Buffalo, New York and its greater metropolitan area is currently home to two major league sports teams, the Buffalo Sabres (National Hockey League) & Buffalo Bills (National Football League). Buffalo is also home to several other major and minor league sports teams, including the Buffalo Bandits (National Lacrosse League), Buffalo Bisons (International League), Buffalo eXtreme (American Basketball Association) and FC Buffalo (USL League Two). Local colleges active in NCAA Division I athletics include Canisius University, Niagara University, St. Bonaventure University and University at Buffalo.
Sports are a major part of the city's culture. In recent decades, Buffalo based teams have become known for crushing and sometimes controversial defeats. Wide Right, No Goal and the Music City Miracle have come to define the suffering of Buffalo sports fans. In February 2012, Forbes listed Buffalo #4 on its list of "Most Miserable Sports Cities." [1] The city's only major championships were American Football League titles won by the Buffalo Bills in 1964 and 1965.
Buffalo had at one point three franchises in major league sports beginning in 1970, when the Buffalo Bills (established 1960) were joined by the Buffalo Braves of the National Basketball Association and the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. However, the Braves struggled financially and were relocated to California in 1978. This led to the perception that Buffalo's market could not support a third franchise. Sahlen Field was built in 1988 for the minor league Buffalo Bisons with hopes that it could attract a Major League Baseball franchise to the city. The major league franchise never came, although the Toronto Blue Jays would eventually play their home games at Sahlen Field in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. [2]
Joe Mesi was a professional boxer from Buffalo who earned the nickname "Third Franchise" during his undefeated career between 1997 and 2007 after selling out KeyBank Center and other local venues multiple times. [3]
Sport | League | Club | Founded | Venue | Titles | Championship years |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baseball | IL | Buffalo Bisons | 1979† | Sahlen Field | 3 | 1997, 1998, 2004 |
Basketball | ABA | Buffalo eXtreme | 2023 | XGen Elite Sports Complex | ||
Football | NFL | Buffalo Bills | 1960 | Highmark Stadium | 2 | 1964*, 1965* |
Hockey | NHL | Buffalo Sabres | 1970 | KeyBank Center | ||
Lacrosse | NLL | Buffalo Bandits | 1992 | KeyBank Center | 5 | 1992, 1993, 1996, 2008, 2023 |
Soccer | USL League Two | FC Buffalo | 2009 | Williamsville South High School | ||
Soccer | UWS | FC Buffalo Women | 2021 | Williamsville South High School | ||
* American Football League (AFL) championships were earned prior to the AFL–NFL merger of 1970.
† Date refers to current incarnation; Buffalo Bisons previously operated from 1886 to 1970, and the current Bisons count this team as part of their history.
Sport | League | Club | Founded | Venue | Titles | Championship years |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
College Basketball | NCAA | Buffalo Bulls | 1915 | Alumni Arena | 4 | 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 |
College Basketball | NCAA | Canisius Golden Griffins | 1903 | Koessler Athletic Center | 1 | 1996 |
College Basketball | NCAA | Niagara Purple Eagles | 1905 | Gallagher Center | 2 | 2005, 2007 |
College Basketball | NCAA | St. Bonaventure Bonnies | 1902 | Reilly Center | 2 | 2012, 2021 |
College Football | NCAA | Buffalo Bulls | 1894 | University at Buffalo Stadium | 1 | 2008 |
College Hockey | NCAA | Canisius Golden Griffins | 1980 | LECOM Harborcenter | 2 | 2013, 2023 |
College Hockey | NCAA | Niagara Purple Eagles | 1996 | Dwyer Arena | 3 | 2000*, 2004*, 2008* |
* College Hockey America (CHA) men's hockey championships were earned prior to the league's discontinuation of the conference's men's program in 2010.
An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, but sometimes dividing the players by an attribute such as nationality. Selection of the players may be done by a vote of the coaches and/or news media; in professional leagues, fans may vote on some or all of the roster. An all-star game usually occurs at the midpoint of the regular season. An exception is American football's NFL Pro Bowl, which occurs at the end of the season.
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in various sports. They generally have lesser fan bases, much smaller revenues and salaries, and are used to develop players for bigger leagues.
A Rookie of the Year award or ROY is given by a number of sports leagues to the top-performing athlete in his or her first season within the league. Athletes competing for the first time in any given league are also known as "rookies".
Syracuse, New York, United States, is a top-division, minor-league and college sports city. Teams include the Syracuse Mets of AAA Baseball and the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. The most attended sporting events in Syracuse are those of the NCAA Division I Syracuse University Orange.
Sports in the United States are an important part of the nation's culture. Historically, the national sport has been baseball. However, in more recent decades, American football has been the most popular sport in terms of broadcast viewership audience. Basketball has grown into the mainstream American sports scene since the 1980s, with ice hockey and soccer doing the same around the turn of the 21st century.
Sports in Pennsylvania includes numerous professional sporting teams, events, and venues located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
Athletes and sports teams from North Carolina compete across an array of professional and amateur levels of competition, along with athletes who compete at the World and Olympic levels in their respective sport. Major league professional teams based in North Carolina include teams that compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), and National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The state is also home to NASCAR Cup Series races. At the collegiate and university level, there are several North Carolina schools in various conferences across an array of divisions. North Carolina also has many minor league baseball teams. There are also a number of indoor football, indoor soccer, minor league basketball, and minor league ice hockey teams based throughout the state.
Boston, Massachusetts, is home to several major professional sports franchises. They include the Red Sox (baseball), the Celtics, and the Bruins. The New England Patriots and the New England Revolution play at Gillette Stadium in nearby Foxborough, Massachusetts.
This is a list of sports in Denver, Colorado, United States. Denver is home to many professional sports teams who are based out of Denver and surrounding cities in the metropolitan area. It is also one of the twelve American cities to house a team from each of the U.S. cities with teams from four major league sports. All four of its teams play their home games near downtown with three active sports venues which includes Empower Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos; Ball Arena, home of the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets; and Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. There is also a Major League Soccer (MLS) team based in the Denver metro area, but they do not play their home games in the city of Denver and is located in nearby Commerce City.
Jacksonville is home to a number of professional sports teams, and the city has a long history of athletics. The Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) compete at the major league level. Additionally, the PGA Tour is headquartered in the suburb of Ponte Vedra Beach, where it hosts The Players Championship every year.
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.
Upstate New York is a storied region in North American athletics.
The West Chester Golden Rams represent West Chester University of Pennsylvania, which is located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in intercollegiate sports. They compete in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in NCAA Division II.
Sports in San Diego includes one major professional sports team, other highest-level professional teams, minor league teams, and college athletics. The most prominent team in San Diego is the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). San Diego FC will begin play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2025. The San Diego State Aztecs football and basketball teams play in NCAA Division I (FBS). The Farmers Insurance Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually at Torrey Pines Golf Course.
The city and metropolitan area of Rochester, New York, has several sports teams. Rochester was named the top minor league sports market in the country by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal in July 2005, the number 10 "best golf city" in America by Golf Magazine in 2007, and the fifth-best "sports town" in the country by Scarborough Research in September 2008.
Ohio is home to many professional and college sports teams. The metropolitan areas of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus are home to major league professional sports teams in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer.
Professional sports leagues in the United States includes major professional sports leagues, other highest-level professional leagues, minor leagues, and semi-professional leagues.
The North American continent is the birthplace of several organized sports, such as basketball, charrería/rodeo, gridiron football, ice hockey, jaripeo/bull riding, lacrosse, ollamaliztl, mixed martial arts (MMA), racquetball, ultimate, and volleyball. The modern versions of baseball and softball, skateboarding, snowboarding, stock car racing, and surfing also developed in North America.