Spectator Sports In Florida

For the less energetic sports fan amongst you, there are plenty of spectator sports in Florida with major league American football, baseball and ice hockey teams all with their homes in Florida.

Professional Football

Florida based NFL (National Football League) professional football teams and NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) college teams include the:

Florida Gators - Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville
Florida State Seminoles - Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee
Jacksonville Jaguars - Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, Jacksonville
Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes - Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens
Jones HS Tigers - Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Tampa Bay Buccaneers and South Florida Bulls - Raymond James Stadium, Tampa
UCF Knights - Bright House Networks Stadium, Orlando

Baseball

The Dolphin Stadium is also home to the Florida Marlins, Florida's only NL (National League) baseball team.

Every year during late February to early April, around half of the American national baseball teams descend on Florida for their annual Spring Training season as part of the Grapefruit League.

If you like to take part in sports, then Florida has plenty of outdoor activities and sports on offer

Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Indians
[Photo courtesy of the Central Florida Visitors & Convention Bureau, www.sunsational.org]

Basketball

Florida also has two professional basketball teams in the NBA (National Basketball Association); Orlando Magic who play at the Amway Arena and Miami Heat who play at the American Airlines Arena.

Ice Hockey

Surprisingly, Florida also has a couple of professional ice hockey teams, the Florida Panthers based at the Bank Atlantic Center, Sunrise, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa Bay Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa who both play in the NHL (National Hockey League).

Horse Racing

There are plenty of horse racing tracks including Calder Race Course, Hialeah Park (currently closed but hoping to restart racing) and Gulfstream Park all in the Miami area, Pompano Park at Pompano Beach and Tampa Bay Downs at Oldsmar just west of Tampa.

Greyhound Racing

Greyhound racing is also popular and their are dog tracks at Daytona Beach, St. Petersburg, Flagler, Hollywood, Bonita Springs, Jacksonville, Monticello, Melbourne, West Palm Beach, Pensacola, Longwood, Sarasota, Casselberry and Tampa.

Rodeos

There are numerous amateur rodeos throughout the year as well as the annual big rodeos that attract professional rodeo stars from across the States.

Motor Sport

For motor racing fans, Florida boasts the Daytona International Speedway and Sebring International Raceway. Two out of the top three endurance races in the world are held in Florida. Sebring has the 12 Hours of Sebring motorsport endurance race and Daytona the Rolex 24 at Daytona sports car endurance race; the third being the Le Mans 24 hours race in France.

Daytona is also home to the world famous Daytona 500 (part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car racing series) as well as other internationally renowned motorcycle and sports car races.

If you want to experience the the thrills of high speed driving for yourself then Disney's Richard Petty Driving Experience at the Disney Speedway near the Magic Kingdom may be just the ticket.