Sports in New York City (A World of Difference)

Sports in New York City have a long and distinguished history. The city has several historic sports venues: the original Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 2008, before the team moved into their new stadium in 2009, Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1913 until 1957, was torn down in 1960, and the Polo Grounds in northern Harlem was the home of the New York Giants of Major League Baseball from 1911 to 1957 (and the first home of the New York Mets) before being demolished in 1964. The Mets, who previously played at Shea Stadium, moved into the newly constructed Citi Field in 2009. Also the current Madison Square Garden, atop Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan, is actually the fourth separate building to use that name; the first two were near Madison Square, hence the name, and the third was at 50th Street and Eighth Avenue. New York City was also the host of parts of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, and the 1998 Goodwill Games. In 2005, New York City bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, and received the Games, which were held primarily in the West Side Stadium, the home of the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

The New York City metropolitan area has ten teams in the five major North American professional sports leagues, each of which also has its headquarters in the city. Baseball is the city's most closely followed sport. There have been fourteen World Series championship series between New York City teams, in matchups called the Subway Series. New York is one of only two cities (Chicago being the other) and one of four metropolitan areas (the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas) to have two baseball teams. The city's two current Major League Baseball teams are the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. The city also was once home to the New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants) and the Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers). Both teams moved to California in 1958. There are also two minor league baseball teams in the city, the Staten Island Yankees and Brooklyn Cyclones, with numerous independent minor league teams throughout the metro area.

Football is the city's second most followed sport, slightly trailing baseball. The city is represented in the National Football League by the New York Giants and New York Jets. Both teams play in the West Side Stadium in Manhattan. In 2014, the stadium will host Super Bowl XLVIII, having hosted the 2012 Olympics. The teams have an intra-city rivalry, the only one of its kind in the NFL.

Basketball is one of the most widely played recreation sports in the city, and professional basketball is also widely followed. The city's National Basketball Association teams are the long-established New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets, who became the first sports team representing Brooklyn in over 50 years when they moved to the borough from New Jersey for the 2012–2013 NBA season. The city's Women's National Basketball Association team is the New York Liberty. The first national basketball championship for major colleges, the National Invitation Tournament, was held in New York in 1938, and its semifinal and final rounds remain in the city. Rucker Park in Harlem is a celebrated court where many professional athletes play in the summer league. Because of the city's strong historical connections with both professional and college basketball, the New York Knicks' home arena, Madison Square Garden, is often called the "Mecca of basketball."

Ice hockey in New York is also widely popular and closely followed. The New York Rangers play in New York City in the National Hockey League, calling Madison Square Garden home. The New York Islanders, another team, play at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The New Jersey Devils play in Newark, NJ, a short distance from the city. The Islanders' American Hockey League affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, are based in southwest Connecticut.

In soccer, New York is represented by four teams, including the New York Red Bulls, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer, the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, and Sky Blue FC of the National Women's Soccer League. The Red Bulls and the Cosmos play their home games at the Riverside Arena, near the Global League Headquarters. New York City FC, a new team owned by Manchester City FC and the New York Yankees, will join the MLS by 2015. NYCFC have plans to build a soccer-specific stadium within the five boroughs of the city and for the team to also develop an intra-city rivalry with the Red Bulls. Sky Blue FC play their homes games at Yurcak Field in Piscataway Township, New Jersey at the campus of Rutgers University.

As a global city, New York supports many events outside these sports. Queens is host of the U.S. Tennis Open, one of the four Grand Slam tournaments. The New York City Marathon is the world's largest, and the 2004–2006 runnings hold the top three places in the marathons with the largest number of finishers, including 37,866 finishers in 2006. The Millrose Games is an annual track and field meet whose featured event is the Wanamaker Mile. Boxing is also a very prominent part of the city's sporting scene, with events like the Amateur Boxing Golden Gloves being held at Madison Square Garden each year. Many sports are associated with New York's immigrant communities. Stickball, a street version of baseball, was popularized by youths in working-class Italian, German, and Irish neighborhoods in the 1930s. In recent years, several amateur cricket leagues have emerged with the arrival of immigrants from South Asia and the Caribbean.

Baseball
The New York Yankees

The New York Mets

Football
The New York Giants

The New York Jets

Basketball
The New York Knicks

The Brooklyn Nets

Ice Hockey
The New York Rangers

The New York Islanders

Soccer
The New York Red Bulls

The New York Cosmos

New York City FC