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There have been a wide variety of sports in Vancouver since the city was founded. Team sports such as ice hockey, lacrosse, and Canadian football have extensive history in the area, while the city's relatively mild climate and geographical location facilitate a wide variety of other sports and recreational activities.
| Team | Sport | League | Venue (capacity) | Established | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC Lions | Canadian Football | CFL | BC Place (54,405) | 1954 | 6 |
| Vancouver Canucks | Ice Hockey | NHL | Rogers Arena (18,910) | 1970 | 0 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Soccer | MLS | BC Place (22,120) | 2011 | 0 |
| Vancouver Warriors | Box Lacrosse | NLL | Rogers Arena (18,910) | 2018 | 0 |
| Vancouver Bandits | Basketball | CEBL | Langley Events Centre (5,276) | 2018 | 0 |
| Vancouver FC | Soccer | CanPL | Willoughby Community Park (5,000) | 2023 | 0 |
A number of amateur and professional sports teams are based in Vancouver.
The Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League, founded in 2001, play their home games in Langley. The Giants hosted and won the 2007 Memorial Cup. The Vancouver area also has a number of hockey teams in the Tier II British Columbia Hockey League.
There are a number of amateur lacrosse teams in Greater Vancouver, competing under the auspices of the British Columbia Lacrosse Association. The New Westminster Salmonbellies have won the Mann Cup, Canada's senior lacrosse championship, a record 24 times. There are also several amateur teams in sports such as soccer, baseball, softball, Canadian football, field hockey, rugby, Gaelic football, Water Polo, disc ultimate and roller derby. [1] [2]
Prominent annual amateur sports events in Vancouver include the BC High School Basketball Championship at the PNE Agrodome, the High School Football Championship at BC Place, and the Canada Cup softball tournament in South Surrey. Also notable is the college rivalry between the UBC Thunderbirds and Simon Fraser Clan, who meet annually in the Shrum Bowl (football) and Buchanan Cup (basketball). These are very popular sport events in Vancouver.
Vancouver is home to a number of professional sports teams, including a number of teams in major professional sports leagues of North America, including the Canadian Football League, Major League Soccer, and the National Hockey League.
The British Columbia (BC) Lions have played in the Canadian Football League since 1954, and have won the Grey Cup six times, in 1964, 1985, 1994, 2000, 2006 and in 2011. Vancouver has hosted the Grey Cup championship fourteen times, most recently in 2011. The Lions play their home games at BC Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver, having previously played at Empire Stadium in East Vancouver until the end of the 1982 season.
The Vancouver Canadians play in the High-A West of the Minor League Baseball (MiBL). The Canadians play their home games at Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. Minor league baseball has a long history in Vancouver, including the Vancouver Beavers, the Vancouver Capilanos, an earlier incarnation of the Canadians and the Vancouver Mounties; both the latter two played in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. Vancouver continues to have a huge interest in acquiring a full-time Major League Baseball team and having them play their home games at BC Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver.
The Vancouver Canucks have played in the National Hockey League since 1970, and have reached the Stanley Cup finals three times, in 1982, 1994 (the Canucks' 1994 run was unfortunately marred by the 1994 Stanley Cup riot) and 2011 (which again incited the 2011 Stanley Cup riot after the Canucks' loss to Boston). The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, having previously played at the Pacific Coliseum until 1995. Previous incarnations of the Canucks played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League and Western Hockey League and won multiple championships. The Vancouver Blazers, a World Hockey Association team, attempted to compete with the Canucks between 1973 and 1975, but moved to Calgary thereafter. An early professional hockey team known as the Vancouver Millionaires won the Stanley Cup in 1915.
The Vancouver Titans have played in the Overwatch League since 2019 and was one of the first expansion teams in the league.
The Vancouver Warriors are a box lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League. The team moved from Everett, Washington for the 2014 NLL season. Between 2014 and 2017, the team (then known as the Vancouver Stealth) were based in the Vancouver suburb of Langley, British Columbia, with home games played at the Langley Events Centre (LEC). In 2018, the team was purchased by Canucks Sports & Entertainment, who relocated the team to Rogers Place in Vancouver, and announced that they would be rebranding the team as the Vancouver Warriors for the 2018-19 season. [3]
In the 2011 season, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC joined Major League Soccer. The squad plays their home games in a renovated BC Place Stadium.
The Vancouver Knights were one of the inaugural teams in the Global T20 Canada Twenty20 cricket tournament. The team does not have a designated home venue, playing all their matches at Brampton, Ontario. They were the inaugural champions, having won in 2018.
The expansion Vancouver Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association were one of the anchor tenants of GM Place upon its completion in 1995, but moved to Memphis, Tennessee after just six years of operations in Vancouver. Professional basketball has been rumoured to return to Vancouver, most recently in the form of the Vancouver Dragons of the Continental Basketball Association, but has yet to establish itself. Vancouver continues to have a huge interest in acquiring a full-time National Basketball Association team and having them play their home games at Rogers Arena. Vancouver has also had professional lacrosse (Vancouver Ravens, National Lacrosse League, 2001-2004) and roller hockey (Vancouver Voodoo, Roller Hockey International, 1993-1996) teams. The Vancouver Blazers of the World Hockey Association played in the Pacific Coliseum for two seasons (1973/74 and 1974/75).
The Vancouver Royal Canadians were an association football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that played in the United Soccer Association. The league was made up of teams imported almost entirely from Scotland and England. The Vancouver club was actually Sunderland A.F.C. of English Football League.
Following the 1967 season, the USA merged with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League with the teams from the former USA having to create their rosters from scratch. The San Francisco Golden Gate Gales franchise folded and their owners bought a controlling interest in the Royal Canadians renaming them the Vancouver Royals. Their home field was Empire Stadium.
The Vancouver Nighthalks were a semi-professional ultimate team that competed in the Major League Ultimate association. They played home games at the Thunderbird Stadium at University of British Columbia until 2016 where they had suspended play after the MLU was suspended. The Vancouver Riptide played in the American Ultimate Disc League from 2013 to 2017 playing home games at the Burnaby Swangard Stadium. They folded after the 2017 AUDL Season due to a lack of attendance and sponsorship and are moving down to Portland for the 2020 season.
The Vancouver area has also hosted multiple BC Games amateur sports events. The Slam City Jam skateboarding championship was held in Vancouver from 1994 to 2005, and was set to return in 2008. Upcoming events include the 2008 World Ultimate and Guts Championship and the 2009 World Police and Fire Games.
Annual events include the Vancouver Marathon (42K/21K), the Vancouver Sun Run (a 10 km race), Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon and the Cloverdale Rodeo. The British Columbia Derby is a nine furlong horse race held at the Hastings Racecourse in the third week of September. [4] Former annual events include the Molson Indy Vancouver, a Champ Car race held from 1990 to 2004; and the Greater Vancouver Institutional, a golf tournament held from 1996 to 2010. The Canadian Open, a golf tournament which alternates venues annually, was last held in Vancouver in 2011.
The 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics took place in Vancouver, and was organized by what was called VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games). The 2010 Winter Olympics was the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. In the 2010 Winter Olympics, the mascots were Miga, a mythical sea bear, part orca and part kermode bear, Quatchi, a sasquatch, and Sumi, an animal guardian spirit with the wings of the Thunderbird and legs of a black bear. Miga and Quatchi were the mascots for the Olympics while Sumi was the mascot for the Paralympics.
Vancouver will host multiple matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. [5]
Other past sports events hosted in Vancouver include:
Major sports facilities in Vancouver are Rogers Arena (a.k.a. GM Place, Canada Hockey Place), BC Place, the Pacific Coliseum, the PNE Agrodome and Nat Bailey Stadium. BC Place is also home to the BC Sports Hall of Fame, founded in 1966. There are many other facilities throughout the city and surrounding area, including 8 Rinks in Burnaby, the Canucks' main practice venue.
The relatively mild climate of Vancouver, its extensive parkland, and close proximity to ocean, mountains, rivers and lakes provides it with a number of areas for outdoor sporting activities, both competitive and recreational. The area is a popular destination for outdoor sports and recreation, including on and off-road cycling, skateboarding, hiking, alpine and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, disc sports, golf, and water sports. The nearby North Shore Mountains are home to three ski hills, Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain, and Mount Seymour; each are within 20 to 30 minutes (driving time) of downtown Vancouver.
Vancouver's major daily newspapers, the Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province, provide extensive coverage of local sports. CKNW was historically the main radio broadcaster of Vancouver's sports teams, but CKST, an all-sports station founded in 2001, broadcasts the Canucks, Lions, Whitecaps and Canadians as of 2007 [update] . On television, most events are carried by Sportsnet Pacific, TSN, CBC, or Shaw TV.
The Vancouver area has produced a number of notable athletes, including Cam Neely (born in Comox, raised in Lower Mainland), Joe Sakic, Cliff Ronning, Milan Lucic, Mathew Barzal, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Morgan Rielly, Carey Price, Martin Jones, Brent Seabrook, Ryan Johansen and Paul Kariya (hockey); Larry Walker, Justin Morneau, Jeff Francis, and Adam Loewen (baseball); Bob Lenarduzzi, Domenic Mobilio, Emilio Reuben, Brian Budd (born in Toronto, raised in Vancouver) and Christine Sinclair (soccer); Lui Passaglia, Paris Jackson and Adam Braidwood (football); Harry Jerome, Charmaine Crooks, Percy Williams (Track & Field).
The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thunderbirds are the most successful athletic program both regionally in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, and nationally in U Sports, winning 112 national titles. UBC has won an additional 20 national titles competing in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics against collegiate competition from the United States and 38 national titles in sports that compete in independent competitions.
The Guelph Gryphons are the athletic teams that represent the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of the U Sports (OUA's), and, where applicable, in the west division. The university teams are often referred to as the Gryphs, which is short for the school's mascot, Gryph, the gryphon.
Rogers Arena is a multi-purpose arena located at 800 Griffiths Way in the downtown area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Opened in 1995, the arena was known as General Motors Place from its opening until July 6, 2010, when General Motors Canada ended its naming rights sponsorship and a new agreement for those rights was reached with Rogers Communications. Rogers Arena was built to replace Pacific Coliseum as Vancouver's primary indoor sports facility and in part due to the National Basketball Association (NBA) 1995 expansion into Canada, when Vancouver and Toronto were given expansion teams.
BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at the north side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a crown corporation of the province.
Sports in Canada consist of a wide variety of games. The roots of organized sports in Canada date back to the 1770s, culminating in the development and popularization of the major professional games of ice hockey, lacrosse, basketball, baseball, soccer, football and cricket. Canada's official national sports are ice hockey and lacrosse. Golf, baseball, tennis, skiing, ringette, badminton, cricket, volleyball, cycling, swimming, bowling, rugby union, canoeing, equestrian, squash, and the study of martial arts are widely enjoyed at the youth and amateur levels. Great achievements in Canadian sports are recognized by Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, while the Lou Marsh Trophy is awarded annually to Canada's top athlete by a panel of journalists. There are numerous other Sports Halls of Fame in Canada.
Swangard Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Central Park in Burnaby, British Columbia. Primarily used for soccer, rugby, football, and athletics, the stadium also used to be home to the Simon Fraser Clan football team and the Vancouver Whitecaps while they were in the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and various US-based Division 2 leagues. It opened on April 26, 1969, and has a capacity of 5,288.
Canucks Sports & Entertainment, previously known as Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment, is a Canadian sports and entertainment company in Vancouver, British Columbia that owns and operates the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League, the Vancouver Warriors of the National Lacrosse League, and their home arena, Rogers Arena.
Jim Robson OBC is a former radio and television broadcaster who was the play-by-play announcer of the Vancouver Canucks' games from 1970 to 1999.
Royal Athletic Park is a stadium in Victoria, British Columbia and is used for baseball, soccer, softball and football, but also hosts special events, such as the annual Great Canadian Beer Festival and previously the Rifflandia Music Festival. It is home to The Victoria HarbourCats Baseball Club of the West Coast League. It is located 1km from the city center.
Sports Page was a Canadian sports highlights television program that aired on CKVU-TV Vancouver from September 5, 1977 until August 31, 2001, and later on CHEK-TV Victoria, British Columbia, from September 2, 2001 until September 2, 2005. It was known for its personality-driven, irreverent approach, and for helping to launch the careers of several broadcasters, many of whom later worked for sports television outlets such as Rogers Sportsnet, TSN, and Vancouver radio station The Team 1040.
There are a variety of sports in Edmonton played professionally, as amateurs, or recreationally.
Gogie Stewart was a multi-sport athlete from British Columbia, notably a former Canadian soccer player and lacrosse player. He was a three-time national soccer champion with Canadian clubs Vancouver City FC (1950) and Westminster Royals FC as well as a two-time national lacrosse champion with Vancouver Burrards (1949) and Nanaimo Timbermen (1956). He was one of Canada's starting inside forwards during FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1957. After his retirement, he became an honoured member of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame.
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.
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.
Sports in Saskatchewan consist of a wide variety of team and individual games, and include summer, winter, indoor, and outdoor games. Saskatchewan's cold winter climate has ensured the popularity of sports including its official sport, curling, as well as ice hockey, ice skating, and cross-country skiing. The province also has warm summers and popular summer sports include baseball, football, soccer, basketball, track and field, rodeo, horse-racing, and golf.
This is a timeline of the history of Vancouver.
The Langley Events Centre is a 322,312-square-foot (29,943.8 m2) multipurpose facility in the Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada. The LEC debuted in April 2009, hosting the 2009 BC Gymnastics Championships. It boasts an arena bowl with a 5,276 capacity for sports, including 24 individual suites. The LEC also showcases a triple Gymnasium with a capacity of 2,200 spectators under its centre court configuration. The venue's second building houses the Field House, a dry floor arena, as well as a double gymnasium with a capacity of 1,000 spectators. Other highlights of the facility include a Banquet Hall with an 800-person capacity, an indoor walking track, meeting rooms, and the Willoughby Community Centre, while includes a fitness facility, outdoor playground and various grass and turf fields. The LEC is home to the Langley Gymnastics Foundation, a non-profit organization offering gymnastics programming for recreational and competitive athletes.
There are professional teams based in Canada in several professional sports leagues. The National Hockey League currently has seven Canadian franchises and is the most popular professional sports league in Canada. The Canadian Football League is the only all-Canadian major professional sports league. Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and Major League Soccer also have Canadian teams.
Sports in San Diego include two men's major professional sports teams, several teams from other highest-level professional leagues, minor league teams, semi-pro and club teams, and college athletics. The most popular team in San Diego is the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Also popular locally are the college teams of the San Diego State Aztecs, which play in NCAA Division I (FBS).
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Media related to Sports in Vancouver at Wikimedia Commons
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