Sports in Denver facts for kids

The city and county of Denver is the capital and most populous city in the state of Colorado. It is located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Rocky Mountains. It is part of the wider Denver metropolitan area which has other populated cities including Aurora, Boulder Lakewood, Westminster, and Castle Rock.

Denver is also home to many professional sports teams who are based out of Denver and surrounding cities in the metro area. It is also one of the twelve American cities to house a team from each of the Big Four major North American sports leagues. All four of its teams play their home games near downtown with three active sports venues which includes Empower Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos, Ball Arena, home of the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets, and Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. There is also a Major League Soccer (MLS) team based in the Denver metro area (Colorado Rapids), but they do not play their home games in the city of Denver and is located in nearby Commerce City.

Denver, and the wider metropolitan area, is home to four college sports teams with two schools having NCAA Division I programs and two schools with NCAA Division II programs. The Colorado Buffaloes are located in Boulder which is part of the metro area while the Denver Pioneers, Metro State Roadrunners and Regis Rangers are located in Denver.

Empower Field at Mile High

Coors Field

Ball Arena

Dick's Sporting Goods Park

Table

The following table shows sports teams in the Denver metropolitan area that average more than 12,000 fans per game:

Other professional teams

Notes:

• The Mammoth won the 2006 NLL Championship.
• The Outlaws won the 2014 MLL Championship.
• The Denver Stampede is due to begin play in the inaugural 2016 PRO Rugby season.

Furniture Row Racing is a NASCAR team and fields the #78 Chevrolet SS for Martin Truex, Jr. The team is owned and sponsored by the U.S. furniture store chain Furniture Row, and is the only NASCAR team headquartered in Colorado.

Event hosting

• Denver co-hosted the 1962 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships (together with Colorado Springs).
• Initially awarded the 1976 Winter Olympics. However, due to rising costs and worries about environmental impact, voters rejected a public-funding ballot measure. Without the bond, Denver could not support the games, and the IOC retracted the award.
• Denver hosted the ABA All-Star Game in 1976 and the 1984 NBA All-Star Game at McNichols Arena.
• Denver also hosted the 1990 NCAA Final Four at McNichols Arena.
• The Ultimate Fighting Championship, which eventually become the world's leading mixed martial arts organization, held its first two events in Denver—UFC 1 on November 12, 1993 and UFC 2 on March 11, 1994.
• The 1998 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Coors Field.
• The 2001 NHL All-Star Game and FanFest at Pepsi Center.
• 2005 NBA All-Star Game at Pepsi Center.
• The 2008 NCAA Frozen Four Tournament was hosted in Denver.
• Denver hosted a yearly auto race on the Champ Car World Series circuit, the Grand Prix of Denver, before that series' demise in 2008.
• The Colorado Colfax Marathon is run through the city annually.
• The Churchill Cup, an annual international competition in rugby union featuring the USA and Canada senior national teams, the England Saxons (that country's second-level national team), and three invited teams, was hosted by Denver in 2009, with matches held at the rugby-specific Infinity Park in Glendale and Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Denver has been suggested as a permanent home for the competition. The 2010 tournament will feature preliminary rounds in Denver. Also, Denver is reportedly in the running to host a Bledisloe Cup match between the Australia and New Zealand national teams, possibly in 2010.
• Denver was the host for Sportaccord 2009, the largest international sports convention in the world.
• The city strongly considered a bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics. In December 2011 a Denver 2022 exploratory committee was launched. Reno-Tahoe was also interested in bidding for 2022.

Images for kids

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  Mile High Stadium was Empower Field's predecessor.