Sports are a major part of the city's culture (as well as the culture of the Greater Boston area). Boston sports fans are known for their fanatical devotion to the Red Sox and knowledge of the team's history. However, in recent memory Boston is now known as an American football town, as the Patriots have long seized the title as the most popular team in New England, according to surveys.[1][2]Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox, is the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball (MLB) and holds a legendary status among baseball fans.[3][4][5] Within the same era, what is now the world's oldest existing indoor multi-sports facility[6] – today's Matthews Arena, primarily used by Northeastern University's college sports teams – first opened in 1910, only 1⁄4-mile (400m) away from the original home field of the Red Sox – and is where on December 1, 1924, the Boston Bruins played their first NHL regular season game.[7]
In the 2000s, Boston's professional teams had what was argued to be the most successful decade in sports history, winning six championships (three by the Patriots: 2001, 2003, 2004; two by the Red Sox: 2004, 2007; and one by the Celtics: 2007–08),[15] while also appearing an additional five times as league finalists (4x by the Revolution, 1x by the Patriots). Additionally, their teams have completed their regular seasons with the best record five times in their respective leagues (3x by the Patriots: 14–2 in 2003, 14–2 in 2004, 16–0 in 2007; 2x by the Celtics: 66–16 in 2007–08, 62–20 in 2008–09).
In the 2010s, their professional teams rivaled their 2000s achievements, winning six additional championships (three by the Patriots: 2014, 2016, 2018; two by the Red Sox: 2013, 2018; and one by the Bruins: 2010–11), while also appearing an additional six times as league finalists (2x by the Patriots, 2x by the Bruins, 1x by the Celtics, and 1x by the Revolution). Additionally, their teams have completed their regular seasons with the best record four times in their respective leagues (2x by the Patriots: 14–2 in 2010, 14–2 in 2016; one Presidents' Trophy by the Bruins: 117 PTS in 2013–14; 1x by the Red Sox: 108–54 in 2018).
In the 2020s, the Celtics won a championship in 2024, while also appearing an additional time as a league finalist in 2022. Additionally, Boston's professional teams have completed their regular seasons with the best record four times in their respective leagues (two presidents' Trophies by the Bruins: 100 PTS in 2019–20, 135 PTS in 2022–23; one Supporters' Shield by the Revolution: 22–5–7 in 2021; 1x by the Celtics: 64–18 in 2023–24).
When the Bruins won the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, the city of Boston became the first city in the 21st century to have at least four of its major professional league teams win a league championship, and became the first city to have championships in four major professional leagues within a ten-year span, accomplishing this feat in a span of six years, four months, and nine days (from the Patriots' championship win on February 6, 2005, to the Bruins' championship win on June 15, 2011).[16] Los Angeles would accomplish this same feat in 2022.[17] This sporting achievement was what Dan Shaughnessy of Sports Illustrated dubbed as Boston completing the "Grand Slam of North American sports."[18] As of April 2024, at least one of Boston's four major pro sports teams has played in the final four of their respective sports playoffs, MLB's ALCS, NFL's AFC Championship Game, or the Eastern Conference Finals in the NBA and NHL, in every year since 2010. Since 2002, duck boats provided by Boston Duck Tours have been used as Boston's championship parade vehicles, starting with the New England Patriots after the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI over the St. Louis Rams. As a result of this recent practice, the catch phrase "cue the duck boats" has been used whenever a Boston sports team has won a championship in advance of its celebratory parade.[19][20][21][22][23] While much of the parade routes over the years consisted of the duck boats staying on land, some featured them traversing both the land and across the Charles River.
Soccer
Boston S.C. (later re-named the Bears) of the American Soccer League club photo, 1926
According to American folklore, Pilgrim fathers observed a form of soccer called pasuckuakohowog that was played by Native Americans along the Massachusetts coast as early as 1620, the earliest observance of soccer of any form in what is currently the United States.[24]
In 1862, The Oneida Football Club in Boston was the first organized team to play any kind of "football/soccer" in the United States. It was founded by Gerrit Smith "Gat" Miller, a graduate of the Latin School of Epes Sargent Dixwell, a private college preparatory school in Boston, who grew tired of the chaotic, disorganized, and very violent games that arose from different schools, as well as the rule variations of soccer that existed as a by-product of no formal rules for the game during that era. Miller organized other recent preparatory school graduates from relatively elite public (state) schools in the area, such as Boston Latin School and the English High School of Boston to join this team that played their games at Boston Common. Between 1862 and 1865, playing against other pickup teams within Boston's collegiate community, the Oneidas never lost a match.[25] Like American football historians, soccer historians trace the origins of their sport in the region to the Oneida Football Club and their brand of football that they played called the "Boston Game", which was a hybrid of both sports today that featured a rounded ball that could be kicked, carried, and thrown. The Boston game would go on to be introduced to Yale University, Columbia University, Cornell University, and Boston's Harvard University. This hybrid form of football, that would evolve into what is now American football, would eventually adopt codified rules based primarily on those established for English rugby, gained prominence and acceptance within the college circles, and upper-class status, relegating the uncodified "soccer" variety of the game to working-class status, that was adopted by the immigrant communities that brought along their soccer customs and traditions with them to the region.
In 1923, the world's first indoor soccer league with 11-a-side teams on a full-sized field opened the winter season at the Commonwealth Cavalry Armory in Boston.
After the NASL folded on March 28, 1985, a new nationwide professional soccer league would re-emerge in 1996 in the form of Major League Soccer (MLS) following the success of the 1994 FIFA World Cup (with Foxboro Stadium as one of nine venues).[28] Greater Boston would be represented by the New England Revolution, who play all their home games in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Gillette Stadium has served as the Revolution's current home stadium since 2002. The club's nickname "Revolution" refers to the New England region's significant involvement in the American Revolutionary War that took place from 1775 to 1783. The Revolution have participated in five MLS Cup finals in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2014, but have not yet won. They won the 2021 MLS Supporters' Shield for the best regular season record.[29]
Notable footballers who played in Boston include Portuguese legend Eusébio, and U.S. national team members: Taylor Twellman, Clint Dempsey, Alexi Lalas, and Billy Gonsalves (a native of Fall River, Massachusetts and was nicknamed the "Babe Ruth of American Soccer" during his career).[30][31]
Basketball
The Boston Celtics basketball team, who play at the TD Garden, were a founding member of the Basketball Association of America, one of the two leagues that merged to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics have the distinction of having more championships than any other NBA team, with eighteen championships from 1957 to 2024.[32] They had a remarkable run of titles from the 1956–57 until the 1968–69 seasons, winning 11 of 13 championships in that span, including an NBA record 8 titles in a row from 1958 to 1959 until 1965–66, under legendary center Bill Russell.
The TD Garden, above North Station, is the home to the Boston Bruinsice hockey team of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Bruins, founded in 1924, were the first American member of the NHL and an Original Six franchise, and have won six Stanley Cups, most recently in 2011, when they defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games. The Bruins' first venue—the team is the only one of the Original Six teams to have its original venue still in existence—was the former Boston Arena on Huntington Avenue, having been built in 1910 under that name, which now exists as Northeastern University's Matthews Arena. It is the oldest purpose-built indoor ice hockey arena still in use in the world for the sport, used for Northeastern Huskiescollegiate ice hockey and basketball in the 21st century.
Since their initial meeting on December 8, 1924, the longest-standing rivalry in the NHL is the one between the Bruins and their Canadian archrival, the Montreal Canadiens.[37] These two teams have met 34 times in the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs, with Montreal taking 18-straight playoff series from the Bruins between 1946 and 1987.
Boston's local colleges are also very strong in hockey. Boston College and Boston University are always competitive and at the top of the college rankings, both competing in the Hockey East conference. Since 2001, Boston College has won four national championships (2001, 2008, 2010, and 2012) and Boston University has won one (2009). BC and BU, along with the Northeastern Huskies, also of Hockey East, and the Harvard Crimson of ECAC Hockey, compete in the Beanpot, considered[by whom?] the most prestigious in-season collegiate hockey tournament. It is played on the first two Mondays of February at TD Garden, with the semi-final matchups rotating on a year-to-year basis. Although neither the BC or BU women's teams have secured national championships, they have together eight Hockey East titles since 2010.
Boston also has a rich recent history in professional women's hockey. The Boston Pride were a charter franchise of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) and its most successful team, winning three Isobel Cup titles. The NWHL, which rebranded as the Premier Hockey Federation in 2021, was purchased and ultimately dissolved in 2023 as part of an effort to create a new, unified North American women's professional league.[38] Boston was awarded one of the new Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) six charter franchises.[39]Boston Fleet hosts games in Lowell, and debuted on January 3, 2024.[40] In the inaugural season, Boston Fleet made it to the finals competing for the Walter Cup, but lost to Minnesota Frost in Game 5.[41]
For the first half of the 20th century, Boston had two Major League Baseball franchises. The Boston Braves, operated in the National League from 1871 to 1952 before relocating to Milwaukee, and finally moving to their current home, Atlanta. They played their home games at South End Grounds (1871–1914) and Braves Field (1915–1952). In 1914, the Braves performed one of the most memorable comebacks in major league history, going from last place to first place in two months, becoming the first team to win a pennant after being in last place on the Fourth of July. The Braves went on to sweep Connie Mack's heavily favored Athletics in four games in the 1914 World Series. The franchise is the oldest continuous professional sports franchise.
The Boston Game is thought to be the origin of American football, played by New Englandprep schools. In 1855, manufactured inflatable balls were introduced. These were much more regular in shape than the handmade balls of earlier times, making kicking and carrying more skillful. Two competing versions had evolved during this time; the "kicking game" which resembled soccer and the "running" or "carrying game" which resembled rugby union. hybrid of the two, known as the "Boston game", was played by a group known as the Oneida Football Club. The club, considered by some historians as the first formal football club in the United States, was formed in 1861 by schoolboys who played the "Boston game" on Boston Common. They played mostly among themselves early on; though they organized a team of non-members to play a game in November 1863, which the Oneidas won easily. The game caught the attention of the press, and the "Boston game" continued to grow throughout the 1860s.[43]
The Boston Braves were established in 1932, under the ownership of George Preston Marshall. At the time the team played in Braves Field, home of the Boston Braves baseball team in the National League. The following year, the club moved to Fenway Park, home of the American League's Boston Red Sox, whereupon owners changed the team's name to "Boston Redskins." To round out the change, Marshall hired William "Lone Star" Dietz, who was thought to be part Sioux, as the team's head coach. However, Boston wasn't much of a football town at the time and the team had difficulty drawing fans. In fact, the 1936 NFL Championship Game was moved to the Polo Grounds in New York City due to apathy and low support in Boston. In 1937, Marshall moved the franchise to Washington, D.C.
In 1944, the Boston Yanks were established (the 3rd NFL franchise in Boston's history), playing their home games at Fenway Park and competing until 1948. The Yanks are the only officially defunct NFL team ever to have the first overall NFL draft pick. They had it twice, in 1944 and 1946. Both times they selected a quarterback from the University of Notre Dame: Angelo Bertelli (1944) and Frank Dancewicz (1946), both Massachusetts natives. Owner Ted Collins moved his "defunct" Yanks franchise to New York City in 1949, where it continued for one year as the Bulldogs and two years known as the New York Yanks.
Businessman Robert Kraft, who at the time owned Foxboro Stadium and the team's lease for it, purchased the team in 1994 for $175million, ensuring the Patriots would remain in New England amid a shuffle of owners and rumors of a relocation to St. Louis. The team experienced a recent surge of success, mostly with the turn of the century. The team has made 11 Super Bowl appearances and won six of them – XXXVI (2001), XXXVIII (2003), XXXIX (2004), XLIX (2014), LI (2016), LIII (2018) – and became the only team to go 16–0 in the regular season (in 2007) since the NFL expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978. Notable people among the team include head coach Bill Belichick and star quarterback Tom Brady, who among others would help make the Patriots consistently successful.
Rugby union
Rugby in Boston has a strong following; the city is home to numerous amateur, college and semi-professional sides. The city has three teams in the former premier division of USA rugby union, the Rugby Super League – Mystic River Rugby Club, the Boston Irish Wolfhounds, and Boston RFC. The current top flight of the sport, Major League Rugby, has the Boston-based New England Free Jacks who joined the league in 2020. The team has won two MLR shields after defeating the San Diego Legion in 2023 and the Seattle Seawolves in 2024.
Rugby league
The Boston 13s founded in 2009, play in the North Conference of the USA Rugby League, they won the USARL National Championship in 2015.
Two different women's soccer teams known as the Boston Breakers have been charter members of three separate professional leagues. The original version, founded in 2001, played in the short-lived Women's United Soccer Association. The Breakers were resurrected in 2009 to play in WUSA's equally short-lived successor, Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). After WPS folded following its 2011 season, the Breakers remained in operation, playing the 2012 season in the newly established semi-pro WPSL Elite. In December 2012, the Breakers were announced as one of the eight charter teams of the new National Women's Soccer League, which began play in 2013. While the WUSA and WPS Breakers played at Harvard Stadium, the NWSL team played its first season at the smaller Dilboy Stadium in Somerville. The NWSL Breakers moved to Harvard Stadium for the 2014 season, and then moved to the nearby venue now known as Jordan Field, where they remained until their demise after the 2017 season.
In September 2023, the NWSL announced that a Boston team would start play in 2026.[47] The team announced its branding as BOS Nation FC in October 2024.[48]
All except Harvard, which belongs to ECAC Hockey, belong to the Hockey East conference in hockey. The hockey teams of these four universities meet every year in a four-team tournament known as the "Beanpot Tournament", played at the TD Garden (and the Boston Garden before that) over two Monday nights in February.[49]
The oldest continuously used indoor and outdoor sports stadiums in the world are used by Boston schools: Harvard Stadium (built in 1903) and the aforementioned Boston Arena (now known as Matthews Arena, built in 1910), which is used by Northeastern University.
Amateur and participatory sports
Boston has amateur and participatory sports and recreation. The 18-mile loop through the Paul Dudley White Bicycle Path runs on both sides of the river within the Charles River Reservation for bicyclists and runners. Boston is also home is the oldest continuously operating community sailing program in the United States.[citation needed] It is located in Boston along the Charles River Esplanade between the Longfellow Bridge and the Hatch Shell. Community Boating, Inc offers members instruction for sailing and windsurfing, and allows members to use CBI-owned sailboats on the Charles River. The Boston Ski and Sports Club offers team sports leagues in Basketball, Ultimate, Dodgeball, Football, Tennis, Volleyball, Golf, and other indoor and outdoor sports.
Events
2010 Boston Marathon
The city is home to the Boston Marathon, one of the best known sporting events in the city. It is a 42.195-kilometre (26.219mi) run from Hopkinton to Copley Square in the Back Bay and the world's oldest annual marathon,[50] running on Patriots' Day in April.
Boston's TD Garden is expected to host the 2020 Laver Cup, an international men's tennis tournament between two teams (Team World vs Team Europe). John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg will reprise their roles as captains in this fourth edition of the tournament.[51]
In January 2015, the city was picked by the United States Olympic Committee to represent the nation in the bidding for the 2024 Olympic Games. But seven months later, the city withdrew itself from consideration amid concerns of the financial burdens associated with hosting the Olympics.[52] Los Angeles was then selected as the US candidate and was ultimately awarded the right to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The rivalry between the Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers is the most storied in the Association as the two teams have met in the NBA Finals 12 times and together account for a total of 35 NBA championships, more than half the total number of championships in the league. The Celtics also have rivalries with the Philadelphia 76ers (considered by many to be the NBA's second greatest rivalry after Celtics-Lakers), especially during the 1960s when centers Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain battled for supremacy, the New York Knicks, and the Detroit Pistons, particularly during the late 1980s when the Pistons were about to supplant the Celtics as the best team in the NBA Eastern Conference.
Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantially rebuilt in 1934, and underwent major renovations and modifications in the 21st century. It is the oldest active ballpark in MLB. Because of its age and constrained location in Boston's dense Fenway–Kenmore neighborhood, the park has many quirky features, including "The Triangle", Pesky's Pole, and the Green Monster in left field. It is the fifth-smallest among MLB ballparks by seating capacity, second-smallest by total capacity, and one of nine that cannot accommodate at least 40,000 spectators.
New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN, is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group and Delaware North. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the network is primarily carried on cable providers throughout New England. NESN is also distributed nationally on satellite providers DirecTV and as NESN National via select cable providers.
The Yankees–Red Sox rivalry is a Major League Baseball (MLB) rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Both teams have competed in MLB's American League (AL) for over 120 seasons and have since developed what is arguably the fiercest rivalry in all of American sports. In 1919, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold star player Babe Ruth to the Yankees, which was followed by an 86-year period in which the Red Sox did not win a World Series. This led to the popularization of a superstition known as the "Curse of the Bambino," which was one of the most well-known aspects of the rivalry.
Sports in Louisville, Kentucky include amateur and professional sports in baseball, football, basketball, horse racing, horse shows, ice hockey, soccer and lacrosse. The city of Louisville and the Louisville metropolitan area have a sporting history from the mid-19th century to the present day.
Sports in the New York metropolitan area have a long and distinguished history.
Sports in Montreal have played a major role in the city's history. Montreal is best known for being home to the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, which are currently the city's only team in the Big Four sports leagues.
Sports in Chicago include many professional sports teams. Chicago is one of eleven U.S. cities to have teams from the five major American professional team sports. Chicago has been named as the "Best Sports City" by Sporting News three times: 1993, 2006, and 2010.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has a long and rich tradition in professional, semi-professional, amateur, college, and high-school sports.
Three popular American sports were invented in New England. Basketball was invented by James Naismith, a Canadian, in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. Volleyball was invented by William G. Morgan in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1895. Paintball was invented in 1981 in Henniker, New Hampshire.
Sports in Massachusetts have a long history with both amateur athletics and professional teams. Most of the major professional teams have won multiple championships in their respective leagues. Massachusetts teams have won 6 Stanley Cups, 18 NBA Championships, 6 Super Bowls, and 10 World Series. The New England Revolution won the MLS Supporter's Shield in 2021. Early basketball and volleyball was created in Massachusetts, which homes the Basketball Hall of Fame (Springfield), and the Volleyball Hall of Fame (Holyoke). Massachusetts also houses the Cape Cod Baseball League. It is also home to prestigious sports events such as the Boston Marathon and the Head of the Charles Regatta. The Falmouth Road Race in running and the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic in bicycle racing are also very popular events with long histories.
The city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has a long history of sport. It is home to a number of clubs, including the Granite Club, the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, the Argonaut Rowing Club, Toronto Argonauts football club, the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, and the Badminton and Racquet Club. A number of heritage venues have developed in Toronto such as: Christie Pits, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Varsity Arena, and Maple Leaf Gardens. Toronto is also the location of the Canadian Football League's headquarters.
Washington, D.C., has major league sports teams, popular college sports teams, and a variety of other team and individual sports. The Washington metropolitan area is also home to several major sports venues including Capital One Arena, RFK Stadium, Northwest Stadium, Audi Field, and Nationals Park.
Texas is home of several national sports league franchises among other professional sports, being the second most populated U.S. state. Since the state is located in the South Central United States, most teams are part of the Central / South or West league divisions, with the notable exception of the NFL Dallas Cowboys, which is an NFC East franchise.
Fenway Sports Group Holdings, LLC (FSG), is an American multinational sports holding conglomerate which owns Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox, Premier League’s Liverpool, National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins, NASCAR's RFK Racing, and TGL's Boston Common Golf.
The city of St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States is home to more than a dozen professional, semi-professional, and collegiate sports teams. The Sporting News rated St. Louis the nation's "Best Sports City" in 2000 and the Wall Street Journal named it the best sports city in 2015.
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.
Sports in Atlanta has a rich history, including the oldest on-campus NCAA Division I football stadium, Bobby Dodd Stadium, built in 1913 by the students of Georgia Tech. Atlanta also played host to the second intercollegiate football game in the South, played between the A&M College of Alabama and the University of Georgia in Piedmont Park in 1892; this game is now called the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. The city hosts college football's annual Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and the Peachtree Road Race, the world's largest 10 km race. Atlanta was the host city for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics, and Downtown Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park was built for and commemorates the games.
The Giants–Patriots rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. The all-time series is currently tied, 7–7. The two teams met twice in the Super Bowl, both won by the Giants. They play in different conferences, and thus they only meet once every four regular seasons and at least once every eight seasons at each team's home stadium, occasionally in the preseason, sometimes more often if they meet in the Super Bowl or share a common finish position in their respective divisions in the year before the 17th game. This rivalry sparked debates among sports fans in Boston and New York City, evoking comparisons to the fierce Yankees–Red Sox rivalry in Major League Baseball.
↑ "NHL hockey came to the U.S. on Dec. 1, 1924". National Hockey League. December 1, 2008. Retrieved December 4, 2016. The National Hockey League celebrates another historic anniversary...remembering the first NHL game played in the United States, as the Boston Bruins hosted the Montreal Maroons, both expansion teams, at the Boston Arena on Dec. 1, 1924.
↑ "Canadiens Downed Boston, Rallying in Final Period". The Montreal Gazette. Boston, MA USA. Canadian Press. December 9, 1924. p.16. Retrieved June 12, 2017. The world champion Canadiens defeated Boston in a fast game here tonight, 4–3, incidentally giving 5,000 Boston hockey fans the best exhibition of the Canadian game on record here.
↑ Founded in 2001 as a member of the WUSA, which folded after its 2003 season. Re-established as a charter member of its successor, WPS, in 2009. After the demise of WPS in 2012, the Breakers played the 2012 season in WPSL Elite before being named as one of the eight charter members of the new National Women's Soccer League, which launched in 2013. The team folded during the 2017–18 offseason.
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