The following New York metropolitan area sports teams play in one of the highest level major professional sports leagues in the United States: There have been 14
World Series baseball championship series between New York City teams, in matchups called
Subway Series. New York is one of three metropolitan areas to have two baseball teams (Chicago and Los Angeles being the others). 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). There is also one
Minor League Baseball team in the city, the
Brooklyn Cyclones, with numerous independent minor league teams throughout the metro area.
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 2012–13 NBA season. The city's
Women's National Basketball Association team is the
New York Liberty, who won the
2024 WNBA Finals, the first college or pro basketball team from the New York City area to win a championship since 1973, when the Knicks won. 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."
Football is the city's second most followed sport, behind baseball. Football is actually the second most popular sport in the suburbs and the most popular when it includes upstate New York as well. The city is represented in the
National Football League by the
New York Giants and
New York Jets. Both teams play at
MetLife Stadium in nearby
East Rutherford, New Jersey. In 2014, the stadium hosted
Super Bowl XLVIII. The teams have an
intra-city rivalry.
Ice hockey in New York is also widely popular and closely followed. There are three
National Hockey League teams in the metro area. The
New York Rangers play in Manhattan, calling
Madison Square Garden home. The
New York Islanders play in
UBS Arena in
Elmont. The
New Jersey Devils also play in the New York metro area, playing in
Newark, New Jersey. The Islanders'
American Hockey League affiliate, the
Bridgeport Islanders, are based in southwest Connecticut. As of 2024,
New York Sirens of the
Professional Women's Hockey League share the New Jersey Devils' home arena. In
soccer, New York is represented by three teams in the top divisions for men and women, including the
New York Red Bulls and
New York City FC of
Major League Soccer, and
Gotham FC of the
National Women's Soccer League. The Red Bulls play their home games at
Sports Illustrated Stadium in
Harrison, New Jersey, as does Gotham FC. New York City FC, a new team owned by
Manchester City F.C. and the New York Yankees, joined MLS in 2015. NYCFC, which plays most home games at Yankee Stadium with a secondary home venue at Citi Field, has plans to build a
soccer-specific stadium in Queens and instantly develop an intra-city rivalry with the Red Bulls. Regardless of where they actually play their home games, most of these teams carry the name of and represent the entire city or state of
New York, except for the NBA's
Brooklyn Nets, who play in and specifically represent the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and the NHL's
New Jersey Devils, who have played their home games in New Jersey since their founding. The
New York Red Bulls (
MLS founding franchise originally named the "New York/New Jersey MetroStars") – who have also always played in New Jersey – were the only major professional soccer team representing the metropolitan area during their first 19 seasons, and the region's second MLS club,
New York City FC, deliberately staked its identity to actually playing in the city, drawing its colors from the
city flag and even featuring the flag itself on its uniforms. The area's women's soccer club, Gotham FC, also uses the two sets of initials as the MetroStars once did, although listing New Jersey first (the
governor of New Jersey is the club's primary owner).
American football , home to both the
New York Giants and the
New York Jets (NFL) Since 2010, both the
New York Giants and the
New York Jets play in
MetLife Stadium in nearby
East Rutherford, New Jersey, 5 miles from New York City. In 2014, the stadium hosted
Super Bowl XLVIII. The Giants and Jets were previously located in New York City; both teams played in the
Polo Grounds (Manhattan) and
Shea Stadium (Queens), and the Giants played in
Yankee Stadium (the Bronx). Neither team plays in the city itself presently, as both teams are located in the
Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, playing in
Giants Stadium for many years before moving to MetLife Stadium. The Giants, a keystone
NFL franchise, were founded in 1925, and exist today as one of the oldest presently active organizations in the NFL. Founded in 1960, the originally named New York Titans, later branded as the Jets in 1963, were a charter member of the
American Football League (AFL), joining the NFL as part of the AFL/NFL merger in 1970. New York City also had many historical professional teams. The first professional team in New York was called both the
New York Giants and Brooklyn Giants (unrelated to the current New York Giants), and played in the predecessor to the NFL, the
American Professional Football Association, in 1921. In 1926, the
New York Yankees,
Newark Bears (AFL) and
Brooklyn Horsemen played in the
American Football League, and on the same year, the
Brooklyn Lions played in the
National Football League before the Horsemen and Lions merged in November and folded at season's end. The Lions' NFL franchise rights were given to the Yankees, who competed in the NFL from 1927 to 1928. When the Yankees folded, its rights were given to the existing barnstorming team
Staten Island Stapletons, who played in the NFL until 1932 when it stopped league play and later folded as well. In 1930, the NFL
Brooklyn Dodgers began play at Ebbets Field. The team lasted until 1944, calling themselves the Brooklyn Tigers that last season but going winless. In 1945, the team was merged with the
Boston Yanks and played one more home game in Brooklyn that season as the Yanks. Another team going by the name
New York Yankees played in the second AFL in 1936 and 1937. The league also had a
Brooklyn Tigers club in 1936, but the team never played in Brooklyn and folded after only seven games. A
third incarnation of the Yankees played in the third AFL in 1940 under the Yankees name, and then in 1941 as the
New York Americans. Another version of the New York Yankees was a short-lived member of the
American Association In 1946, the new
All-America Football Conference had yet another set of
Brooklyn Dodgers and
New York Yankees teams. These clubs lasted until 1948, after which they merged with each other. The renamed Brooklyn-New York Yankees folded after one season when the
AAFC merged with the NFL. The
New York Bulldogs were founded in 1949, sharing the
Polo Grounds with the New York Giants, and then being renamed as the New York Yanks and playing in the NFL in the 1950 and 1951 seasons. In 1952, the team was relocated to Texas and renamed as the
Dallas Texans. In 1974, New York briefly hosted a team known as the
New York Stars for the short-lived
World Football League, but in mid-season the team was relocated to Charlotte and became the
Charlotte Hornets. The short-lived
United States Football League had a team in the New York area. The
New Jersey Generals played at
Giants Stadium in
The Meadowlands from 1983 to 1985. At one point, the team was owned by future
President Donald Trump. The team folded with the rest of the league. In 1988, the
New York Knights played for one season as part of the
Arena Football League, and then ceased operations. In 1997, the AFL added two expansion franchises, the
New York CityHawks, who played at Madison Square Garden, and the
New Jersey Red Dogs, who played in
East Rutherford, New Jersey. The CityHawks moved to
Hartford, Connecticut and were renamed the New England Sea Wolves in 1999, and then relocated to Toronto in 2001, and renamed the Toronto Phantoms. The Red Dogs were renamed the New Jersey Gladiators in 2001, then relocated and became the Las Vegas Gladiators in 2003, before relocating again and being renamed the Cleveland Gladiators. When the Sea Wolves, who were owned by the
Madison Square Garden Company and had their games televised in New York City on
MSG Network, relocated to Toronto, the AFL's Iowa Barnstormers relocated to Long Island and were renamed the
New York Dragons. The Dragons played in New York until 2008, when the league suspended operations; no team from New York (either the city or the state) played in the league from its 2010 revival until the
Albany Empire, based in the state's capital, joined the AFL in 2018. The Jets are sometimes regarded as "''Long Island's Team''" supported by the fact that until 2008, the team trained in
Hempstead at
Hofstra University, and used to play at
Shea Stadium (former home of the
New York Mets baseball team) which is close to Nassau County. Statistically, the largest percentage of the Jets fanbase derives from Long Island, hence, the Jets generally receive more media coverage in that part of New York. Fans of both the Giants and Jets traditionally root for both the New York Yankees and the New York Mets as well as both the
New York Knicks and the
Brooklyn Nets of the
NBA and also both the
New York Rangers and the
New York Islanders of the
NHL. Two attempts by
Vince McMahon at creating a competing football league, both named the XFL, have been attempted in the New York metropolitan area. The first
XFL league was created as a joint venture between
World Wrestling Entertainment and
NBC in 2001, had the
New York/New Jersey Hitmen playing at Giants Stadium for the only season they played before the
league folded. The New York/New Jersey Hitmen finished in third for the XFL Eastern Division for the season they played. In 2020, the
New York Guardians of the newly revived
XFL began playing at MetLife Stadium. After the XFL filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 13, 2020, citing the premature suspension of their season due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the Guardians moved to
Orlando, Florida and the league no longer has a New York team. Along with New York's two NFL teams, the New York metropolitan area is home to the
New York Sharks women's football team. The New York Sharks are NYC's premier professional women's tackle football team. Established in 1999 the Sharks are the longest-running and most decorated team in women's tackle football having won 3 conference titles (2002, 2003, 2004 IWFL East), 6 division titles (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 IWFL) and two championship titles (2002 IWFL, 2018 WFA). The Sharks play at many fields and have no official home stadium. The season for women's football is from April to June with playoffs and the championship game occurring from June to July. As of 2011 the Sharks are now with the WFA (Women's Football Alliance along with the Bay Area Bandits, Boston Militia, Chicago Force, Dallas Diamonds, DC Divas, Kansas City Tribe, Pittsburgh Passion, and the San Diego Surge in an effort to bring together the best franchises of women's football. The
NFL's headquarters are located in New York City, at
345 Park Avenue in Manhattan.
Baseball In New York, baseball is still regarded as the most popular sport, despite being overtaken by football in terms of perceived popularity (but not attendance) throughout the country, as based on TV ratings and consistent fan following for the entire season. New York is home to two
Major League Baseball franchises. The
New York Yankees of the
American League have played in New York since 1903. Known for iconic ballplayers such as
Babe Ruth,
Lou Gehrig,
Joe DiMaggio,
Mickey Mantle,
Yogi Berra and countless others, they play in
Yankee Stadium in
the Bronx and have won the
World Series 27 times, the most victories by any team in the four
major North American professional sports leagues. The
New York Mets have represented New York in the
National League since 1962. The Mets play in
Citi Field in
Flushing, Queens and have won five NL pennants and two World Series, thus making them one of the most decorated expansion teams in Major League Baseball. The "
Subway Series" is the name used for all regular season and World Series meetings between the two teams. Before
interleague play was introduced in 1997, the only instance these two teams could have played each other would have been in the World Series. The Mets and Yankees played for the
World Series in 2000, with the Yankees winning the series 4–1. , home of the
New York Mets in Queens] For many New York baseball fans, the most intense rivalry is between the
Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, arguably the fiercest and most historic in North American professional sports. When the Mets beat the Red Sox in the
1986 World Series, many Yankee fans attended the parade celebrating the Mets' win, saying that "anyone who beats Boston is worth coming down for." There have been 14 Subway Series World Series match-ups between the Yankees and their
National League rivals; the Mets (once), and with the two teams that departed for California in the 1950s—the
Brooklyn Dodgers (7 times) and
New York Giants (6 times). New York City is also home to one
Minor League Baseball team, the
Brooklyn Cyclones. They are the Mets
High-A affiliate, playing in the
South Atlantic League. Two
independent baseball league teams also play in the New York metropolitan area, with a third planned. The
Long Island Ducks of the independent
Atlantic League have played in
Bethpage Ballpark in
Central Islip since 2000, and were joined by a club playing in the city limits when the
Staten Island FerryHawks began play at
SIUH Community Park in 2022. In 2011, the
New York Boulders, now of the independent
Frontier League, began play at
Clover Stadium in
Pomona. New York has historically had many short-lived baseball clubs including the
New York Mutuals,
Brooklyn Atlantics,
Brooklyn Enterprise,
Excelsior of Brooklyn and
Brooklyn Eckfords of the
National Association of Baseball Players; the
New York Knickerbockers, one of the first baseball teams; the
New York Metropolitans and
Brooklyn Gladiators of the
American Association (19th century); the
New York Giants (PL) and
Brooklyn Ward's Wonders of the
Players' League; the
Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the
Federal League; the
Brooklyn Bushwicks, Springfield Greys, Barton's Nighthawks, Glendale Farmers, Mount Vernon Scarlets, Union City Reds, Carlton's of the Bronx, and Bay Parkway, Bay Ridge, Cedarhurst, West New York, and Queens Club of The Metropolitan Baseball Association; and the
New York Highlanders and
Brooklyn Bridegrooms, precursors to the Yankees and Dodgers. There were also two Newark Bears teams
Newark Bears and
Newark Bears (International League).
Negro league baseball teams also were present in New York, including the
Brooklyn Royal Giants,
Newark Stars,
Lincoln Giants,
Newark Browns,
New York Black Yankees,
New York Cubans, and the
Newark Eagles. In 1858 in
Corona, Queens, at the Fashion Race Course, the
first games of baseball to charge admission took place. The games, which took place between the all-stars of
Brooklyn, including players from the
Brooklyn Atlantics,
Excelsior of Brooklyn, Putnams and
Eckford of Brooklyn, and the All Stars of New York (
Manhattan), including players from the
New York Knickerbockers, Gothams (predecessors of the
New York Giants), Eagles and Empire, are commonly believed to the first all-star baseball games. Two historical clubs, the
Brooklyn Dodgers and
New York Giants, were among the most storied clubs in professional baseball, and were home to such players as
Jackie Robinson and
Willie Mays. The two teams left for
California—the Dodgers for Los Angeles and the Giants for San Francisco—in 1957. The city currently has two
Major League Baseball teams, the Mets (who were formed in 1962 to replace the Dodgers and the Giants), and the Yankees. The city is also home to
WPBL New York of the
Women's Professional Baseball League. Major League Baseball's headquarters are located in New York City, at
245 Park Avenue in Manhattan.
Basketball , home of the
New York Knicks (NBA) and
New York Rangers (NHL) in Manhattan 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 at
Madison Square Garden. The NIT has spawned a major early-season tournament known as the
NIT Season Tip-Off; the semifinal and final rounds of that event are also held at the Garden. At Madison Square Garden, New Yorkers can watch the
New York Knicks play
NBA basketball. Through the 2017
WNBA season, the
New York Liberty also played at the Garden, but that team's main home has changed twice since then. First, the team moved to
Westchester County Center in
White Plains in 2018. Then, after the team's 2019 purchase by
the owner of the NBA's
Brooklyn Nets, the Liberty have moved to the Nets' home of
Barclays Center in
Brooklyn in 2020. The Nets began playing in Brooklyn in 2012, the first major professional sports team to play in the historic borough in half a century. Before the merger of the defunct
American Basketball Association with the NBA during the 1976–77 season, the New York Nets, who shared the same home arena (
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum) on Long Island with the NHL's New York Islanders, were a two-time champion in the ABA and starred the famous Hall of Fame forward
Julius Erving. During the first season of the merger (1976–77), the Nets continued to play on Long Island, although Erving's contract had by then been sold to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Nets transferred to New Jersey then next season and became known as the New Jersey Nets, and later moved to Brooklyn prior to the 2012–13 NBA season. , home of the
Brooklyn Nets (NBA) and
New York Liberty (WNBA) in Brooklyn The
Long Island Nets, an
NBA G League team, started playing at the Barclays Center in 2016 before moving to
Nassau Coliseum in 2017. The
Westchester Knicks started in 2014 at the Westchester County Center.
Rucker Park in
Harlem is a celebrated court where many NBA athletes play in the summer league. The
NBA's headquarters are located in New York City, at
Fifth Avenue's
Olympic Tower. The
New York Liberty are one of the original teams of the
WNBA, which was formed in 1997. The team's main venue moved from Madison Square Garden to Westchester County Center after the 2017 season, and then to Barclays Center after the 2019 season. During a massive renovation project at the Garden between 2011 and 2013, the Liberty temporarily played their home games at the
Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The team were the last remaining original franchise in the WNBA to win a championship, which they finally won in 2024. From 1933 to 1935, Newark had a team in the
American Basketball League. It its first season it was known as the
Newark Bears, and in its second and final season the Newark Mules. There was briefly a
Long Island Ducks basketball team at the
Long Island Arena in 1977–1978.
Long Island PrimeTime played at Louis Armstrong Gymnasium in Flushing from 2006 to 2007. They were part of the
United States Basketball League.
Ice hockey in Uniondale, was home to the
New York Islanders from 1972 to 2015 (and temporarily from 2018 to 2021), and the
New York Nets from 1972 to 1976. in Elmont has served as the home of the New York Islanders since 2021.
Ice hockey has a storied history and large following in the New York metropolitan area, which is unique in being the only metropolitan area and media market in the United States and Canada to feature three major league professional teams participating in the same sport. New York City is represented by the
New York Rangers, playing at
Madison Square Garden in
Manhattan. The
New York Islanders play at
UBS Arena in the
Nassau County community of
Elmont. The
New Jersey Devils play at
Prudential Center in
Newark, New Jersey. The metropolitan area's three
NHL franchises have won the
Stanley Cup a combined eleven times, and they are historically division rivals with high levels of intensity and animosity among and between their respective fans, having played in the same division every season since the Devils relocated to the
New Jersey Meadowlands from
Denver in 1982. Currently, they play in the
Metropolitan Division. The Rangers, established in 1926, are one of the
Original Six — a term given to the six NHL teams in existence before the league
doubled its size in 1967. The primary fan base for the Rangers is in the city's five boroughs,
Westchester County, lower Hudson Valley New York, western Connecticut, and Northern New Jersey. However, they maintain a sizable following within parts of the market claimed by their two local rivals. The Islanders, established in 1972, opened the new UBS Arena, adjacent to
Belmont Park and immediately across the
Cross Island Parkway from
Queens, for the
2021–22 season. The Islanders provide their fans with an
intense rivalry with the Rangers, most of whom are based in
Nassau and
Suffolk Counties on
Long Island. The chosen location of their new home also includes a new full-time
Long Island Rail Road station at
Elmont, providing direct access from
Penn Station and other points both in New York City and out east on Long Island. This has the effect of connecting all three area NHL franchises with a single transfer at Manhattan's Penn Station (located beneath Madison Square Garden) necessary to reach
Newark Penn Station (two blocks from the Devils' Prudential Center) from Elmont. in Newark has served as the home of the New Jersey Devils since 2007 and was the home of the New Jersey Nets from 2010 to 2012. The Devils, who moved from
Denver, Colorado to New Jersey in 1982, provide area hockey fans with yet another
intense rivalry involving the Rangers largely stemming from geographic proximity, a manifestation of a long-standing rivalry between the states of New York and New Jersey. Both teams have achieved famous results for their respective fan bases in playoff meetings, including the
1994 Eastern Conference Finals, ending in a dramatic double-overtime goal by the Rangers'
Stéphane Matteau during the 7th and deciding game. The Devils took a 3–2 series lead into Game 6 in New Jersey and jumped out to a 2–0 lead in the game. However,
Mark Messier's famous guarantee and
hat-trick led the Rangers to victory and a seventh game. As time wound down in Game 7, the Rangers were clinging to a 1–0 lead when New Jersey's
Valeri Zelepukin tied the game with 7.7 seconds left in regulation to silence the Garden crowd and send the game into overtime, where Matteau won it for the Rangers. In the
2012 Eastern Conference Finals, the Rangers would be in a very similar scenario, but would ultimately fail to overcome the 3–2 series deficit after trailing 2-0 and forcing overtime in Game 6 across the Hudson River at
Prudential Center in
Newark on a series-winning goal only 1:03 into overtime by
Adam Henrique. As of their most recent meeting in
2023's First Round in which the Devils rallied to win in seven games after recovering from a 0–2 series deficit, the Devils and Rangers have met seven times in the playoffs, with the first three series won by the Rangers, and three of the last four series won by the Devils. The Devils' primary fan base resides throughout Northern and Central New Jersey, specifically areas of the state coterminous with the New York media and sports market where the
MSG networks (which serve as the television home for all three area hockey teams) are available. The Islanders and Rangers had a bitter rivalry in the 1970s and the 1980s, as the Islanders won four consecutive
Stanley Cup titles; the Rangers won their most recent NHL championship in the
1994 Stanley Cup Finals, the fourth Cup victory in that team's history. The two teams have met eight times in the playoffs, with the Islanders winning five of those matchups. Incidentally, as the Islanders and Devils have had little success simultaneously (the Devils’ Stanley Cup success occurred in the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s) throughout their respective histories and have faced off in the playoffs only once in the
1987-88 season in a series won by the Devils, this rivalry is perceived as an afterthought in the area particularly when compared to the Rangers’ rivalries with the Islanders and Devils. The
Metropolitan Riveters, established in 2015, were one of the four charter members of the
National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). They played home games in the
Barnabas Health Hockey House at the Prudential Center in Newark beginning with the
2016–17 NWHL season. In 2017, the Riveters announced they were partnering with the New Jersey Devils, becoming the first NWHL team to officially partner with an NHL team. In 2018, the Riveters won the
Isobel Cup title. The NWHL, which rebranded as the Premier Hockey Federation in 2021, was purchased and dissolved in 2023 as part of an effort to create a new, unified North American women's professional league. This meant that the Riveters folded; however, New York was granted one of six charter franchises in the new
Professional Women's Hockey League.
New York Sirens debuted on January 1, 2024, winning the league's inaugural game. New York City also had a historical NHL team, the
New York Americans (also known as the Amerks, and in 1941–42, the Brooklyn Americans), who played between 1925 and 1942. Predating the Rangers by one season, they were the first hockey team to play in the city, and for most of the life of the franchise shared Madison Square Garden with the Rangers. The franchise was never a big winner, and disbanded during World War II due to financial problems and a depleted roster. The
World Hockey Association team called the New York Raiders and later the
New York Golden Blades played at Madison Square Garden and
Cherry Hill, New Jersey from 1972 until 1974 when they moved to San Diego. A few historical minor league hockey teams played in the New York area in the
Eastern Hockey League. The
New York Rovers started as a farm team of the Rangers in 1935 playing at Madison Square Garden. They moved to the
Long Island Arena in 1959 and became the
Long Island Ducks (ice hockey) until 1973. The
New York Bobcats are a USA Hockey-Sanctioned Tier III Junior Ice Hockey Team at Twin Rinks in Eisenhower Park from 2000 to the present. The
New York Apple Core are a Tier III Junior A Ice Hockey Team in Brewster, New York. The
NHL's headquarters are also located in New York City, at
One Manhattan West.
Soccer match between the
New York Red Bulls and
New York City FC Professional soccer, as in the rest of the country, is rapidly growing in popularity in New York. The
New York Red Bulls of
Major League Soccer (originally known as the "MetroStars" until the team's purchase by Austrian corporation
Red Bull GmbH in 2006) have played in the metropolitan area since the league's founding in 1996. Since 2010 they have played at
Sports Illustrated Stadium, a
soccer-specific stadium in
Harrison, New Jersey, with a capacity of just over 25,000. The Red Bulls have won the
Supporters' Shield, awarded to the team with the best regular season record, on three occasions, most recently in
2018. On May 21, 2013, MLS announced that
New York City FC would be the league's 20th team, jointly owned by the English club
Manchester City F.C. and the New York Yankees. They began playing in MLS in 2015 at
Yankee Stadium in
the Bronx, and became the first New York City-area team to win the
MLS Cup in
2021. After a ten-year campaign to build a stadium within the five boroughs of New York City, the club announced in November 2022 that they had a deal to build
Etihad Park, a privately funded 25,000-seat stadium in the
Willets Point neighborhood of Queens. The new stadium, the first soccer-specific stadium in New York City, will be the centerpiece of a 23-acre redevelopment project in the former industrial area, including a 250-room hotel, 2,500 affordable housing units, retail space and a public elementary school. played for the
New York Cosmos from 1975 to 1977. The New York City area was once home to the
New York Cosmos (1970–1984), which was arguably the most popular American soccer team ever. Playing in the
FIFA-backed, major professional
North American Soccer League (NASL), the Cosmos were known for fielding some of the world's greatest players including
Pelé,
Franz Beckenbauer,
Carlos Alberto Torres,
Johan Neeskens, and
Giorgio Chinaglia. The acquisition of these foreign players, particularly Pelé, made the Cosmos into what Gavin Newsham called "the most glamorous team in world football", and contributed to the development of soccer across the United States. The club won the
Soccer Bowl five times:
1972,
1977,
1978,
1980, and
1982. Soccer Bowl '78, which was held at
Giants Stadium, saw a record crowd of 74,091 – the highest attendance to date for any club soccer championship in the United States. Cosmos road trips, described by traveling secretary Steve Marshall as "like traveling with
the Rolling Stones", saw the team pack out each stadium it visited, while at home, the team attracted numerous high-profile celebrity supporters. While soccer had previously been largely ignored by the American press, the Cosmos and other NASL teams now became regular fixtures on the back pages. The NASL collapsed abruptly in late 1984, and was not replaced by a new professional soccer league until
Major League Soccer's first season in 1996. A feature-length documentary about the New York club, called
Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos, was released in theaters in 2006. The film, narrated by
Matt Dillon, featured interviews with many of the players and personalities involved with the team. A
second Cosmos club was founded in 2010, beginning play in a new second-division
North American Soccer League in 2013. The team most recently played at
Mitchel Athletic Complex in suburban
Uniondale, New York, in the third-division
National Independent Soccer Association before going on hiatus in January 2021. Based in Brooklyn,
Brooklyn FC, fields a women's team in the first-division
USL Super League in 2024 and has a
men's team in the second-division
USL Championship since 2026.
Gotham FC, known before 2021 as Sky Blue FC and NY/NJ Gotham before 2025, is one of the eight charter teams and nine current members of the
National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the third women's professional league in the US. Since 2020, Gotham FC has shared Sports Illustrated Stadium with the New York Red Bulls. The organization had previously been charter members of NWSL's effective predecessor,
Women's Professional Soccer. The league started play in
2009; Sky Blue became the league's inaugural champion despite finishing fourth in the league during the regular season, which meant that they had to play on the road in all three
WPS playoff games. The defunct
New York Power was the region's first professional women's soccer team, playing in the
Women's United Soccer Association from 2000 to 2003. The men's semi-pro teams
Manhattan SC and
F.A. Euro play in the fourth tier of U.S. Soccer in
USL League Two.
Major League Soccer's headquarters are located in New York City, at 420
Fifth Avenue. New York City was one of the host cities of the
1994 FIFA World Cup and will be one of eleven U.S. host cities for the
2026 FIFA World Cup, with the
final taking place at
MetLife Stadium. The city also hosted the
Copa América Centenario final in 2016 and the
2025 FIFA Club World Cup final. New York City is one of six cities outside of
Los Angeles which will host Olympic soccer matches during the
2028 Summer Olympics, with
Etihad Park set to host nine matches including a men’s quarter-final.
Cricket In
Major League Cricket, New York City is represented by
MI New York. In 2023, Major League Cricket gave one of 6
Twenty20 Cricket teams to New York City when MI New York was established to kick off the league's inaugural season. They became the 2023 MLC Champions and became the first ever champions in MLC's history by defeating the
Seattle Orcas in the
2023 Major League Cricket final in 7 wickets. The
Staten Island Cricket Club, established in 1872, is the oldest continuously operating
cricket club in the United States. The New York Metropolitan Cricket League (MCL), established in 1890, is one of the oldest cricket leagues in the country. The MCL conducts matches in
Staten Island,
Brooklyn, and
Nassau County.
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1999 •
2000 •
2009 New York Mets (MLB) 2 World Series titles •
1969 •
1986 New York Giants (MLB) 5 World Series titles •
1905 •
1921 •
1922 •
1933 •
1954 Brooklyn Dodgers (MLB) 1 World Series title •
1955 New York Cubans (NNL) 1 Negro World Series title •
1947 New York Cosmos (NASL) 5 Soccer Bowl titles •
1972 •
1977 •
1978 •
1980 •
1982 New York City FC (MLS) 1 MLS Cup title •
2021 Gotham FC (NWSL) 3 Women's Professional Soccer titles •
2009 •
2023 •
2025 New York Giants (NFL) 4 NFL championships (pre–Super Bowl) •
1927 •
1934 •
1938 •
1956 4 Super Bowl titles •
1986 (
XXI) •
1990 (
XXV) •
2007 (
XLII) •
2011 (
XLVI)
New York Jets (NFL) 1 Super Bowl title •
1968 (
III)
New York Knicks (NBA) 2 NBA Finals titles •
1970 •
1973 New York / Brooklyn Nets (NBA) 2 ABA Finals titles •
1974 •
1976 New York Liberty (WNBA) 1 WNBA Finals title •
2024 New Jersey Devils (NHL) 3 Stanley Cup titles •
1995 •
2000 •
2003 New York Rangers (NHL) 4 Stanley Cup titles •
1928 •
1933 •
1940 •
1994 New York Islanders (NHL) 4 Stanley Cup titles •
1980 •
1981 •
1982 •
1983 Defunct arenas and stadiums {{OSM Location map|coord=|zoom=11|float={}|nolabels=1|width=600|height=600|shape1=n-circle|shape-color1={{#ifeq:{}|1|black|hard blue}}|shape-outline1=white|mark-size1=18|mark-coord1=|mark-title1=
Ebbets Field|mark-coord2=|mark-title2=
Giants Stadium|mark-coord3=|mark-title3=
Madison Square Garden|mark-coord4=|mark-title4=
Meadowlands Arena|mark-coord5=|mark-title5=
Nassau Coliseum|mark-coord6=|mark-title6=
Polo Grounds|mark-coord7=|mark-title7=
Shea Stadium|mark-coord8=|mark-title8=
Yankee Stadium|caption=Location of former major league sports venues in the
New York metropolitan area|auto-caption=1}} Throughout the 20th century, the city had 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, which was torn down in 1960; and the
Polo Grounds in northern
Harlem, which 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. The 2000s saw almost a complete revamping of the area's major sporting venues. This began in 2007, when the Devils moved to
Newark, New Jersey, and opened the
Prudential Center. In 2009, both the Mets and Yankees opened new baseball stadiums adjacent to their old homes, with the Mets replacing
Shea Stadium with
Citi Field and the Yankees building a new
Yankee Stadium. In 2010, the Jets and Giants moved to a new shared facility called New Meadowlands Stadium (now
MetLife Stadium) and the Red Bulls opened their own
soccer-specific stadium in
Harrison, New Jersey,
Red Bull Arena (the three had previously shared
Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey). In 2012, the Nets moved from New Jersey to the
Barclays Center in Brooklyn and became the
Brooklyn Nets. The Islanders left Nassau County, and followed the Nets into Brooklyn in 2015 before returning to a new location in Nassau County in 2021. Other sports-related renovations and construction work is as follows: •
Madison Square Garden, the home of the Knicks and Rangers, underwent a massive renovation from 2010 to 2013 which finished in time for the 2013–14 NHL and NBA seasons. The $850 million transformation included a rebuilding of the seating bowl and concourses, new luxury suites, new LED scoreboard and ribbon boards, and two new spectator bridges that span above the arena on each side of the playing surface. • On August 15, 2013, the Nassau County government announced that
Forest City Ratner had won the bid for the renovation of the
Nassau Coliseum, which was vacated by the Islanders in 2015, pending approval from the Nassau legislature and the Hempstead town government. The site was also previously discussed as a possible location for the New York Jets to build a stadium after their
West Side Stadium project fell through, but the Jets opted to remain in New Jersey instead. However, the Flushing site faced opposition from local communities regarding the usage of park space, as well as the New York Mets, who play nearby, and the project was discarded. The New York City FC expansion team took over the stadium search after its founding, and after looking at locations in the Bronx the club eventually secured
Willets Point, Queens, just north of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, for its stadium site. • The Islanders eventually returned to Nassau County in 2021 with the opening of
UBS Arena adjacent to the
Belmont Park horse racing track in
Elmont. ==Minor league sports==