Sports in Los Angeles
Competitive physical activities in the Los Angeles metropolitan area / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Greater Los Angeles area is home to many professional and collegiate sports teams and has hosted many national and international sporting events. The metropolitan area has twelve major league professional teams: the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Rams, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Angels, LA Galaxy, Los Angeles FC, the Los Angeles Kings, the Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Sparks, the Anaheim Ducks, the Los Angeles Knight Riders of the MLC Major League Cricket, their Minor League Cricket affiliate SoCal Lashings, and Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League. The Los Angeles metropolitan area is home to nine universities whose teams compete in various NCAA Division I level sports, most notably the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans. Between them, these Los Angeles area sports teams have won a combined 105 championship titles. Los Angeles area colleges have produced upwards of 200 national championship teams.[1][2]
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Los Angeles is home to a variety of sporting venues including the two National Historic Landmarks, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Bowl, the multi-purpose arena, Crypto.com Arena, and the roof-covered SoFi Stadium. Los Angeles hosted the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics. In 2028, the city will host the Olympics for a third time. Los Angeles also hosted games of the 1994 FIFA World Cup including the final match,[3] and is scheduled to host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. LA recently hosted both the MLB All-Star Game and the MLS All-Star Game in 2021 and 2022 respectively.[4] Los Angeles also hosted the College Football Playoff National Championship in 2023 and Super Bowl LVI in 2022, the eighth such event in Los Angeles. The United States Golf Association brought the U.S. Open back to Los Angeles in 2023, with the Los Angeles Country Club as host.[5] The geography and weather of Los Angeles also make Los Angeles a hub for surfing and beach volleyball. When the Rams won Super Bowl LVI, the city of Los Angeles became the second city in the 21st century (the first was Boston) to have at least one championship in the four major pro sports and the second to ever have championships in four major professional leagues within a ten-year span, accomplishing this feat in a span of seven years, and eight months (from the Kings' championship win on June 13, 2014 to the Rams' Championship win on February 13, 2022).[6]
Greater Los Angeles is home to 14 major sports teams, ten professional major league teams and four from the top level collegiate ranks—MLB, MLS, the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, and the Pac-12 Conference (with both Pac-12 members moving to the Big Ten Conference in 2024). The city also boasts teams in both of the most prominent women's professional leagues, the WNBA and NWSL, as well as the aforementioned NCAA Division I teams.
Club | Sport | League | Venue | Attendance | Founded | Established in L.A. |
Titles in L.A. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles Angels | Baseball | American League | Angel Stadium | 45,050 | 1961 | 1961 | 1 |
Los Angeles Dodgers | National League | Dodger Stadium | 56,000 | 1883 | 1958 | 6 [lower-roman 1] | |
Anaheim Ducks | Ice Hockey | National Hockey League | Honda Center | 17,174 | 1993 | 1993 | 1 |
Los Angeles Kings | Crypto.com Arena[lower-roman 2] | 18,340 | 1967 | 1967 | 2 | ||
Los Angeles Clippers | Basketball | National Basketball Association | 19,226 | 1970 | 1984 | 0 | |
Los Angeles Lakers | 18,997 | 1947 | 1960 | 12 [lower-roman 3] | |||
Los Angeles Sparks | Women's National Basketball Association | 10,998 | 1997 | 1997 | 3 | ||
Angel City FC | Soccer | National Women's Soccer League | BMO Stadium | 22,000 | 2020 | 2022 | 0 |
Los Angeles FC | Major League Soccer | 22,000 | 2018 | 2018 | 1 | ||
LA Galaxy | Dignity Health Sports Park | 27,000 | 1996 | 1996 | 5 | ||
Los Angeles Chargers | American Football | National Football League | SoFi Stadium | 70,240 | 1960 | 1960, 2017 | 0 [lower-roman 4] |
Los Angeles Rams | 1936 | 1946, 2016 | 2 [lower-roman 5] |
- Does not include 1955 World Series won in Brooklyn.
- The Los Angeles Clippers are planning to move to the Intuit Dome in 2024.
- Does not include 1963 AFL Championship Game won in San Diego.
- Does not include 1945 NFL Championship Game won in Cleveland or Super Bowl XXXIV won in St. Louis.
Former teams
Baseball
The Los Angeles area is one of four metropolitan areas to host two Major League Baseball teams—the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League and the Los Angeles Angels in the American League.
The Dodgers were founded in Brooklyn, New York in 1883; they officially adopted the name Dodgers in 1932. The team moved to Los Angeles before the 1958 season and played four consecutive seasons at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before they moved to their current home stadium, Dodger Stadium, in 1962. The Dodgers are one of the most valuable franchises in MLB. They have won seven World Series championships and 24 National League pennants.[7] Eleven NL MVP award winners have played for the Dodgers, winning a total of thirteen MVP Awards; eight Cy Young Award winners have also pitched for the Dodgers, winning a total of twelve Cy Young Awards. The team has even had eighteen Rookie of the Year Award winners, twice as many as the next closest team, including four consecutive from 1979 to 1982 and five consecutive from 1992 to 1996.[8] Los Angeles and the Dodgers hosted the MLB All-Star Game in the summer of 2022.[4]
The Los Angeles Angels were established as one of the league's first two expansion teams in 1961 by Gene Autry. The Los Angeles Angels played their home games at Los Angeles Wrigley Field and moved in 1962 to newly built Dodger Stadium, which the Angels referred to as Chavez Ravine, where they were tenants of the Dodgers through 1965. In 1966, they moved to current home, Angel Stadium in Anaheim. In 2002, the Angels won their first and only American League pennant and World Series when they defeated the San Francisco Giants 4–3.[7] The Angels have had many award winners including six AL MVP award winners by four players, two Cy Young Award winners and three Rookie of the Year Award winners.[9]
Basketball
Los Angeles boasts two National Basketball Association (NBA) teams, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers. Both share the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center). The Lakers are one of the most valuable franchises in the NBA and have gained a considerable fanbase over the years. They have the most championships of all current Los Angeles franchises, having gained 12 titles in LA and 17 overall, the joint most in the NBA along with the Boston Celtics. The Lakers were founded as the Minneapolis Lakers, having moved to Southern California in 1960.[10]
The LA Clippers were founded as the Buffalo Braves in 1970; in 1978, the team moved to San Diego and changed the nickname to Clippers; the team re-located from San Diego in 1984. They were one of three expansion teams to join the NBA that year, along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. The Braves saw some success and reached the playoffs three times, led by league Most Valuable Player (MVP) Bob McAdoo. Conflicts with the Canisius Golden Griffins over the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and the sale of the franchise led to them relocating from Buffalo to San Diego.
When he died in 2013, Lakers owner Jerry Buss also owned the city's WNBA franchise, the Los Angeles Sparks, which also plays at Crypto.com Arena. His family still owns the Lakers, but has since sold the Sparks to Guggenheim Partners, the current owners of the Dodgers. One year later, longtime Clippers owner Donald Sterling was banned from the NBA after derogatory statements he made became public, and was subsequently forced to sell the team. The franchise was purchased by former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer in August 2014. The Clippers plan to build a new arena, the Intuit Dome, in Inglewood, across from SoFi Stadium, by 2024 when their lease with Crypto.com Arena expires.[11][12]
Football
The region has two National Football League (NFL) teams: the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers. The Rams originally played in LA from 1946 to 1994, while the Chargers shared LA with them for only one season in 1960 before moving to San Diego.
Los Angeles did not have an NFL team in between the 1994 season and the 2016 season. Immediately after the 1994 season, the Los Angeles Rams moved from suburban Anaheim, California, to St. Louis, Missouri, and the Los Angeles Raiders returned to Oakland, California, after playing 13 years in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum (1982–1994) and winning Super Bowl XVIII. Between 1995 and 2016, there were multiple failed stadium proposals to bring back the NFL to Los Angeles and teams threatening to move in. On January 12, 2016, NFL owners voted 30–2 to allow the then St. Louis Rams to move back to Los Angeles and allow for the construction of the stadium proposed by Rams owner Stan Kroenke over a plan proposed by the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers would still follow through with a move to Los Angeles a year later in 2017.[13][14] The Rams and Chargers play their home games at the 70,240-seat SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. 2017 marked the first time since 1960 that the Rams and Chargers shared the same market and the first time since 1994 that the market had two NFL teams. The Los Angeles Rams won Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in 2022 making them only the second NFL team to win the Super Bowl on home turf after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.
Prior to the NFL, Los Angeles had multiple teams in the American Football League. The Los Angeles Wildcats, also called "Wilson Wildcats", were a traveling team for the first AFL in 1926. The Los Angeles Bulldogs were members of AFL II (1937) and a minor AFL (1939) before joining the Pacific Coast Professional Football League. The original Los Angeles Chargers were a charter member of AFL IV, becoming the San Diego Chargers in 1961. The Los Angeles Mustangs were members of the short-lived American Football League in 1944. From 1983 to 1985, the Los Angeles Express was a team in the United States Football League.
Ice hockey
The region has two NHL teams — the Los Angeles Kings, which entered the league when it doubled in size in 1967, and the Anaheim Ducks, which joined in 1993 as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
The Kings were founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent Cooke was awarded an NHL expansion franchise for Los Angeles on February 9, 1966, becoming one of the six teams that began play as part of the 1967 NHL expansion. Prior to the Kings arrival in the Los Angeles area, both the Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL) and the Western Hockey League (WHL) had several teams in California, including the PCHL's Los Angeles Monarchs of the 1930s and the WHL's Los Angeles Blades of the 1960s.[15] The Kings have won two Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014.
The Ducks were founded in 1993 by The Walt Disney Company with an entrance fee of $50 million, half of which Disney paid to the Los Angeles Kings as compensation for sharing the Southern California NHL market.[16] On March 1, 1993, at the brand-new Anaheim Arena – located a short distance east of Disneyland and across the Orange Freeway from Angel Stadium – the team received its name, inspired by the 1992 Disney movie The Mighty Ducks.[17] As a result of the name adoption, the arena was named "The Pond",[17] and Disney subsequently made an animated series called Mighty Ducks, featuring a fictional Mighty Ducks of Anaheim team consisting of anthropomorphized ducks led by the Mighty Ducks' mascot, Wildwing.[18] The Ducks have won the Stanley Cup once in 2007.
Soccer
The Los Angeles area hosts two teams in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top flight of the men's sport in the United States: the LA Galaxy, a charter member of the league, and Los Angeles FC, which began play in 2018. The Galaxy have won five MLS Cups, more than any other MLS team. The two teams play in "El Tráfico", the cross-town derby. Chivas USA was a member of Major League Soccer starting in 2005, but was shut down by the league in 2014.
Before MLS was created, the Los Angeles Wolves of the United Soccer Association (USA) and the Los Angeles Toros of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) both had its first season in 1967. The Wolves won the USA Final in 1967, defeating the Washington Whips 6–5 at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.[19] When both leagues merged to form the North American Soccer League (NASL), the Wolves remained in Los Angeles while the Toros relocated and became the San Diego Toros in 1968. When the first season ended, both teams folded. Later, the NASL returned a team to Los Angeles by establishing the Los Angeles Aztecs in 1974, but folded in 1981. In their first season as an expansion franchise, the Aztecs captured the 1974 NASL championship, defeating the Miami Toros in a penalty shoot-out after a 3–3 draw. Notable players for the Aztecs include Manchester United's George Best and Dutch superstar Johan Cruyff. Anaheim was represented in the NASL by the California Surf from 1978 to 1981.
The Los Angeles Lazers was owned by Jerry Buss and played in the MISL from 1982 to 1988. Buss again owned the Los Angeles United in the CISL but after one season (1993) sold the team. The United relocated to Anaheim and became Anaheim Splash playing from 1993 - 1997 then folding as well.
The area has one past and one current team in U.S. women's professional soccer. The Los Angeles Sol played one season (2009) of Women's Professional Soccer before folding. The area then went more than a decade without a top-flight team, either in WPS or in the current National Women's Soccer League, until an NWSL franchise was granted in 2020; the new side, since unveiled as Angel City FC, started play in March 2022.[20][21]
Los Angeles Rams (NFL)1 NFL championship (pre–Super Bowl) 1 Super Bowl title Los Angeles Raiders (NFL)1 Super Bowl title Los Angeles Wolves (NASL)1 NASL Final title Los Angeles Aztecs (NASL)1 NASL Final title Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS)5 MLS Cup titles Los Angeles FC (MLS)1 MLS Cup title Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB)6 World Series titles |
Anaheim / Los Angeles Angels (MLB)1 World Series titles Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)12 NBA Finals titles Los Angeles Kings (NHL)2 Stanley Cup titles Anaheim Ducks (NHL)1 Stanley Cup title Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA)3 WNBA Finals titles
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Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
The sport of Mixed Martial Arts (in the U.S.) was first conceived of and created in the Los Angeles area. Rorion Gracie and Art Davie co-created the MMA promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (the UFC), in 1993 out of Torrance, CA, under the War of the Worlds (W.O.W.) promotion company. The sport of Mixed Martial Arts slowly developed in its first decade. By the year 2005, the UFC had grown into a viable fight promotion company and the sport of MMA was on its way to becoming a mainstream sport in the U.S. and around the world.
In its relatively brief history, the sport of MMA has been well represented by fighters natives of Los Angeles and of California. From Frank Shamrock (Los Angeles) and Tito Oritz (Huntington Beach) in the early era of the sport, to Gilbert Melendez (Santa Ana) and Dan Henderson (Downey) throughout the mid-era of the sport, to Ronda Rousey (Riverside), Henry Cejudo (Los Angeles), Tony Ferguson (Oxnard) as of late.
Surfing
The warm mediterranean climate as well as the miles of a scenic coastline with a variety of wave types from Malibu to the South Bay, Los Angeles is one of the favorite destinations to both amateurs and professional surfers across the world. Every summer of each year, Huntington Beach hosts the US Open of Surfing, the largest surfing competition in the world.[22] Many other surfing events including the International Surf Festival, Surfing Dog Contests, and Ventura's Surf Rodeo are held annually in several Los Angeles County beach cities.
Beach Volleyball
Santa Monica is believed to be the birthplace of beach volleyball in the early 1920s.[23] The weather, the vast sand area and the abundant permanent courts make Los Angeles one of the hotspots for beach volleyball. The first official Beach Volleyball World Championships was held in Los Angeles in from 10 to 13, 1997.[24] Beach Volleyball has been an official Olympic sport since 1996, and during the 2028 Olympics, beach volleyball will be played as an Olympic sport for the first time in the city of Los Angeles.[25] Additionally, many other local beach volleyball tournaments for players of all skill levels are held by multiple entities in various beaches across the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2017, CBVA, California Beach Volleyball Association, hosted nearly 1,000 tournaments at 23 beaches in 11 skill or age divisions. There are approximately 8,000 members from California and beyond.[26]
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American football
The Los Angeles Wildcats were an XFL team that began play in the league's inaugural 2020 season at Dignity Health Sports Park. The Los Angeles Xtreme were a member of the original XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States. The team played its home games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the spring of 2001 and won the only championship in XFL history as the league folded after only one season.
Before the Arena Football League collapsed after the 2008 season, the league included the Los Angeles Cobras, the Anaheim Piranhas, and the Los Angeles Avengers. The Cobras played one season at the Los Angeles Sports Arena before folding, mostly due to lack of attendance. The Piranhas played at the then named Arrowhead Pond for two seasons, 1996 and 1997, before folding. The Avengers played their home games at the Staples Center until they folded as well. The AFL was revived in 2010 and returned to the Los Angeles area in 2014 with a new team, the Los Angeles Kiss. The team, owned by a group that included Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, members of the rock band KISS, played in Anaheim at the Honda Center until folding in 2016.[27]
Australian rules football
In Australian rules football, the Los Angeles Dragons[28] and the Orange County Giants[29] of the United States Australian Football League both play in the Greater Los Angeles region.
Baseball
The collegiate level East Los Angeles Dodgers and their rival the Orange County Angels in the Southern California Collegiate Baseball League. LA is home to the Inland Empire 66ers, Lake Elsinore Storm, and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes minor league baseball teams. They all play in the Single A California League and are affiliates of the Angels, Padres, and Dodgers respectively.
Basketball
The metropolitan area has two teams in the NBA G League; each is owned by one of the area's two NBA teams. The Ontario Clippers play in Ontario, and the South Bay Lakers play in El Segundo.
Previously, the Anaheim Arsenal played in the region for three season from 2006 to 2009 before relocating to Springfield, Massachusetts.
Gaelic football
The amateur sport of Gaelic football has been played in Los Angeles since the early 20th century. Los Angeles were national champions in 1959.[30]
The Cougars GFC[31] were founded in 2015 and play and train on the westside of Los Angeles. Primarily in Culver City/Santa Monica area. The Cougars season consists of attending tournaments in nearby San Diego, Colorado and the annual USGAA Nationals Championship. As of 2018, the Cougars membership consisted of approximately 50 members (male and female) with the club being 55% American, 45% Irish, some being complete beginners.
The Cougars also play in a 3-game series against their local rivals, The Wild Geese Gaelic Football Club, Inc. founded in 1978[32][full citation needed] who administers Gaelic football activities in nearby Orange County.
Ice hockey
The Ontario Reign was an ECHL team from 2008 to 2015. After a team swap with Manchester, New Hampshire, the new Ontario Reign began play in the American Hockey League in 2015. In 1995 IHL Los Angeles Ice Dogs played one season 1995-1996 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Due to lack of attendance, moved to the Long Beach Arena for the 1996-1997 season and became the Long Beach Ice Dogs through 2007. The team played in three different 2nd-division professional hockey leagues during their time in Los Angeles/Long Beach; IHL 1995-2000, WCHL 2000-2003, & the ECHL 2003-2007.
Lacrosse
Major League Lacrosse was represented with the Los Angeles Riptide from 2006 to 2008. The Anaheim Storm was a member of the indoor National Lacrosse League. They played at the Arrowhead Pond, now the Honda Center from 2004 to 2005. After the 2005 season, the Storm suspended operations due to low attendance
Rugby league
Los Angeles's rugby league team the Los Angeles Raiders RLFC are a developing team in the USA Rugby League, formed in 2011. They were aimed to compete as a full team in 2012.[33]
Rugby union
The Los Angeles area has had several amateur clubs. It is home to the Santa Monica Rugby Club, which competes in the Pacific Rugby Premiership and is a member of USA Rugby. The Los Angeles Rugby Club is the second oldest club in the Southern California Rugby Football Union.[34] The Club was founded in 1958 as the Universities Rugby Club. Founding members included Al Williams and Dick Hyland, members of the Gold Medal winning 1924 USA Olympic Rugby Team. Other rugby clubs include the LA Rebellion and the San Fernando Valley Rugby Club.
In 2021, the area added its first professional club in the LA Giltinis, an expansion team in Major League Rugby.
Soccer
The Los Angeles area also has multiple clubs in the USL Championship, USL League Two, the National Independent Soccer Association, the United Premier Soccer League and the National Premier Soccer League scattered throughout the region: Orange County SC, Santa Ana Winds FC, LA Wolves FC, Moreno Valley FC, FC Golden State Force, Southern California Seahorses, Ventura County Fusion, City of Angels FC, Deportivo Coras USA, Orange County FC, Oxnard Guerreros FC, SoCal SC, and Temecula FC, to name some. The area will eventually have two teams in MLS Next Pro, a third-level league owned and operated by MLS that consists almost entirely of reserve sides of MLS teams. LA Galaxy II, currently playing in the USL Championship, will move to Next Pro in 2023, and will be joined that season by a new, as-yet-unnamed reserve side for Los Angeles FC.
In addition, the Santa Clarita Blue Heat play in United Women's Soccer.
Ultimate
The Los Angeles Aviators are a member of the twenty-four team American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL), a professional ultimate frisbee league spanning the United States and Canada. The Aviators are one of six teams currently competing in the Western Division, and play a fourteen-game regular season against the five other teams in the division: San Francisco FlameThrowers, San Diego Growlers, Seattle Cascades, and San Jose Spiders.
Los Angeles Astra, a women's professional ultimate frisbee team, was set to debut in 2020 as part of the Western Ultimate League. Their inaugural season in 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19.
Former minor professional teams
Club | League | Last Venue | Years in L.A. | Championships |
---|---|---|---|---|
Anaheim Arsenal | NBA D-League | Anaheim Convention Center | 2006–2009 | 0 |
Anaheim Bullfrogs | Roller Hockey International | Arrowhead Pond | 1993–1999 | 3 (1993, 1997, 1998) |
Anaheim Piranhas | Arena Football League | Arrowhead Pond | 1996-1997 | 0 |
Los Angeles Cobras | Arena Football League | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena | 1988 | 0 |
Los Angeles Avengers | Arena Football League | Staples Center | 2000–2009 | 0 |
Los Angeles Kiss | Arena Football League | Honda Center | 2014–2016 | 0 |
Los Angeles Xtreme | XFL | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 2001 | 1 (2001) |
The metropolitan area boasts 10 NCAA Division I athletic programs. The best-known are the two whose football teams compete in the top-level Football Bowl Subdivision, both of which are in the city of Los Angeles proper:
- UCLA Bruins — Winners of 116 national team championships, and 259 individual national championships (364 total national championships).[35]
- USC Trojans — Winners of 105 national team championships, and 357 individual national championships (448 total national championships).[35]
USC has 11 national championships in football and 7 Heisman Trophy winners. In men's basketball, UCLA has won more titles than any other school (11).[35] USC has also famously produced more Olympians, overall medalists, and gold medalists than any other American university. If USC were a country entering the 2016 Olympics, its record of 288 all-time medals would place it at rank 16 among all participating countries.[36]
The area's other Division I programs are:
- Also in Los Angeles proper:
- In Malibu:
- In Long Beach:
- Long Beach State Beach, or "The Beach"
- In Orange County:
- In Riverside, one of the main cities of the Inland Empire: