New York has a strong association with sports as you would expect from a city as big and diverse as the Big Apple. The level of New York’s love for sports is shown by perhaps the most famous of New York landmarks, the Empire State Building even changing its lighting displays to team colors at night to coincide with supporting the New York sports teams if they are playing in the city that day.
Baseball
Probably the most popular sport in New York is that of Baseball. New York is home to the most successful and most famous Baseball team, the New York Yankees. The Yankees play at the world famous Yankee stadium and is open on non match days for tours. The other major league team in the city is the New York Mets. The games between the two are known as the Subway Series. Another big rivalry and the biggest in Baseball is between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. New York also has two minor league teams: the Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones.
Football
America’s most popular sport is of course played in New York and New York is home to two NFL teams: the New York Giants and the New York Jets. Both teams play at the newly constructed MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The stadium was the venue for SuperBowl XLVIII in 2014. New York is also home to the most successful IWFL team: the New York Sharks.
Basketball
New York is also well represented in the Basketball arena too with the New York Knicks playing their games at the famous Madison Square Garden as do the WNBA team, the New York Liberty. New York is also soon to gain another NBA team as the New Jersey Jets are moving to a new stadium in Brooklyn due for completion in 2012.
Hockey
New York has two NHL teams in the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders. The Rangers play their home games at Madison Square Garden and the Islanders play at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island. The headquarters of the NHL are also based in the city.
Soccer
As the popularity of Soccer increases accross the States, New York has one of the most prominent team with the New York Red Bull team playing at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. The Red Bulls have some famous Soccer players on their roster such as former Arsenal and Barcelona striker, Thierry Henry. New York was also previously home to the New York Cosmos, who housed some of the finest soccer players ever such as Pele and Franz Beckenbauer.
Tennis
The fourth and final Tennis grand slam of the year takes place in Flushing Meadows in Queens, New York. The final and other premier games are played at the famous Arthur Ashe stadium. New York has also produced some of the most famous tennis players such as John McEnroe.
The New York Marathon
One of the biggest marathons in the world is held in New York annually. The course takes in many of New York’s landmarks and the course runs through all five New York boroughs. In 2010, there were 45,103 finishers of the race.
It is clear that sports are important and mean a lot to New Yorkers. So if you are visiting this great city and want to experience something that is popular with the locals and bond with them then I strongly recommend attending a sports game. Seeing the Yankees play at Yankee Stadium, the Giants playing at Meadowlands or the Knicks at Madison Square Garden is as much as New York must-see as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.
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