Sports in Georgia include professional teams,Olympic Games contenders and medalists, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations, and active amateur teams and individual sports.
TheAtlanta Braves are aMajor League Baseball (MLB) team that moved to Atlanta in 1966 fromMilwaukee where they were known as the Milwaukee Braves.[1] The Braves play their home games atTruist Park in suburbanCobb County, which opened in 2017 as the replacement forTurner Field, which had been the team's home since the 1997 season. Before then, they played atAtlanta–Fulton County Stadium from 1966 to 1996. They won theWorld Series in 1914 (as the Boston Braves), 1957 (as the Milwaukee Braves), and 1995, 2021 (as the Atlanta Braves). Braves players in theBaseball Hall of Fame includeHank Aaron,Orlando Cepeda,Tom Glavine,Chipper Jones,Greg Maddux,Eddie Mathews,Fred McGriff,Phil Niekro,Gaylord Perry,John Smoltz,Warren Spahn,Bruce Sutter, andHoyt Wilhelm. Two former Braves managers have been inducted to the Hall in that role,Bobby Cox andJoe Torre, although Torre's induction was mainly for his accomplishments with theNew York Yankees. Mathews also served as a Braves manager. Braves executiveJohn Schuerholz entered the Hall in July 2017 for his accomplishments in that role.
The AAA minor league baseballGwinnett Stripers of theInternational League began play atCoolray Field in 2009. TheAtlanta Crackers were the AAA affiliate of the Braves organization before the Braves moved to Atlanta.
TheRome Emperors, previously known as the Macon Braves and the Rome Braves, are aHigh-Aminor league affiliate of theAtlanta Braves playing in theSouth Atlantic League. In 2003, the team moved fromMacon toRome. Their home games are played atState Mutual Stadium, which opened April 11, 2003. Former Atlanta Braves alumni includeBrian McCann, who was a Rome Brave in 2003. After the 2023 season the team changed its name from Braves to Emperors. TheAugusta GreenJackets play in theCarolina League. They were previously affiliated with theSan Francisco Giants from 2005 to 2020; however, since 2021, they have become theSingle-A affiliate of theAtlanta Braves. In 2018, the GreenJackets moved from their namesake ofAugusta into a new ballpark across theSavannah River toSRP Park, inNorth Augusta, South Carolina. TheSavannah Sand Gnats played in the same league from 1984 to 2015, most recently as affiliates of theNew York Mets (2007–2015), but have since relocated toColumbia, South Carolina as theColumbia Fireflies. All three teams were formerly members of the South Atlantic League.
After the relocation of the Sand Gnats, Savannah'sGrayson Stadium became the home of theSavannah Bananas of theCoastal Plain League, awood-bat collegiate summer league, In 2020, the Bananas gained nationwide attention for an unorthodox style of play dubbedBanana Ball, starting a professional exhibition team that plays under that rule set.[2] After the 2022 season, the Bananas shut down their collegiate summer team to focus entirely on their professional exhibition operation.
TheAtlanta Hawks are aNational Basketball Association (NBA) team founded in 1949 and play their home games atState Farm Arena; (previously Philips Arena from 1999 to 2018.) Alexander Memorial Coliseum (nowHank McCamish Pavilion) from 1968 to 1972, theOmni Coliseum from 1972 to 1997, and the Georgia Dome from 1997 to 1999. The Hawks have won oneChampionship, four Conference titles and fourteen Division titles. Notable current and former Hawks includeWalt Bellamy,Cliff Hagan,Connie Hawkins,Bob Houbregs,Moses Malone,Pete Maravich,Ed Macauley,Bob Pettit,Lenny Wilkens,Dominique Wilkins, andTrae Young.[3]
TheAtlanta Dream has played in theWomen's National Basketball Association since 2008. They play their home games atGateway Center Arena.[4]
TheAmerican Basketball Association and theWorld Basketball Association are also represented in Georgia. In the case of the former, Georgia has three teams: theAtlanta Vision,[5] the Rome Legions,[6] and theGeorgia Gwizzlies.[7] The latter association teams are theGeorgia Warriors, theMarietta Storm and theRome Gladiators.[8]
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TheAtlanta Falcons are aNational Football League (NFL) team founded as anexpansion team in 1966.[9] They have played their home games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium inAtlanta since 2017; they previously played at the Georgia Dome; prior to playing at the Georgia Dome, they played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium from 1966 to 1991. The Falcons have won sevenDivision Championships in 1980, 1982, 1998, 2004, 2010, 2012 and 2016 and twoConference Championships in 1998 and 2016. Notable current and former players includeMatt Ryan,Julio Jones,Eric Dickerson,Tommy McDonald,William Andrews,Jeff Van Note,Michael Vick,Jessie Tuggle,Mike Kenn,Marion Campbell,Dan Reeves,Greg Brezina,Ray Buchanan,Buddy Curry,T. J. Duckett,Bill Fralic andWallace Francis.
TheAtlanta Legends played in theAlliance of American Football in 2019, with home games at theGeorgia State Stadium.
Georgia has also been home to severalarena andindoor football teams. Two different teams known as theGeorgia Force played in theArena Football League (AFL). The original version arrived in Georgia after the 2001 season, having relocated fromNashville, Tennessee. This team initially played at Philips Arena, but later moved its home games to the suburb ofDuluth. This version of the Force folded along with the league after the 2008 season. The AFL was relaunched in 2010, and a new version of the Force arrived in 2011 when theAlabama Vipers relocated fromHuntsville. The new Force played the 2011 and 2012 seasons before folding. Georgia has also had various minor league indoor teams in the United Arena League (UAL)af2,National Indoor Football League (NIFL),Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL),American Indoor Football (AIF),World Indoor Football League (WIFL),American Arena League (AAL), and theNational Arena League (NAL), with theColumbus Lions having lasted since 2007 and playing in over five different leagues.
Cumming, Georgia is home to an Arena football team,Peach State Cats, in the United Arena League (UAL).
TheAtlanta Xplosion are aWomen's Professional Football League team. They won the league's 2006 Championship.[10]
Hockey's history in Georgia goes back to the 1970s with theAtlanta Flames, who played in the state until 1980 when they were relocated toCalgary. It was not until October 2, 1999 that hockey formally returned with theAtlanta Thrashers' first game against theNew Jersey Devils.[11] On May 31, 2011 the Thrashers were sold toTrue North Sports and Entertainment. It was announced the team would move to theMTS Centre inWinnipeg and return theWinnipeg Jets name to the NHL, resurrecting the name of thecity's previous NHL team that departed forPhoenix in 1996. The Thrashers played their home games at thePhilips Arena in Atlanta. The Thrashers did not appear in theStanley Cup Finals. They only won one division title during the 2006–07 NHL season and were swept in the first round by the New York Rangers.
Currently, theECHL has only one operating team inGeorgia. TheAtlanta Gladiators play all of their homes games atGas South Arena in Duluth. The team, formerly theMobile Mysticks, moved to Gwinnett County and officially started play in 2003 as the Gwinnett Gladiators; the team changed their name to Atlanta Gladiators in 2015. TheAugusta Lynx were first formed in 1998, but due to financial concerns were forced to cease operations halfway through the 2008 season. The Lynx played their home games atJames Brown Arena. In 2021, a new ECHL franchise was awarded to Savannah, theSavannah Ghost Pirates, and the team plays inEnmarket Arena.
TheMacon Mayhem is currently the only team in Georgia that is part of theSouthern Professional Hockey League. The Mayhem were founded in 2015 after theAugusta RiverHawks suspended operations for the 2013–14 season because of a failure of their home arena's ice system and subsequently relocated toMacon, Georgia, after going dormant for two seasons.
TheColumbus Cottonmouths were a hockey team that played for 21 seasons over three separate leagues. The team was founded in 1996 as a member of theCentral Hockey League.[12] In 2001, the organization obtained a franchise in theEast Coast Hockey League (later called just ECHL) before joining theSouthern Professional Hockey League as one of its inaugural members. The organization suspended operations in 2017 when the owners could no longer fund the team and failed to find new owners.[13] Columbus got another professional hockey team in 2019 as theColumbus River Dragons with different owners.
TheAtlanta Silverbacks were aNorth American Soccer League team founded in 1999. The Silverbacks played at theAtlanta Silverbacks Park.[14] The also had a women's team calledAtlanta Silverbacks Women that played in theW-League. Both teams ceased operations after the 2015 season, the men's team due to a lack of ownership and the women's team due to the W-League ceasing operations.
Augusta FireBall United, also known asAugusta FireBall, was an American soccer team that was founded in 2005. The team was a member of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of theAmerican Soccer Pyramid, until 2006, when the team left the league and the franchise was terminated. They played their home games atPatriots Park inAugusta, Georgia.
TheAtlanta Beat was an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The team joinedWomen's Professional Soccer (WPS) as an expansion team in 2010, and played its home games at Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium (nowFifth Third Bank Stadium), the result of a public-private partnership between the team andKennesaw State University. The club succeeded the formerAtlanta Beat of the defunctWomen's United Soccer Association. The Beat folded along with WPS after the 2012 season, and the Atlanta area does not have a team in WPS' effective successor, the currentNational Women's Soccer League.
Atlanta was awarded aMajor League Soccer expansion team in April 2014.Atlanta United FC began play in the league in 2017. Atlanta United won theMLS Cup on December 8, 2018.
South Georgia Tormenta FC is based out ofStatesboro, Georgia, and began play in 2016 in the amateurPremier Development League. The team moved up to the professional ranks as the first team to join the third tierUSL League One, which began play in 2019. The team currently plays at Tormenta FC Stadium and has finished the first phase of soccer-specific stadium, which opened in 2022, the same year Tormenta wins the USL League One Final.
Atlanta will receive aNWSL team in 2028.
TheMasters Tournament, played inAugusta atAugusta National Golf Club in April is one of four major golf tournaments played in the United States. The tournament was created in 1931 byBobby Jones andClifford Roberts, a financier fromNew York City. The course was designed by golf course architectAlister MacKenzie.[15] Notable golfers from Georgia include Atlanta native Jones, noted as the greatest amateur golfer ever,[16]Davis Love III ofSea Island[17] andTommy Aaron ofGainesville.[18]
Georgia has professionalRugby league andRugby union clubs based inAtlanta. TheAtlanta Rhinos joined theNorth American Rugby League for its inaugural season in 2022.[19] They previously played semi-professionally in theUSA Rugby League, winning 1 championship in 2017.Rugby ATL were founded in 2018 and began play inMajor League Rugby in 2020.[20][21]
Georgia is home to approximately twenty-two race tracks and drag strips. Some of the twenty-two tracks in Georgia are theAtlanta Motor Speedway,Road Atlanta (where thePetit Le Mans is held),Atlanta Dragway,Dixie Speedway andRoebling Road Raceway.[22] One of the most famous racers to come from Georgia isBill Elliott.[23]
Many observers considerDawsonville one of the birthplaces ofNASCAR because so many individuals involved in the sport were from that city. Notable racers from Dawsonville includeBill Elliott,Chase Elliott, Roy Hall andLloyd Seay.[24] Since 1951 Georgia tracks have hosted two to eight races in NASCAR's elite division.[24] Dawsonville is home to theGeorgia Racing Hall of Fame.[24]
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The state of Georgia has 29 schools competing in theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and 13 schools in theNAIA.
SevenDivision I institutions are recognized by the NCAA.
Five field football teams in the top level ofcollege football,Division I FBS:
The Georgia Bulldogs and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have a historical rivalry in college football known asClean, Old-Fashioned Hate. Georgia Southern and Georgia State have a more recent rivalry in multiple sports known asModern Day Hate.
The remaining two field football teams in the second-tierDivision I FCS.
A total of 15 institutions are members ofNCAA Division II.
LaGrange College is in the NCAA Division III with 14 sports, and competes as a member of theCollegiate Conference of the South. The school's most successful athletic program is its men's golf team, which is perennially among the nation's best.
Georgia has seven other institutions in Division III. They are:
Atlanta was the site of the1996 Summer Olympics and the1996 Summer Paralympics. The Olympics were held from July 19 until August 4, 1996.[25] It was during this time, on July 27, 1996, that abombing took place in Centennial Park killing two and injuring 111 people.[citation needed] The Paralympics were held from August 15 to August 29, 2006.
Atlanta will serve as one of eleven US host cities for the2026 FIFA World Cup.[26]
Several people from Georgia, or from Georgia schools, have received gold medals at the Olympics over the years. Some of those gold medalists are:
 College sports teams inGeorgia | |
|---|---|
| NCAA Division I | |
| NCAA Division II | |
| NCAA Division III | |
| NAIA | |
| NJCAA Division I | |
| NCCAA Divisions I and II | |
