Sports in Boston
Boston, Massachusetts, is home to several major professional sports franchises. They include the Red Sox (baseball), the Celtics (basketball, in the state where the sport was invented), and the Bruins (ice hockey). The New England Patriots (American football) and the New England Revolution (soccer, or association football) play at Gillette Stadium in nearby Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Several Boston-area colleges and universities are also active in
Sports are a major part of the city's culture (as well as the culture of the Greater Boston area). Boston sports fans are known for their fanatical devotion to the Red Sox and knowledge of the team's history. However, in recent memory Boston is now known as an American football town, as the Patriots have long seized the title as the most popular team in New England, according to surveys.[1][2] Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox, is the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball (MLB) and holds a legendary status among baseball fans.[3][4][5] Within the same era, what is now the world's oldest existing indoor multi-sports facility[6] – today's Matthews Arena, primarily used by Northeastern University's college sports teams – first opened in 1910, only 1⁄4-mile (400m) away from the original home field of the Red Sox – and is where on December 1, 1924, the Boston Bruins played their first NHL regular season game.[7]
The Greater Boston region is the only city/surrounding area in American professional sports in which all facilities are privately owned and operated. The Patriots and Revolution both own Gillette Stadium, the Red Sox own Fenway Park, and TD Garden is owned by Delaware North, owner of the Bruins. The Celtics rent TD Garden from Delaware North.
Major league professional teams
Current teams
Club | League | Sport | Venue (capacity) | Founded | Championships |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boston Red Sox | MLB | Baseball | Fenway Park (37,500) | 1901 | 9 World Series |
Boston Bruins | NHL | Ice Hockey | TD Garden (17,565) | 1924 | 6 Stanley Cups
|
Boston Celtics | NBA | Basketball | 1946 | 17 NBA titles | |
New England Patriots | NFL | Football | Gillette Stadium (68,750) | 1960 | 6 Super Bowls
|
New England Revolution | MLS | Soccer | 1995 | 0 MLS Cups; 1 Supporters' Shield |
Former teams
Club | League | Sport | Venue (capacity) | Founded | Dissolved | Championships |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boston Braves
|
MLB | Baseball | Braves Field (40,000) | 1871 | 1952 | 1 World Series |
Boston Bulldogs | NFL | Football | 1929 | 1929 | ||
Boston Redskins
|
Fenway Park (35,000) | 1932 | 1936 | |||
Boston Yanks | 1944 | 1948 | ||||
Boston Rovers
|
NASL | Soccer | Manning Bowl (21,000) | 1967 | 1967 | |
Boston Beacons | Fenway Park (33,375) | 1968 | 1968 | |||
Boston Minutemen | Alumni Stadium (30,000) Nickerson Field (15,000) |
1974 | 1976 | |||
New England Tea Men | Foxboro Stadium (60,000) | 1978 | 1980 | |||
New England Whalers | WHA | Ice Hockey | Boston Garden (14,448) | 1972 | 1974 | 1 Avco World Trophy |
Major league professional championships
Boston Red Sox (MLB)9 World Series titles Boston Braves (MLB)1 World Series title New England Patriots (NFL)6 Super Bowl titles
|
Boston Celtics (NBA)17 NBA Finals titles Boston Bruins (NHL)6 Stanley Cup titles New England Whalers (WHA)1 Avco World Trophy
|
21st century sporting success
Since the
In the 2000s, Boston's professional teams had what was argued to be the most successful decade in sports history, winning six championships (three by the Patriots, two by the Red Sox, and one by the Celtics),[15] while also appearing an additional five times as league finalists (four by the Revolution, one by the Patriots).
In the
When the Bruins won the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, the city of Boston became the first city in the 21st century to have at least four of its major professional league teams win a league championship, and became the only city to ever have championships in four major professional leagues within a ten-year span, accomplishing this feat in a span of six years, four months, and nine days (from the Patriots' championship win on February 6, 2005 to the Bruins' championship win on June 15, 2011).[16] Los Angeles would accomplish this same feat in 2022.[17] This sporting achievement was what Dan Shaughnessy of Sports Illustrated dubbed as Boston completing the "Grand Slam of North American sports."[18] As of January 2023, at least one of Boston's four major pro sports teams has played in the final four of their respective sports playoffs, MLB's
Since 2002, DUKWs (also known as "duck boats") provided by Boston Duck Tours have been used as Boston's championship parade vehicles, starting with the New England Patriots after the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI over the St. Louis Rams. As a result of this recent practice, the catch phrase "cue the duck boats" has been utilized whenever a Boston sports team has won a championship in advance of its celebratory parade.[19][20][21][22][23] While much of the parade routes over the years consisted of the duck boats staying on land, some featured them traversing both the land and across the Charles River.
Soccer
According to American folklore, Pilgrim fathers observed a form of soccer called pasuckuakohowog that was played by Native Americans along the Massachusetts coast as early as 1620, the earliest observance of soccer of any form in what is currently the United States.[24]
In 1862, The
In 1923, the world’s first indoor soccer league with 11-a-side teams on a full-sized field opened the winter season at the Commonwealth Cavalry Armory in Boston.
In 1924, the Boston Soccer Club was formed and played in the professional American Soccer League, which comprised teams based in the northeastern U.S. region. The team was later renamed the Boston Bears in 1929 and played for an additional few seasons before the league folded in 1933 due to the Great Depression in the United States.
At the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930, Bert Patenaude (from Fall River, Massachusetts) scored the first hat-trick in World Cup play.[26] The USMNT finished in third place.[27]
1967 brought about the birth of nationwide professional soccer featuring two competing leagues. Of the two, Boston only played in the
After the NASL folded on March 28, 1985, a new nationwide professional soccer league would re-emerge in 1996 in the form of
Notable footballers who played in Boston include Portuguese legend Eusébio, and U.S. national team members: Taylor Twellman, Clint Dempsey, Alexi Lalas, and Billy Gonsalves (a native of Fall River, Massachusetts and was nicknamed the "Babe Ruth of American Soccer" during his career).[30][31]
Basketball
The Boston Celtics basketball team, who play at the TD Garden, were a founding member of the Basketball Association of America, one of the two leagues that merged to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics, along with rivals the Los Angeles Lakers, have the distinction of having more Championships than any other NBA team, with seventeen championships from 1957 to 2008.[32] They had a remarkable run of titles from the 1956–57 until the 1968–69 seasons, winning 11 of 13 championships in that span, including an NBA record 8 titles in a row from 1958–59 until 1965–66, under legendary center Bill Russell.
The list of Celtics who are members of the
One of the most notable athletes from Greater Boston was Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing who grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and attended the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.[33] Ewing won Olympic gold medals as a member of the 1984 and 1992 U.S. men's basketball teams[34] and was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996 and as one of the 75 Greatest Players in NBA History in 2021.[35]
Ice hockey
The
Since their initial meeting on December 8, 1924, the longest-standing rivalry in the NHL is the one between the Bruins and their Canadian archrival, the Montreal Canadiens.[37] These two teams have met 34 times in the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs, with Montreal taking 18-straight playoff series from the Bruins between 1946 and 1987.
Boston's local colleges are also very strong in hockey. Boston College and Boston University are always competitive and at the top of the college rankings, both competing in the Hockey East conference. Since 2001, Boston College has won four national championships (2001, 2008, 2010, and 2012) and Boston University has won one (2009). BC and BU, along with the Northeastern Huskies, also of Hockey East, and the Harvard Crimson of ECAC Hockey, compete in the Beanpot, considered[by whom?] the most prestigious in-season collegiate hockey tournament. It is played on the first two Mondays of February at TD Garden, with the semifinal matchups rotating on a year-to-year basis. Although neither the BC or BU women's teams have secured national championships, they have together eight Hockey East titles since 2010.
Boston also has a rich recent history in professional women's hockey. The
Baseball
The
For the first half of the 20th century, Boston had two Major League Baseball franchises. The
American football
The Boston game
The Boston Game is thought to be the origin of
Early professional football
The first professional National Football League (NFL) franchise in the city was the Boston Bulldogs, who only played a single season (in 1929) since relocating from Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
The
In 1944, the
Modern professional football
In 1959, Boston business executive
Businessman Robert Kraft, who at the time owned Foxboro Stadium and the team's lease for it, purchased the team in 1994 for $175 million, ensuring the Patriots would remain in New England amid a shuffle of owners and rumors of a relocation to St. Louis. The team experienced a recent surge of success, mostly with the turn of the century. The team has made 11 Super Bowl appearances and won six of them (XXXVI (2001), XXXVIII (2003), XXXIX (2004), XLIX (2014), LI (2016), LIII (2018)) and became the only team to go 16–0 in the regular season (in 2007) since the NFL expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978. Notable people among the team include head coach Bill Belichick and star quarterback Tom Brady, who among others would help make the Patriots consistently successful.
Rugby union
Rugby in Boston has a strong following; the city is home to numerous amateur, college and semi-professional sides. The city has three teams in the former premier division of USA rugby union, the Rugby Super League – Mystic River Rugby Club, the Boston Irish Wolfhounds, and Boston RFC. The current top flight of the sport, Major League Rugby, has the Boston-based New England Free Jacks who joined the league in 2020. The team has won the MLR shield in 2023 after defeating the San Diego Legion.
Rugby league
The
Other sports teams
Club | League | Gender | Sport | Venue | Established | Disbanded | Championships |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boston Lobsters | WTT
|
Mixed | Tennis | Ferncroft Country Club | 2005 | 2015 | None |
Boston Demons | USAFL | Men's | Australian Rules Football | Ipswich River Park | 1997 | USAFL Premierships (Div. 1): 1998, 1999 | |
Boston Cannons | PLL | Men's | Lacrosse (Outdoor) | Gillette Stadium | 2001 | 2 Steinfeld Cups | |
Boston Breakers | NWSL | Women's | Soccer | Jordan Field | 2001/2009[45] | 2018 | None |
Boston Aztec | WPSL | Women's | Soccer | Amesbury Sports Park
|
2005 | 2017 | 1 WPSL Title |
Boston Massacre Boston Derby Dames |
WFTDA | Women's | Flat track roller derby | Amesbury Sports Park
|
2005 | None | |
Boston Whitecaps | MLU | Ultimate Frisbee | Bowditch Field | 2012 | 2016 | 2 MLU Championships | |
Boston Pride | PHF | Women's | Ice hockey | Warrior Ice Arena | 2015 | 2023 | 3 Isobel Cups |
Boston | PWHL
|
Women's | Ice hockey | Tsongas Center | 2023 | ||
Boston Renegades | WFA | Women's | American Football | Harry Della Russo Stadium | 2015 | 1 IWFL title (2010)
6 WFA titles (2011, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022) | |
Boston Storm | UWLX | Women's | Lacrosse | "Barnstorming" format
|
2016 | 2018 | None |
Boston Uprising | OWL | Mixed | Overwatch | Citizens Bank Opera House
|
2017 | None | |
Boston Breach | CDL | Mixed | Call of Duty | MGM Music Hall at Fenway | 2021 |
Boston is home to three professional
Two different women's soccer teams known as the Boston Breakers have been charter members of three separate professional leagues. The original version, founded in 2001, played in the short-lived Women's United Soccer Association. The Breakers were resurrected in 2009 to play in WUSA's equally short-lived successor, Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). After WPS folded following its 2011 season, the Breakers remained in operation, playing the 2012 season in the newly established semi-pro WPSL Elite. In December 2012, the Breakers were announced as one of the eight charter teams of the new National Women's Soccer League, which began play in 2013. While the WUSA and WPS Breakers played at Harvard Stadium, the NWSL team played its first season at the smaller Dilboy Stadium in Somerville. The NWSL Breakers moved to Harvard Stadium for the 2014 season, and then moved to the nearby venue now known as Jordan Field, where they remained until their demise after the 2017 season.
In September 2023, the NWSL announced that a new Boston team would start play in 2026.[46]
There have been other professional sports teams to play in the city, such as the
College sports
Boston's many colleges and universities are active in college athletics. There are four
All except Harvard, which belongs to ECAC Hockey, belong to the Hockey East conference in hockey. The hockey teams of these four universities meet every year in a four-team tournament known as the "Beanpot Tournament", played at the TD Garden (and the Boston Garden before that) over two Monday nights in February.[47]
The oldest continuously used indoor and outdoor sports stadium in the world are used by Boston schools: Harvard Stadium (built in 1903) and the aforementioned Boston Arena (now known as Matthews Arena, built in 1910), which is used by Northeastern University.
Amateur and participatory sports
Boston has amateur and participatory sports and recreation. The 18 mile loop through the
Events
The city is home to the Boston Marathon, one of the best known sporting events in the city. It is a 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) run from Hopkinton to Copley Square in the Back Bay and the world's oldest annual marathon,[48] running on Patriots' Day in April.
The city is home to the Head of the Charles Regatta. Longwood Cricket Club (despite its name) is the oldest tennis club in the New World,[citation needed] located in Chestnut Hill. It is the site of the first Davis Cup competition. Boston is the start and finish for the Boston–Montreal–Boston cycling event.
Boston's TD Garden is expected to host the 2020 Laver Cup, an international men's tennis tournament between two teams (Team World vs Team Europe). John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg will reprise their roles as captains in this fourth edition of the tournament.[49]
In January 2015, the city was picked by the
Boston is one of the eleven U.S. host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. [51]
Rivalries
This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2014) |
While a number of cities and teams have rivalries with Boston, regional proximity has made Boston intense rivals with
In addition to the Bruins-Canadiens ice hockey rivalry, the B's often clash with the
The
See also
- Sports in Massachusetts
- The Sports Museum
- U.S. cities with teams from four major sports
- Multiple major sports championship seasons
- Timeline of Boston (includes sports events)
References
- ^ Shaughnessy, Dan (February 18, 2017). "In Boston, football is glorious but baseball still owns our hearts". Boston Globe Media. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
Yes, we are a football town, but it turns out baseball is not dead.
- ^ Finn, Chad (July 11, 2017). "The Red Sox don't have much time before the Patriots are back to steal the spotlight". Boston Globe Media. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
They've long since seized the title as the most popular team in New England.
- ISBN 9780316103374.
- ^ "Top Ten Baaseball Stadiums". Retrieved April 27, 2015.
- ^ "BaseballStadiums.net / Fenway Park". Retrieved April 27, 2015.
- ^ "Northeastern University Athletics Official Website". Gonu.com. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
- ^ "NHL hockey came to the U.S. on Dec. 1, 1924". National Hockey League. December 1, 2008. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
The National Hockey League celebrates another historic anniversary...remembering the first NHL game played in the United States, as the Boston Bruins hosted the Montreal Maroons, both expansion teams, at the Boston Arena on Dec. 1, 1924.
- ^ "Tom Menino was a proud mayor when Boston was a city of champions - Sports - The Boston Globe". www.bostonglobe.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014.
- ^ "City of champions".
- ^ ""Title-Town" --- How Boston Became the City of Champions (Part 1: Patriots)". Bleacher Report.
- ^ bostonsportsextra.com/new-england-patriots/2018/01/boston-city-champions
- ^ "SPORTS CHART OF THE DAY: Boston Is The New "Title Town"". Business Insider. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- ^ "4 Rings in 6 Years makes Boston the real TitleTown". SF Gate. June 17, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- ^ ""Title-Town" --- How Boston Became the City of Champions". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- ^ "Boston versus Los Angeles for best sports decade". ESPN. 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
- ^ "Long Memory or Short, Boston Fans Savor Success". New York Times. 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
- ^ Spector, Jesse. "City of Angels is City of Titles". Dead Spin.
- ^ Shaughnessy, Dan (June 20, 2011). "Being a sports fan in Boston has become embarrassment of riches". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
- ^ "Cue the duck boats! Tradition lives on for Red Sox victory parade". October 29, 2018.
- ^ "Red Sox World Series victory parade set for Wednesday". October 29, 2018.
- ^ "Cue the Duck Boats! Red Sox World Series parade underway". October 31, 2018.
- ^ "Cue the Duck Boats". June 11, 2013.
- ^ "Cue the duckboats: Everything you need to know for the Super Bowl Victory parade in Boston". February 7, 2017.
- ^ "Timeline".
- ^ "Timeline".
- ^ Williams, Jack (July 19, 2015). "Bert Patenaude, the forgotten hero who scored the first ever World Cup hat-trick". The Guardian. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
- ^ "Timeline".
- ^ "New England Revolution".
- ^ Le Miere, Jason (October 23, 2021). "New England Revolution win 2021 MLS Supporters' Shield". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ISBN 9781461716129.
- ISBN 9781584654094.
- ^ "NBA Finals: All-Time Champions". NBA. 2007. Retrieved February 20, 2007.
- ISBN 9781317477433.
- ^ "Patrick Ewing Bio". NBA.com. NBA. February 8, 2015. Archived from the original on February 21, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
- ^ "NBA's 75 Anniversary Team Players | NBA.com | NBA.com". www.nba.com. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
- ^ "Orr Is The Greatest". The Deseret News. June 2, 1975. p. 20.
- ^ "Canadiens Downed Boston, Rallying in Final Period". The Montreal Gazette. Boston, MA USA. Canadian Press. December 9, 1924. p. 16. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
The world champion Canadiens defeated Boston in a fast game here tonight, 4–3, incidentally giving 5,000 Boston hockey fans the best exhibition of the Canadian game on record here.
- ^ Wyshynski, Greg (June 29, 2023). "Sources: Premier Hockey Federation sale could unite women's hockey". ESPN. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
- ^ "PWHL unveils locations of first six teams, player selection process". Sportsnet. Associated Press. August 29, 2023. Archived from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
- ^ Porter, Matt (January 4, 2024). "'This has never been done before': Behind the scenes at the PWHL's triumphant Boston debut". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on January 5, 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ "1903 World Series—Major League Baseball: World Series History". Major League Baseball at MLB.com. 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2007.
- ^ Allaway, Roger (2001). "Were the Oneidas playing soccer or not?". The USA Soccer History Archives. Dave Litterer. Retrieved May 15, 2007.
- ^ "Foxborough, MA | Gillette Stadium, City Info | Greater Boston".
- ^ "Foxborough, Massachusetts - City Information, Fast Facts, Schools, Colleges, and More".
- ^ Founded in 2001 as a member of the WUSA, which folded after its 2003 season. Re-established as a charter member of its successor, WPS, in 2009. After the demise of WPS in 2012, the Breakers played the 2012 season in WPSL Elite before being named as one of the eight charter members of the new National Women's Soccer League, which launched in 2013. The team folded during the 2017–18 offseason.
- ^ "Professional Women's Soccer Returns to Boston as National Women's Soccer League Awards Expansion Franchise to Boston Unity Soccer Partners" (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. September 19, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
- ^ Bertagna, Joe (December 27, 2001). "The Beanpot At 50 — Still Inspiring and Still Growing". Beanpot Hockey. Archived from the original on May 25, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2007.
- ^ "B.A.A. Boston Marathon Race Facts". Boston Athletic Association. 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2007.
- ^ "Laver Cup heads to Boston in 2020 | News". Laver Cup. September 22, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
- ^ Arsenault, Mark (November 23, 2014). "Boston bidders hope time is right for frugal Games". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
- ^ FIFA announces hosts cities for FIFA World Cup 2026™
External links
- "Boston Sports Temples", Exhibitions, Boston Public Library, 2012