Sports in North Carolina
Athletes and sports teams from
Major league professional teams
| Team | League | Metro area | Stadium | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte Hornets | National Basketball Association | Charlotte | Spectrum Center |
1988 |
| Carolina Panthers | National Football League | Charlotte | Bank of America Stadium | 1995 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | National Hockey League | Raleigh | PNC Arena | 1972 (based in North Carolina since 1997) |
| North Carolina Courage | National Women's Soccer League | Cary/Raleigh | Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park |
2017 |
| Charlotte FC | Major League Soccer | Charlotte | Bank of America Stadium | 2019 (joined in 2022) |
| Carolina Chaos | Premier Lacrosse League | Charlotte | American Legion Memorial Stadium | 2019 (based in North Carolina since 2024) |
Baseball
Though it has never been home to a
Notes
- ^ Founded as the AA Charlotte Orioles, which moved to Charlotte from Asheville. The Knights have been part of the AAA International League (known in the 2021 season as Triple-A East) since 1993. From 1989 to 2013, the team played just across the state border in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
- ^ The Durham Bulls trace their history to the 1902 Durham Tobacconists. Numerous league and name changes have occurred over the years; the current incarnation of the Bulls has played in the AAA International League since 1998.
- ^ Numerous teams in Asheville have been known as the Tourists; the previous team moved to Charlotte in 1976 and is now the Charlotte Knights. The current team replaced them in 1976.
- ^ Prior to 1993, the Crawdads were located in Gastonia and played under a variety of nicknames.
- ^ The Dash trace their history to the 1945 Winston-Salem Cardinals. The current team has been a member of Class A since 1961, and has had their current name since 2009.
- ^ The current incarnation of the Mudcats trace their history to the Kinston Indians, who moved to Zebulon to assume the Mudcats name in 2012. The previous team known as the Mudcats are currently the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, which became a Class AA team in the 2021 Minor League Baseball reorganization.
- ^ Created when the Carolina League expanded by two teams, replacing two teams that had been contracted by the California League.
- ^ Created when the Carolina League expanded by two teams, replacing two teams that had been contracted by the California League. The team played its first two seasons of 2017 and 2018 in Buies Creek as the Buies Creek Astros.
- ^ The Owls moved to Forest City in 2008. For the previous season, they played in Spartanburg, South Carolina, as the Spartanburg Stingers.
Basketball
The first successful major professional sports team to be created in North Carolina were the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), which began play in the 1988–89 season.
In 2004, the NBA added the Charlotte Bobcats franchise, two years after the city lost the Hornets to New Orleans. The Charlotte team plays its home games at the
Prior to that, the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association (ABA) played in various North Carolina cites (playing in the ABA for five seasons, 1969–1974). Former Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown started his coaching career as head coach of the Cougars.
Professional
North Carolina's first professional
Following the Cougars' move to St. Louis it would be fourteen years before professional basketball would return to the Old North State when
In 2016, Greensboro was awarded the Hornets' NBA G League team, the Greensboro Swarm.
College
North Carolina is home to what some consider the best rivalry in American sports, North Carolina vs. Duke. Chapel Hill (UNC) and Durham (Duke) are only 8 miles apart. This rivalry reaches its climax in basketball but often spills over to other sports. North Carolina State and Wake Forest are also considered major rivals of the Blue Devils and Tar Heels, for more on the four-way rivalry see Tobacco Road.
Other Division I teams in the state include the
Although North Carolina did not have a major-league professional sports franchise until the 1980s, the state has long been known as a hotbed of
North Carolina schools have also won multiple NCAA Division II basketball national championships. In 1967, Winston-Salem State University, led by future NBA star Earl Monroe and coached by the legendary Clarence "Big House" Gaines, was the first school in the state to win the Division II championship. In 1989, North Carolina Central University, which is now a Division I member, brought the title to the state a second time; winning the championship game by 27 points, which remains the largest margin of victory in its history. And in 2007, Barton College in Wilson returned the title to the state a third time.
North Carolina has a large number of
Football
History of North Carolina football
The first major professional sports league football team in North Carolina came in 1974, when the New York Stars of the World Football League was relocated to Charlotte in the middle of the season and renamed to the Charlotte Hornets (although the team was referred to as the Charlotte Stars for the first game in Charlotte). The National Football League (NFL) is represented by the Carolina Panthers, who began play in 1995, and call Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium home. North Carolina was also home to the Charlotte Rage and the Carolina Cobras of the Arena Football League.
College
College football is very popular in North Carolina, with many colleges fielding teams. Only two states have more universities fielding teams at the NCAA's highest level, Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). North Carolina has seven FBS teams in all—the North Carolina Tar Heels, NC State Wolfpack, Duke Blue Devils, Wake Forest Demon Deacons, East Carolina Pirates, Appalachian State Mountaineers, and Charlotte 49ers. An additional seven field teams in Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), as well as many schools at the Division II and III levels. Before moving to FBS and the Sun Belt Conference in 2014, Appalachian State won FCS national titles in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Although basketball remains the dominant college sport in North Carolina, several schools have also enjoyed success in football and other sports. Wake Forest has also enjoyed substantial success in football; in 2006 they won the
Charlotte is also host to the ACC Championship Game and the Duke's Mayo Bowl; both are FBS postseason games.
National Football League
North Carolina is home to the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL) who play their home games at the 75,000-seat Bank of America Stadium in Uptown Charlotte. The Panthers played their first season in 1995 at Memorial Stadium on the campus of Clemson University in neighboring South Carolina. On February 1, 2004, the Panthers played in Super Bowl XXXVIII, and on February 7, 2016, they played in Super Bowl 50. The Panthers were not North Carolina's first foray into professional football though; in the mid-1970s, the Hornets of the World Football League called American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte home.
Golf
Several professional tours make stops in North Carolina every year, including the
Ice hockey
In 1997, the
In 2010, the
Motorsports
North Carolina is a center in American
A new drag strip, called Zmax Dragway, has been built on the same grounds as the speedway. It is currently the only drag strip in the U.S. to hold 4-wide drag racing events (as opposed to the traditional 2-wide drag races held at other tracks). The
In
Although no races of this category are presently being held in North Carolina, it is home to the only current American Formula One team Haas F1 Team, founded and owned by Gene Haas, based out of Kannapolis.
Stars
The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Charlotte, opened on May 11, 2010. Many of NASCAR's most famous driver dynasties, the Pettys, Earnhardts, Allisons, Jarretts and Waltrips all live within an hour's drive of Charlotte.
Two families from North Carolina, the Pettys and the Earnhardts, have had several members that achieved varying levels of success in NASCAR competitions and are a source of pride for Carolinians and Southerners in general.
Lee Petty of Randleman started his family's association with the sport. His son, Richard of Level Cross holds the all time record for wins (200) in the NASCAR Cup Series and was the first person to win 7 Cup championships. Richard's son Kyle (born in Randleman) and grandson Adam (born in High Point) were also drivers. Adam Petty was killed when his car crashed during a practice at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.
The Earnhardt family of Kannapolis began its association with NASCAR with Ralph Earnhardt. His son Dale would become a major star in the sport, winning 76 Cup series races and tying Richard Petty's record of 7 championships before his death in the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Dale's son Dale Jr. was also highly successful and was considered the face of NASCAR until his retirement from racing after the 2017 season. Kerry Earnhardt, another son of the elder Dale Earnhardt, and his sons Bobby and Jeffrey have also competed in various NASCAR series.
Outside of the Earnhardt and Petty clans North Carolina is home to many other current and former NASCAR drivers such as Junior Johnson (Wilkes County), Richard Childress (Winston-Salem), Ned and Dale Jarrett (both Newton), Andy Petree (Hickory), Rick Hendrick (Warrenton), Brian Vickers (Thomasville), and Scott Riggs (Durham)
Tracks
Once a major part of the NASCAR circuit, North Carolina now only has one track on the schedule,
Tracks that formerly hosted Cup Series events include North Wilkesboro Speedway, Rockingham Speedway, and Metrolina Speedway.
Soccer
Charlotte was awarded a
North Carolina is also home to several lower-division professional teams. The Charlotte Independence play in the USL Championship, as did North Carolina FC (formerly the Carolina RailHawks)[3] before that club's voluntary drop to USL League One prior to the 2021 season. Two North Carolina-based teams will start play in MLS Next Pro in the near future. The first, an as-yet-unnamed reserve side for Charlotte FC, starts play in 2023, The High Point-based Carolina Core FC, one of Next Pro's few clubs without an MLS affiliation, is scheduled to start play in 2024. Asheville City SC play in the National Premier Soccer League. Additionally the Charlotte Eagles, the North Carolina Fusion U23 of Greensboro, and Tobacco Road FC of Durham play in USL League Two (formerly the Premier Development League, or PDL). The Eagles played in the USL Championship when it was called the USL Professional Division, but chose to relegate themselves to the PDL after the 2014 season, transferring their franchise rights to local interests that launched the Independence for the 2015 season. The Hammerheads relegated themselves from the USL to the PDL after the 2016 season. Charlotte and Greensboro both have women's teams in the USL W-League.
As with other sports,
Charlotte has also hosted several CONCACAF Gold Cup matches at Bank of America Stadium.
Swimming
Over the last two decades, North Carolina has become a rising power in the world of professional and amateur swimming. As with many other components of North Carolina's sport culture, this rise began on the college campuses of the Old North State. North Carolina State University, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill all field varsity swimming and diving teams at the Division I level. The men's program at NC State has enjoyed the most success, bringing home 25 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, more than any other ACC team.
NC State's men have also boasted 75 All-Americans and 9 Olympians, including
In 2008, former Auburn University head swim coach David Marsh arrived to take the helm of USA Swimming's first center of excellence at SwimMAC Carolina (formerly Mecklenburg Aquatic Club) in Charlotte. Under his guidance, SwimMAC has been named USA Swimming's club of the year and is widely regarded as one of the best programs in the country. In 2012, SwimMAC's "Team Elite", personally coached by Marsh, produced five Olympians: Nick Thoman, Micah Lawrence, Kara Lynn Joyce, Davis Tarwater, and Cullen Jones. Many other Team Elite members have made the US National team. Winston-Salem native Kathleen Baker won silver in the Women's 100 meter backstroke and gold in the Women's 4 × 100 meter medley relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[4]
The
In addition to the Greensboro Aquatic Center, North Carolina boasts a large variety of competition swimming & diving centers. This includes the Triangle Aquatic Center, Koury Natatorium, Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion, Mecklenberg County Aquatic Center, and the Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center. In 2014, USA swimming ranked Raleigh & Durham as the 3rd best swimming city in the United States. [9]
Other sports
In recent years lacrosse has experienced a period of steady growth in North Carolina that has seen high schools in the three main metropolitan areas add the sport to their programs, this growth culminated in Charlotte being awarded a Major League Lacrosse expansion team named the Charlotte Hounds, the first professional outdoor lacrosse team in the South. An indoor lacrosse team, Charlotte Copperheads, played in the Professional Lacrosse League's only season in 2012. Duke and North Carolina field lacrosse teams for both sexes; both of the schools' men's teams have won national championships—North Carolina had been the westernmost school to win the men's national championship until Denver won the 2015 title—and the North Carolina women have also won national championships. The Tar Heels won both the men's and women's titles in 2016. Full Division I member High Point, transitional D-I member Queens, and five schools in the Division II Conference Carolinas also play lacrosse.
Rugby union is seeing a major increase in popularity in North Carolina and the Southeastern United States, with the NCYRU's JV and Varsity all-star squads winning the regional southeast RAST (Rugby All Star Tournament) in 2014, with both teams undefeated in the tournament.
From the 1930s to the early 1990s, the Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion, under the Crockett family, operated almost entirely out of Charlotte. Mid Atlantic was a long-time member of the
North Carolina has become a hotbed for professional
Volleyball is a very popular sport at the recreational level and most colleges field women's teams while a few, notably schools in Conference Carolinas, field men's teams.
Ultimate in North Carolina is increasingly popular with youth, collegiate, club, and professional teams all competitive at the national level.
Miscellany
The
List of NCAA Division I schools
Notes:
- ^ The CAA football conference, branded as CAA Football, is administered by the multi-sports CAA but is a legally separate entity.
- ^ Appalachian State competes in the Southern Conference in wrestling and the Mid-American Conference in field hockey.
- ^ CAA Football, is legally a separate entity from the all-sports CAA.
- ^ Campbell men's wrestling competes in the Southern Conference.
- ^ Davidson football competes in the Pioneer Football League, and the school's men's wrestling program competes in the Southern Conference.
- ^ Gardner–Webb is a member of the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association for men's and women's swimming.
- ^ High Point is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for men's lacrosse.
- ^ NC State has affiliations outside the ACC in two non-ACC sports—women's gymnastics in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League and rifle in the Great America Rifle Conference. The ACC will start sponsoring women's gymnastics in the 2023–24 school year.
- ^ Includes the following sports not recognized by the NCAA: cheerleading (coed), dance team (all-female), men's rugby, and men's triathlon.
- ^ North Carolina competes in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League in women's gymnastics. The ACC will start sponsoring women's gymnastics in the 2023–24 school year.
- ^ Beach volleyball competes in the ASUN Conference.
Team list
Venues
See List of sports venues in North Carolina
References
- ^ Tovar, Sergio (June 27, 2011). "N.C. adopts stock car racing as official sport". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
- ^ Newton, David (December 17, 2019). "Charlotte gets MLS' 30th franchise for record $325 mill ion". ESPN. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ Brisendine, Steve (December 7, 2016). "Carolina Railhawks rebrand to North Carolina FC, set sights on MLS". MLSsoccer.com.
- ^ Lowe, Kegan (August 9, 2016). "Winston-Salem's Kathleen Baker takes silver in 100m backstroke". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
- ^ Brown, Andrew (December 16, 2009). "Aquatic Center Coming to Coliseum Complex". Greensboro Coliseum Complex. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
- News & Record. Greensboro, North Carolina. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
- ^ "Greensboro Aquatic Center" (PDF). Greensboro-NC.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 16, 2010. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
- ^ Brown, Andrew (September 20, 2010). "Greensboro To Host 2012 U.S. Masters Swimming Spring National Championships". Greensboro-NC.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
- ^ "USA Swimming lists top 50 swim cities in U.S." July 14, 2014.
- ^ Razorbomb, Roxi. "Fayetteville Roller Derby". Fayetteville Roller Derby. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
External links
