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1913 until 1957, was torn down in 1960, and the Polo Grounds in northern Harlem was the home of the New York Giants of Major League Baseball from 1911 to 1957 (and the first home of the New York Mets) before being demolished in 1964. Also the current Madison Square Garden is actually the fourth separate building to use that name; the first two were near Madison Square, hence the name, and the third was at 50th Street and Eighth Avenue.
Immigrants have always influenced sports in New York. Stickball, a street version of baseball, first became popular in the city's Italian and Irish neighborhoods. The popularity of cricket and soccer are growing with immigration from British Commonwealth countries.
New York City was also the host of parts of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, and the 1998 Goodwill Games. In 2005, it bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, but lost to London. New York presently considers bidding for 2016 Summer Olympics.
Major sports
The New York metropolitan area is the only one in the United States with more than one team in each of the four major sports, with nine such franchises.Baseball
New York City is one of the few cities in United States (as well as Boston, Chicago, and St. Louis) in which baseball is the most popular sport in the city.A "Subway Series" between city teams is a time of great excitement, and any World Series championship by either the New York Yankees or the New York Mets is considered to be worthy of the highest celebration, including a ticker-tape parade for the victorious team. For many baseball fans, the most intense rivalry is between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, but in the city the rivalry between the Yankees and the Mets is almost as fierce. Outsiders are frequently unaware that few baseball fans in New York are fans of both teams at once.
There have been 14 Subway Series match-ups between the Yankees and their National League rivals; the Mets (once), and with the two teams that departed for California — the New York Giants (7 times) and Brooklyn Dodgers (6 times).
New York City is also home to two minor league baseball teams that play in the short-season Class A New York - Penn League. The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Mets affiliate, and the Staten Island Yankees are affiliated with the Yankees.
Basketball
At Madison Square Garden, New Yorkers can watch the New York Knicks play NBA basketball, the New York Liberty play in the WNBA. Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands, located across the Hudson River in New Jersey, is home to the New Jersey Nets NBA basketball team.Football
New York's NFL teams, the New York Giants and New York Jets, play at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, which is part of the New York Metropolitan Area.)
Before the opening of Giants Stadium, the Giants played in Yankee Stadium and the Jets in Shea Stadium. Neither team plays in the city itself prsently (though both teams did earlier in their respective histories); both teams play at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ and plan to share a new stadium to be built nearby. Due to their longer history and generally greater on-field success, the Giants are considered by many people to be the more popular team; they joined the National Football League (NFL) in 1925. The Jets, originally called the New York Titans, were founded in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL), changed their nickname to the Jets in 1963, and joined the NFL as part of the AFL/NFL merger in 1970.
It is argued that the Jets may actually be more popular with New York's younger generations than the Giants. The Jets are also seen more as "Long Island's Team", which is supported by the fact that they make their home base in Hempstead at Hofstra University, they get more coverage in L.I.-based Newsday, and a larger percentage of their fans come from Long Island.
Hockey
Ice Hockey is also popular in New York. The New York Rangers of the National Hockey League play in Madison Square Garden. The Rangers are one of the Original Six -- a term given to the six NHL teams in existence before the league expanded in 1967.The NHL's New Jersey Devils play in the New Jersey Meadowlands, while the New York Islanders, the third NHL team in the Metro area, play their home games in Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. All three teams play in the same division, providing fans with intense rivalries.
The NHL's headquarters is also located in New York City.
New York City Teams
| Club | League | Venue | Established | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | MLB Baseball | Yankee Stadium | 1901 | 26 |
| New York Mets | MLB Baseball | Shea Stadium | 1962 | 2 |
| New York Rangers | NHL Ice Hockey | Madison Square Garden | 1929 | 4 |
| New York Islanders | NHL Ice Hockey | Nassau Coliseum | 1972 | 4 |
| New York Giants | NFL Football | Giants Stadium | 1925 | 6 |
| New York Jets | NFL Football | Giants Stadium | 1960 | 1 |
| New York Knicks | NBA Basketball | Madison Square Garden | 1946 | 2 |
| New York Liberty | WNBA Basketball | Madison Square Garden | 1997 | 0 |
| New York Red Bulls | MLS Soccer | Giants Stadium | 1995 | 0 |
| Long Island Lizards | MLL Lacrosse | Mitchel Field | 2001 | 0 |
| New york NLL | NLL Lacrosse | Madison Square Garden | 2006 | 0 |
| New York Knights | AMNRL Rugby League | Falls Township Community Park | 1997 | 1 |
| Northern Raiders | AMNRL Rugby League | Andrews Field | 2002 | 0 |
| Brooklyn Wonders | ABA Basketball | TBA | 2006 | 0 |
| Staten Island Yankees | Minor league baseball (A) | Richmond County Bank Ballpark | 1999 | 3 |
| Brooklyn Cyclones | Minor league baseball (A) | KeySpan Park | 1999 | 1 |
Current issues
All nine major sports franchises play in buildings that will either be replaced or refurbished in the next few years, but these plans are subject to change.New Jersey Nets: Potentially moving to a new arena in Brooklyn.
New York Jets and New York Giants: After a proposal to build a stadium on the West Side of Manhattan, as part of the City's bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics (which eventually went to London), and aborted attempts to find another suitable home in places such as Flushing Meadows, the Jets and Giants have joined forces to build a new stadium to host both teams on the site of their current home, the Meadowlands. That agreement, however, is in jeopardy, over whether or not to build a retractable roof on the new stadium. The state, which is providing funding for the project, favors a roof, citing it would help bring big events (ie the Super Bowl, Final Four, winter concerts, etc) and additional financial windfall. The Giants, and to a lesser extent, the Jets, do not want a roof, fearing that NFL rules regarding a stadium with a retractable roof will eliminate a significant home field advantage, eliminating late season weather conditions as an obstacle for the visitor. The Giants say they will walk away from the project rather than build the stadium with a roof. The new stadium is scheduled to be completed in 2010.
New York Yankees: Replacing Yankee Stadium with a New Yankee Stadium, scheduled to be completed in 2009.
New York Mets: Replacing Shea Stadium with a New Mets Ballpark, also scheduled to open in 2009.
New York Islanders: Rebuilding the Nassau Coliseum, as well as developing much of the land around it. Planned for 2009, but delays in the bidding process makes that date seem unlikely.
New Jersey Devils: Moving to a new arena in Newark, construction has already begun, scheduled for completion 2008.
New York Rangers and New York Knicks: Plans have been made to refurbish or rebuild Madison Square Garden. It would be the 5th edition of the arena.
Other Sports
A city as large and diverse as New York does not restrict itself to the four major sports, however. The New York metropolitan area is also home to professional soccer and lacrosse teams, such as Red Bull New York in Major League Soccer and both the Long Island Lizards and the New Jersey Pride in Major League Lacrosse. For a full listing of major sports franchises in and around New York City, see List of New York City sports teams.
New York City is also home to many individual sporting events. Aqueduct Racetrack and Belmont Park feature horse racing all months of the year except August. One of the premier events in pro tennis, the U.S. Open is held at USTA National Tennis Center between August and September of every year.
Soccer
Soccer's popularity in the city is such that jerseys from the English, Irish and Brazilian teams as well as the Liga Mexicana appear in Manhattan as frequently as those of the Mets or the Knicks. In addition to the current Major League Soccer team Red Bull New York, the area was home to the New York Cosmos, arguably the most popular American soccer team ever. Playing in the defuct NASL, the Cosmos were known for fielding some of the world's greatest players including Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer albeit in the waning years of their professional careers.Cricket
The popularity of cricket and soccer are growing with immigration from British Commonwealth countries. The first children's Junior Cricket League in the United States opened in Brooklyn in 2004, bringing the number of cricket leagues in the city to seven.
|
History · Government · Geography · Demographics · Economy · Transportation Culture · Media · Music · Sports · Neighborhoods · Architecture · Museums · Education New York City Lists · · New York State |
| The Five Boroughs: The Bronx · Brooklyn · Manhattan · Queens · Staten Island
| |
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.