The U.S. city of Houston and its metropolitan area have a rich sporting culture and the area residents are active in many spectator and participant sports. Spectators attend events including teams from five major professional sports leagues and collegiate sports. Participants enjoy activities from running in Memorial Park to sailing on Galveston Bay and Clear Lake. Several other sports are also available, including nearly a dozen fencing clubs, ranging from recreational clubs to elite competitive organizations. [1]
Houston has five professional major league teams: the Houston Astros (MLB), Houston Texans (NFL), Houston Rockets (NBA), Houston Dynamo FC (MLS), and Houston Dash (NWSL). Houston does not have an NHL or a WNBA team.
The Astros have won two World Series titles in 2017 and 2022. In 2006, the Dynamo won the MLS Cup in their first year after moving from San Jose, California, and in 2007 became the first MLS franchise since 1997 to repeat a championship. Meanwhile, the Rockets similarly obtained two championships, winning back-to-back NBA titles in 1994 and 1995.
Minute Maid Park (home of the Astros) and Toyota Center (home of the Rockets) are located in Downtown Houston—contributing to an urban renaissance that has transformed Houston's centre into a day-and-night destination.[ citation needed ] Also, the city has the first domed stadium in the United States, now known as the NRG Astrodome, and also holds the NFL's first retractable roof stadium—NRG Stadium. Other facilities for major league teams in Houston include Shell Energy Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium.
Club | League | Sport | Venue | Founded | Titles | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Houston Texans | NFL | Football | NRG Stadium | 2002 | 0 | 71,644 |
Houston Astros | MLB | Baseball | Minute Maid Park | 1962 | 2 (2017, 2022) | 41,168 |
Houston Dynamo FC | MLS | Soccer | Shell Energy Stadium | 2006 | 2 (2006, 2007) | 20,117 |
Houston Dash | NWSL | Soccer | Shell Energy Stadium | 2014 | 0 | 7,000 |
Houston Rockets | NBA | Basketball | Toyota Center | 1967 | 2 (1994, 1995) | 18,104 |
Houston was home to the now-defunct WNBA Comets from 1997 to 2008. The Comets won 4 consecutive WNBA Championships, which is still the most championships of any sports team in Houston, and the biggest title streak in Texas. [ citation needed ]
The AFL/NFL Oilers called Houston home from 1960 to 1997 before the team moved to Tennessee and became the Titans. The Oilers also provided the city with 2 AFL championships in 1960 and 1961, before the merger with the NFL. [2]
The Houston Aeros of the International Hockey League and the American Hockey League existed in Houston from 1994 until 2013 when they were moved to become the Iowa Wild. They won the Turner Cup (IHL) in 1999 and the Calder Cup (AHL) in 2003.
The Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association played in Houston from 1972 to 1978 until the WHA dissolved. They won the Avco World Trophy as champions of the WHA in 1974 and 1975.
Houston has three teams in World TeamTennis: The E-Z Riders in 1974, the Astro-Knots in 1982 and 1983, and the Wranglers from 2005 to 2007.
The Houston Scrap Yard Dawgs of the National Pro Fastpitch from 2016 to 2017 when the team was terminated by NPF after they became the NPF champions in 2017.
Four Division I college athletic programs play within the city of Houston, with the University of Houston as the sole member of a Power Four conference. A fifth, Prairie View A&M University, is located in the metropolitan area. A new venue, TDECU Stadium, opened in 2014 on the University of Houston campus at the former site of Robertson Stadium. Other college sports facilities in Houston include the Fertitta Center and Rice Stadium.
School | Nickname | Major Venues | Conference |
---|---|---|---|
University of Houston | Cougars | TDECU Stadium, Fertitta Center | Big 12 (FBS) |
Rice University | Owls | Rice Stadium, Tudor Fieldhouse | American (FBS) |
Houston Christian University | Huskies | Husky Stadium, Sharp Gymnasium | Southland (FCS) |
Texas Southern University | Tigers | Health and Physical Education Arena | SWAC (FCS) |
Prairie View A&M University (in Prairie View) | Panthers | Panther Stadium at Blackshear Field, William Nicks Building | SWAC (FCS) |
Houston hosts annual sporting events such as the PGA Tour's Houston Open, the college football Texas Bowl, and college baseball's Houston College Classic. Since 1971, Houston's two NCAA Division I FBS football teams, the Rice Owls and Houston Cougars have faced off in the annual Bayou Bucket Classic. Since 1985, the Texas Southern Tigers and Prairie View A&M Panthers compete in the annual Labor Day Classic.
Every June since 2012, the U.S. national rugby team has played an international match against a top European team at BBVA Stadium, breaking attendance records for rugby matches in the U.S. [3] The U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament, has been held in Houston since 2001.
From 1998 to 2001, the CART World Series held the Grand Prix of Houston auto race on downtown streets. CART's successor series, Champ Car, revived the race for 2006 and 2007 on the streets surrounding Reliant Park. The race was discontinued again in 2008, following Champ Car's merger with the rival IndyCar Series. The Grand Prix of Houston returned for the 2013 season. In motorcycling, the Astrodome hosted an AMA Supercross Championship round from 1974 to 2003 and the NRG Stadium since 2003.
Several annual sporting events are no longer held in Houston. The Virginia Slims of Houston was a women's tennis tournament held from 1970 to 1995 as part of the WTA Tour. The final official event of the LPGA golf season, the LPGA Tour Championship, was held in Houston in 2009 but moved to Orlando, Florida in 2010.
Event | Month | Sport | Venue | Established |
---|---|---|---|---|
Houston Marathon | January | Running | Convention Center and streets of Houston | 1972 |
Houston College Classic | February | Baseball | Minute Maid Park | 2001 |
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo | February / March | Rodeo | NRG Park | 1932 |
Houston Open | March | Golf | Golf Club of Houston | 1946 |
U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships | April | Tennis | River Oaks Country Club | 2001 |
U.S. International Rugby Match | June | Rugby | Shell Energy Stadium | 2012 |
Texas Bowl | December | Football | NRG Stadium | 2006 |
Bayou Bucket Classic | Varies | Football | Rice Stadium, TDECU Stadium, or NRG Stadium | 1971 |
SWAC Championship Game | December | Football | NRG Stadium | 2013 |
SWAC Basketball Tournament | March | Basketball | Toyota Center | 2013 |
In addition to the events listed below, Houston hosted the Masters Grand Prix in 1976 and the Tennis Masters Cup in 2003 and 2004. Houston is set to host multiple matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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Houston has a cricket league for adults which, in 2016, had 30 teams and with the majority of players being immigrants from cricket-oriented countries; this league was established in the 1970s. In 2013 the first cricket club for children, Katy Youth Cricket, was established. The first youth league, Triggers Colts Cricket League, was established in 2014, as was the Sugar Land Youth Cricket Club and the North West Children's Cricket Club. In 2015 Energy Corridor Cricket, also a children's club, was established. [4] In September 2018 a cricket complex in Prairie View was scheduled to open. [5]
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas, there was a renewed interest in roller skating in Houston. [6]
The NRG Astrodome, formerly and also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, was the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas, United States. It sat around 50,000 fans, with a record attendance of 68,266 set by George Strait in 2002.
Minute Maid Park, rebranding to Daikin Park on January 1, 2025, is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 and is the home ballpark of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball. The ballpark has a seating capacity of 41,168, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 luxury suites with a natural grass playing field. It was built as a replacement for the Astrodome, the first domed sports stadium ever built, which opened in 1965.
NRG Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retractable roof.
NRG Park, formerly Reliant Park and Astrodomain, is a complex in Houston, named after the energy company NRG Energy. It is located on Kirby Drive at the South Loop West Freeway (I-610). This complex of buildings encompasses 350 acres (1.4 km2) of land and consists of four venues: NRG Stadium, NRG Center, NRG Arena and the NRG Astrodome.
Stadium Park/Astrodome is an island platformed METRORail light rail station in Houston, Texas, United States. The station was opened on January 1, 2004, originally as Reliant Park station, and is operated by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO). The station is located at the intersection of Fannin Street and Holly Hall Street, next to NRG Park. This station is decorated with various photographs from The Astrodome's history including the Rodeo, the Houston Astros and an Elvis concert.
Houston is a multicultural city with a thriving international community supported by the third largest concentration of consular offices in the United States, representing 86 nations. In addition to historical Southeast Texas culture, Houston became the fourth-most populous city in the United States. Officially, Houston is nicknamed the "Space City" as it is home to NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, where Mission Control Center is located. "Houston" was the first word spoken on the Moon. Many locals refer to Houston as "Bayou City." Other nicknames include "H-Town", "Clutch City", and "Magnolia City".
Walter P. Moore and Associates, Inc. is an international company providing structural engineering, diagnostics, civil engineering, traffic engineering, parking consulting, facade engineering, transportation engineering, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) engineering, and water resources engineering services. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the firm employs more than 850 professionals and operates 24 U.S. and seven international offices.
Clutch City is a nickname given to the city of Houston, Texas after the city's National Basketball Association (NBA) club, the Houston Rockets.
Portland, Oregon, United States, is home to three major league sports teams — the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association, the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer, and the Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League. The city also hosts a wide variety of other sports and sporting events.
The Texas Governor's Cup, or Cowboys–Texans rivalry or Battle of Texas, also formerly known as the Oilers–Texans rivalry or Cowboys–Oilers rivalry, is the trophy awarded to the winner of the football game between the two National Football League (NFL) teams in Texas, currently the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans.
The San Francisco Bay Area, which includes the major cities of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, hosts five major league sports franchises, with a major women's sports franchise soon to start play, as well as several other professional and college sports teams, and hosts other sports events.
Sports in Indianapolis include major league franchises, collegiate athletics, and a variety of other club and individual sporting events that have taken place in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Indianapolis is the home to 11 professional sports teams. The city is also home to three National Collegiate Athletic Association collegiate teams. Two teams from the four major American leagues, the Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Pacers, are located in Indianapolis. The Indiana Fever Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) started play in 2000, and are under the same ownership as the Pacers NBA team.
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.
The Texas Sports Hall of Fame recognizes athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made "lasting fame and honor to Texas sports". It was established in 1951 by the Texas Sports Writers Association. Once it made its first induction in 1951, Texas became the first U.S. state to have a sports hall of fame.
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 San Diego includes major professional league teams, other highest-level professional league teams, minor league teams, and college athletics. San Diego hosts two teams of the major professional leagues, the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB) and San Diego FC of Major League Soccer (MLS). The city is home to several universities whose teams compete in various NCAA Division I sports, most notably the San Diego State Aztecs. The Farmers Insurance Open, a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, is played annually at Torrey Pines Golf Course.
The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas from its founding in 1960 to 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) and won two AFL championships before joining the NFL in the AFL–NFL merger of the late 1960s.
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.
The history of professional soccer in Houston spans half a century, and includes clubs playing in numerous different leagues such as the North American Soccer League, the United Soccer League, Major League Soccer and the National Women's Soccer League.