The city ofToronto, Ontario, Canada, has a long history ofsport. It is home to a number teams inNorth American major professional leagues, as well as clubs such as theGranite Club (est. 1836),^{[clarification needed]} theRoyal Canadian Yacht Club (est. 1852), theToronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club (est. pre-1827), theArgonaut Rowing Club (est. 1872),Toronto Argonauts football club (est. 1873), theToronto Lawn Tennis Club (est. 1881), and the Badminton and Racquet Club (est. 1924).^[1] A number of heritage venues have developed in Toronto such as:Christie Pits (est. 1899),Coca-Cola Coliseum (est. 1921),Varsity Arena (est. 1926), andMaple Leaf Gardens (est. 1931). Toronto is also the location of theHockey Hall of Fame andCanadian Football League's headquarters.

Toronto is notable amongCanadian cities in sports for havingseveral sports teams associated withAmerican based professional leagues, particularly the mostCanadian pro-sports teams in themajor leagues.

Toronto has teams in nearly everyNorth American major professional league, including theToronto Blue Jays (MLB),Toronto Argonauts (CFL),Toronto Raptors (NBA),Toronto FC (MLS) andToronto Maple Leafs (NHL). Toronto is one of six North American cities (alongsideChicago,Los Angeles,Washington, D.C.,Miami, andthe New York Tri-state area) to have wontitles in its five major leagues (MLB, NHL, NBA, MLS and eitherNFL or CFL), and the only one to have done so in the Canadian Football League.

Rogers Communications operates the Toronto Blue Jaysbaseball team through Rogers Blue Jays Baseball Partnership and the Rogers Centre. Rogers Communications also own 75 per cent ofMaple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which itself owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Argonauts, and Toronto FC ofMajor League Soccer, as well as their minor leaguefarm teams, theToronto Marlies of theAmerican Hockey League (AHL),Raptors 905 of theNBA G League andToronto FC II ofMLS Next Pro.

The city also has teams inProminent women's sports leagues in the United States and Canada, including theToronto Sceptres (PWHL),Toronto Tempo (WNBA) andAFC Toronto (NSL).

TheRaptors 905 is anNBA G League basketball team that primarily plays home games at theParamount Fine Foods Centre in the neighbouring city ofMississauga, although they do play occasional home games at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The Raptors 905 was named after the905 area code used by the metropolitan area surrounding the City of Toronto.^[4]

TheToronto Rock is aNational Lacrosse League team is based outside thecity limits of Toronto, but is located within theGreater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). The team played their home games in Toronto from 1999 to 2021, when it relocated toTD Coliseum inHamilton, Ontario. Although the team is no longer physically based Toronto, the team continues to useToronto as a part of its moniker; claiming that the Rock represents the entire province, and the GTHA in particular.^[5] For the 2025 NLL season, the Toronto Rock returned to theGreater Toronto Area to play their home games at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga while TD Coliseum undergoes renovations.^[6]

TheToronto Ultra have competed in theCall of Duty League since 2020, playing atMattamy Athletic Centre.

Three public universities in Toronto operate avarsity program. They includeToronto Metropolitan University and theTMU Bold (est. 1948), theUniversity of Toronto and theVarsity Blues (est. 1877), andYork University and theYork Lions (est. 1968). The athletic programs of the three universities are a part of theOntario University Athletics program, which itself is a member ofU Sports.

TheUniversity of Guelph-Humber is a jointly operated post-secondary institution in Toronto between theUniversity of Guelph (based inGuelph), andHumber College, and does not maintain its athletic programs. However, students attending Guelph-Humber can participate in the varsity programs of Guelph-Humber's parent institutions, including theGuelph Gryphons, or the Humber Hawks.

Two independent public universities based in Toronto do not operate a competitive athletics program,OCAD University, and theUniversité de l'Ontario français.Tyndale University, a private university andseminary in Toronto, maintains several student athletic clubs, although these teams do not compete at a varsity level.

There are presently four publiccolleges in Toronto that operate a competitive athletics program. They includeCentennial College's Centennial Colts,George Brown College's George Brown Huskies, Humber College's Humber Hawks, and theSeneca College's Seneca Sting. All four college varsity programs are members of theOntario Colleges Athletic Association; which itself is a member of theCanadian Collegiate Athletic Association.

Students ofCollège Boréal's Toronto campus are also able to compete for that college's athletic programs; although most of the athletic facilities for the Collège Boréal Vipères is based outside Toronto, at the university's main campus inGreater Sudbury.

• GTA Grizzlies

There are several social athletics and sporting clubs in Toronto. They include:

There are several sporting venues used in Toronto that host professional sport teams and major events. Many of these venues are multi-purpose and can host a variety of sports. However, a select number of venues are dedicated to hosting only a specific type of sport.

Several venues are located near one another, like inExhibition Place, whose grounds are also used as arace course for theHonda Indy Toronto and theToronto Marathon. TheDiscovery District andYork University Heights are neighbourhoods that also hold several sporting venues, most of which were built by the University of Toronto and York University respectively.

The following is a list of sporting venues in Toronto that either host professional sports teams or major national or international events:

Several professional teams also maintain a practice facility. As opposed to arenas and stadiums, these facilities are dedicated to thepractice and training of professional athletes. These facilities are typically not used to host official games or events. Some professional teams do not have a dedicated practice facility and instead utilize other existing facilities, like theToronto Argonauts withCoca-Cola Coliseum (weight rooms) andLamport Stadium (practice field).

The following are practice facilities in Toronto used by professional teams:

The following is a list of arenas and stadiums that hosted professional teams, but were later demolished:

Several multi-purpose sports venues are open to the community and are operated by themunicipal government of Toronto or a private sporting club. Regular access to these venues is provided for the public, although several multi-purpose sports venues are owned by private sporting clubs, and may require membership for access to its facilities. In addition to the public, severalsemi-professional sports and amateur teams also make use of these community venues.

The following is a list of multi-purpose sports venues in Toronto that are used by the community. Venues dedicated to a specific sport, likebowling alleys,curling rinks,golf courses, andice hockey rinks are not included:

Universities in Toronto manage several sports facilities for their students, varsity programs, and athletic clubs. These venues are also utilized by several other sports clubs in Toronto, with notable examples being the Mattamy Athletic Centre and York Lions Stadium, both of which serve as hosts to professional teams. Some university varsity teams practice and play in community venues or parks, like TMU Bold's varsity soccer teams, which play atDownsview Park.

The following is a list of sporting venues in Toronto operated by universities:

Toronto currently has seven differentAustralian rules football teams called theBroadview Hawks,High Park Demons,Central Blues,Etobicoke Kangaroos,Lakeshore Rebels,Toronto Downtown Dingos, and theToronto Eagles. In addition to teams based in Toronto, two teams from theAFL Ontario are also based within theGreater Golden Horseshoe, theHamilton Wildcats and theGrand River Gargoyles. Some of these organizations operate a men's and women's team.

TheHonda Indy Toronto was anIndyCar Series race, held annually in July on a temporarystreet circuit. The start/finish line was located on Princes' Boulevard, slightly west of Newfoundland Drive. From the Start/Finish line, drivers headed East towards the Princes' Gates, turning right (south) onto Canada Boulevard before reaching the gate. From Canada Boulevard, the track went right onto Lake Shore Boulevard (west) which included the longest straightaway on the circuit, running through Exhibition Place and onLake Shore Boulevard. Drivers re-entered the Exhibition grounds at Ontario Drive, heading north towards Prince's Boulevard where they turned left (west). The circuit continued on to Manitoba Drive and headed north-east then east until reaching Nova Scotia Avenue. At Nova Scotia Avenue, drivers turned right (south) then navigated a left-right-left series of turns until rejoining Prince's Boulevard and heading east towards the start/finish line.

The city has hosted the race for over thirty years. During its final run in 2025, it was IndyCar's second-longest running street race, only behind theGrand Prix of Long Beach^[7] and the fourth oldest race on the current IndyCar schedule in terms of number of races run.^[8]

On September 2025, it was announced that the event would be moved to the city ofMarkham, Ontario for the 2026 season as part of a 5-year deal for theIndyCar Series at Markham Centre.^[9][10][11]

Historically, the city played host to the1958 Jim Mideon 500, aNASCARCup Series racing event at Exhibition Stadium. Legendary NASCAR driverLee Petty won this race, defeating his sonRichard in the latter's Cup Series debut.

Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, formerly known as Mosport Park, is located approximately 100 km east of Toronto in the community ofBowmanville. The venue holds the unique distinction in motorsport of having hostedFormula One,IndyCar,NASCAR,Can-Am,MotoGP andWorld Superbike events. The track hosts Canada's largest annual sportscar race, theMobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix part of theIMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, theNASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250, theNASCAR Pinty's Series, thePirelli World Challenge and theCanadian Superbike Championship along with other events. The track was the original home ofFormula One'sCanadian Grand Prix from 1961 to 1977 (except for 1968 and 1970).

Main articles:Toronto Blue Jays,History of the Toronto Blue Jays,Toronto Maple Leafs (International League), andToronto Maple Leafs (Canadian Baseball League)

Professional baseball has had a presence in the city at the minor league level since 1896 with theToronto Maple Leafs of the AAAInternational League. It was in a game against the Leafs on September 4, 1914, atHanlan's Point Stadium whereBabe Ruth hit his first professionalhome run^[12] while also pitching a complete gameone-hitter for the visitingProvidence Grays. A year after the conclusion of his MLB career, hall of famerNap Lajoie served as player manager for the Maple Leafs in 1917, winning the International League's batting title with a .380 average at 42 years of age, while also managing his team to the league's championship in his only season with the team. In 1926, hall of fame pitcherCarl Hubbell was assigned to the Maple Leafs, and finished the season with a 7–7 record on that championship winning team. In 1943, hall of fame hitterRalph Kiner was assigned to play with the Maple Leafs, but left the team after a few weeks upon being called to duty by the U.S. Navy. Hall of famerSparky Anderson was also a member of the Leafs as both a player (1960–1963) and a manager (1964).^[12]

Toronto interests long pursued a major league team for the city. Toronto was proposed as the home for aNational League (NL) team byAlbert Spalding when he was established the league in 1876.^[12] Exhibition games were played by both the NL andAmerican League (AL) ofMajor League Baseball (MLB) in Toronto in the 1910s.^[13]Member of ParliamentBernard Rickart Hepburn was granted a Toronto franchise by theFederal League,^[14][15] a rival major league to the NL and AL, for its inaugural season in 1914,^[15][16][17] after the franchise was revoked fromCleveland.^[18][19] After speculation the franchise would be returned to Cleveland^[19][20] or moved toCincinnati,^[21][22][23] it was transferred toBrooklyn to become theBrooklyn Tip-Tops prior to playing a game in Toronto.^[24][25] Hepburn cited his inability to find a park to play at in short notice as the reason the team didn't launch.^[15] However, he secured an agreement with the league which granted him the rights to a team for the following season.^[15] Though Toronto would be proposed as the new home to theKansas City Packers Federal League franchise for the 1915 season,^[26] no team ever came to fruition in the city.

Toronto interests put forward a bid to buy theWashington Nationals to move them to Toronto in 1918 when there was discussion of the team relocating.^{[13][27][28][29]} The following year it was reported that there were plans for theBoston Red Sox,Chicago White Sox andNew York Yankees, which were dissatisfied with the President of the ALBan Johnson, to break away and form their own new major league, which would include Toronto.^[30] In 1922 a Toronto group attempted to purchase the Boston Red Sox to relocate them to Toronto.^[31][32] The owner of theBoston Braves,Lou Perini, tried to sell his team to Toronto interests in the early 1950s before relocating them to become theMilwaukee Braves.^[33] While owning the Maple Leafs baseball team,Jack Kent Cooke set his sights on bringing MLB to Toronto. He made a bid on theSt. Louis Browns in 1953,^[34] but the team was sold to a competing group which relocated them to become theBaltimore Orioles the following season.^[35] The AL considered Toronto as a potential home for thePhiladelphia Athletics before they became theKansas City Athletics in 1955,^[36][37] after Cooke bid on them,^[38] but the city's lack of a major league venue was an obstacle to acquiring a team.^[35][36] Cooke unsuccessfully bid on theDetroit Tigers in 1956,^[38][39][40] reportedly to move them to Toronto.^[33] In 1957 he submitted a bid for a NL expansion team for Toronto.^{[38][41][42][43]} In 1958, Cooke offered to withdraw from Toronto if theLos Angeles Dodgers, who were considering relocating, moved to the city, in exchange for partial ownership of the club.^{[44][45][46][47]} That same year it was reported that Toronto was one of the cities that the owner of theWashington Senators was considering relocating his team to.^[48] In 1959 Cooke became one of the founding owners in theContinental League, a proposed third major league of baseball, getting a team for Toronto for a fee of $50,000,^[49] but the league disbanded a year later without ever staging a game. Cooke later applied to the AL for a Toronto expansion team in 1960, but found the expansion terms too onerous,^{[50][51][52][53]} and considered purchasing theCincinnati Reds for Toronto in 1961 after their owner died.^[54]

In 1967, with mounting losses, the owner of the baseball Maple Leafs sough a buyer to keep the team in Toronto.^[55][56]Maple Leaf Gardens Limited, owner of the Maple Leafs of the NHL, considered purchasing the team,^{[55][56][57][58]} but the deal ultimately fell apart due to concerns about the team's home,Maple Leaf Stadium, which needed up to $250,000 in repairs and whose owner wanted $4 million to purchase it.^[56][57] Harold Ballard, part owner of MLGL, said that the company's interest was due in part to help position itself to go after an MLB franchise for Toronto.^[56][57] The team was subsequently relocated out of Toronto toLouisville, Kentucky.

In 1967, a Toronto group was one of six to submit a bid for a NL expansion team.^[59][60] In 1971, Howard Webster, chairman ofThe Globe and Mail, made an offer to purchase theSan Diego Padres and relocate them to Toronto but it was refused.^[33][61] In early 1974, MLGL announced plans to build a new baseball stadium in Toronto,^[62] however the city ultimately decided later that year to aCA$2.8 million renovation ofExhibition Stadium to make it suitable for baseball.^[63][64][65]

Later that year a group called Canadian Baseball Co. led by Sydney Cooper submitted an application to both the AL and NL for a franchise.^[66][67][68] Cooper had previously been part of Webster's group.^[66] At the time it was reported that there were at least four groups bidding for a Toronto team, including ones led byLabatt Brewing Company, MLGL^[67] and Robert Hunter, the former President of the International League Maple Leafs, in addition to Canadian Baseball Co.^{[66][68][69][70]} Lorne Duguid, vice-president ofHiram Walker Distillers and MLGL executive, led MLGL's bid.^[67]

In 1975, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles stated that he was in negotiations to sell his team to a Toronto group.^[71] The following January,San Francisco Giants ownerHorace Stoneham agreed to sell the team for $13.25 million to a group headed by Labatt, which also included Vulcan Assets Ltd. (owned by Webster) andCanadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), intending to relocate it to Toronto.^[72] The team would have begun play in the 1976 season at Exhibition Stadium, and be called the Toronto Giants.^[73] However the plan to move the Giants was quashed by a U.S. court.^[74] The MLGL group also bid on the Giants, with Ballard stating that they had offered $15 million for the team,^[75] after having previously negotiated with the owners of the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox,Cleveland Indians^[76] andOakland Athletics in their attempt to acquire a team for Toronto.^[77]

MLB decided to expand in 1976 to settle a lawsuit filed by the local governments inSeattle, Washington against the American League forbreach of contract, due to the relocation in 1970 of theirSeattle Pilots to Milwaukee after only one season.^[78] To keep the league with an even number of teams with the addition of a new Seattleexpansion franchise, a formal expansion proceeding was held. While the Labatt group initially pursued a NL expansion team, but when the NL only agreed to consider expanding in March 1976, while the AL voted to grant Toronto a team,^[79][80] they switched gears. A second Toronto group backed byCarling O'Keefe also applied for the AL expansion team.^[79][80][81] Less than a week later, the AL awarded the team to the group comprising Labatt Breweries (45%), Webster (45%), and theCanadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) (10%), for $7 million.^{[82][83][79][84][85][86][87]} A few days later the NL had their own vote on expanding to Toronto and Washington, but while receiving a majority support of 10–2 it failed to pass due to lack of unanimity and was put off for two weeks.^[81][88][89] The NL objected to the AL's expansion in to Toronto, arguing that the NL was a better match for the city with a natural rivalry with theMontreal Expos, and asked baseball commissionerBowie Kuhn to intervene so they could reconsider their own expansion plans.^[88][89] Kuhn, who preferred Toronto get a NL expansion team while the second AL expansion team be awawrded toNew Orleans, requested a moratorium on the AL's expansion plans.^[90][91] However, after a second non-unanimous vote by the NL on expanding to Toronto^[88][92][93] left Toronto uncontested to the AL.

TheToronto Blue Jays' inaugural campaign was in 1977 with Exhibition Stadium chosen as the site for the team's home games. Built in the 1950s, it was rebuilt in 1976 to satisfy the requirements for baseball. In 1989, the team moved to the newly built SkyDome (now known as theRogers Centre). Although the team performed poorly, placing last in theAmerican League East for each of its first three years, successful drafting and team management resulted in improved performance that led to the team's first pennant in 1985, and culminated with consecutiveWorld Series victories in 1992 and 1993.

The city is also home to theToronto Maple Leafs baseball club of theCanadian Baseball League. From 1969-2025, the team operated as asemi-professional sports team but will operate as aprofessional sports team from 2026 onward.

Toronto has also hosted parts of the2009 World Baseball Classic.

Main articles:Toronto Raptors,Toronto Tempo,Raptors 905,Toronto Huskies,Toronto Tornados,Buffalo Braves,Scarborough Shooting Stars, andBioSteel All-Canadian Basketball Game

Basketball is among the fastest growing sports in Toronto and is the most popular sport among the city's youth andmillennials.^[94] Although not as historically entrenched in Toronto culture as other sports, basketball does have significant milestones in the city. The first major professional basketball game in the city was an exhibition between theFort Wayne Zollner Pistons andRochester Royals of theNational Basketball League at the Gardens in 1946.^[95][96][97] The first game of the professionalBasketball Association of America, forerunner of theNational Basketball Association (NBA), was contested at Maple Leaf Gardens (MLG) between theToronto Huskies and theNew York Knickerbockers on November 1, 1946.^[98] However, the Huskies folded after the league's inaugural season following losses thought to total $60,000.^[99] Numerous exhibition and regular season NBA andAmerican Basketball Association (ABA) games were held at both MLG andSkyDome over the years,^{[100][101][102][103][104][105]} including a total of 16 regular seasonBuffalo Braves games at MLG from 1971 to 1975^[106] in an attempt to gauge the city's interest in a full-time team.^[107]

Ruby Richman, the former coach of Canada's national basketball team, working with the head of Maple Leaf Gardens Limited (MLGL) Harold Ballard, pursued a number of existing ABA and NBA teams to relocate to the city in the 1970s.^{[108][109][110]} Richman had a tentative agreement to purchase both theMiami Floridians andPittsburgh Condors of the ABA with the plan to merge them into a single Toronto-based team, but the deal fell through.^[108] Later Richman held negotiations with theDetroit Pistons, which were seeking $5 million for the franchise, but pulled out when the price was raised to $8.25 million.^[108] MLGL attempted to purchase the Braves for $8.5 million and relocate them to Toronto in 1974,^{[108][111][112]} and again several times later,^{[108][113][114][115]} with Carling O'Keefe also considering purchasing the team in 1976,^[116] but the owners eventually chose to move the team toSan Diego.^[117][118]

When Toronto was awarded an expansion NBA franchise in 1974 for the 1975–76 season^{[109][119][120]} MLGL was one of three groups to bid for the rights to the team,^{[109][119][121][122]} but the club never materialized since no group was able to secure funding for the expansion fee of at least $6.15 million.^{[111][123][124]} MLGL attempted to purchase and relocate theHouston Rockets in 1975, which were seeking $8 million for the team, but the teams lease ultimately prevented a relocation.^{[108][110][125]} In 1976, MLGL attempted to buy theAtlanta Hawks.^[113][120] In 1979, a Toronto group which included Ballard again pushed for an expansion franchise, but lost out to theDallas Mavericks.^[126][127]

Toronto interests considered purchasing and relocating theKansas City Kings in 1979.^[128] In 1983,Cleveland Cavaliers ownerTed Stepien stated that "the chances are 999-to-1" that his team would be relocated and renamed the Toronto Towers, playing their games in MLG,^[129] with Carling O'Keefe thought to be involved financially in the deal,^[130] but he ultimately sold it to a local group.^[131] A Toronto group which includedBill Ballard, son of Harold, andBasketball Hall of FamerWilt Chamberlain submitted an application and $100,000 deposit for an NBA expansion franchise for MLG in 1986, but of the six cities to apply^[132][133] Toronto was not one of the four which were successful.^[134]Larry Tanenbaum attempted to purchase and relocate theDenver Nuggets to Toronto in 1991, but the team could not get out of its lease at theMcNichols Arena. Tanenbaum later pursued theNew Jersey Nets andSan Antonio Spurs unsuccessfully.^[135][136] Ultimately, the NBA awarded an expansion franchise toJohn Bitove, over Tanenbaum's group which had partnered with the Maple Leafs^[137] and a third group led by Bill Ballard andMichael Cohl which includedMagic Johnson,^[138][139] and theToronto Raptors joined the NBA for the 1995–96 season, giving the city its own team once again. The franchise was one of two Canadian expansion teams announced by the NBA in 1993, the other being theVancouver Grizzlies, which moved south of the border toMemphis after the 2000–01 season.

TheToronto Tornados of the minor leagueContinental Basketball Association played in the city from 1983 to 1985 before being relocated toPensacola, Florida in the middle of their third season to become thePensacola Tornados.

Toronto has also hosted parts of the1994 FIBA World Championship tournament alongsideHamilton, Ontario from August 4 to 14, 1994. The tournament was held atSkyDome^[140] andMaple Leaf Gardens in Toronto^[141] as well as atCopps Coliseum inHamilton.^[141] The hosting duties were originally awarded toBelgrade,Yugoslavia, but after United Nationslimited participation in sporting events in Yugoslavia, Toronto stepped in as a replacement option in 1992. This also marked the first time that this tournament would allow current American NBA players that had already played in an official NBA regular season game to participate. Prior to that only professionals from other leagues were allowed to compete, since players from other leagues were still considered amateurs.^[142] The tournament was won by the United States'sDream Team II, who beatRussia 137–91 in the Final at SkyDome.

Since 2015, Toronto has hosted theBioSteel All-Canadian Basketball Game, an annual all-star game showcasing the country's top high school basketball players of the year, at theGoldring Centre for High Performance Sport on the campus of theUniversity of Toronto.

Toronto hosted the2016 NBA All-Star Game weekend February 12–14, 2016. The All-Star Weekend events were held atAir Canada Centre andRicoh Coliseum. This marked the first time that an NBA All-Star Weekend was ever hosted outside the United States.

On July 27, 2018,Scotiabank Arena hosted week 6 of the2018 Big3 season. TheBig3 is a professional3x3 basketball league founded byIce Cube comprising eight teams, each featuring rosters of retired NBA players, with all league games played in one session as a quadruple-header. Toronto is the lone non-American venue city to host a Big3 event.

The Toronto Raptors hosted their first everNBA Finals in 2019 vs. theGolden State Warriors. Game 1, which was played on May 30, 2019, atScotiabank Arena, marked the first everNBA Finals game to be held outside the United States. On June 13, 2019, the Raptors defeated the Warriors in Game 6 atOracle Arena inOakland, California, to win their first everLarry O'Brien Championship Trophy, which was also thefirst ever NBA championship won by a team based outside of the United States.

On August 15, 2021 theScarborough Shooting Stars were announced as one of two new expansion teams for theCEBL, & the first franchise to be based in theGreater Toronto Area.^[143] They played their first ever CEBL game on May 26, 2022 inGuelph, Ontario vs. theGuelph Nighthawks, and played their first ever home game on June 4, 2022 vs. theHamilton Honey Badgers at theToronto Pan Am Sports Centre.

On May 13, 2023, Scotiabank Arena hosted a preseasonWNBA game between theMinnesota Lynx & theChicago Sky with the Sky defeating the Lynx 82-74. This marked the first ever WNBA game of any sort to have been played in Canada, and it was played before a sold-out crowd of 19,800. WNBA commissionerCathy Engelbert remarked that the league was "thrilled with the reception" and that Toronto "scored really well" and "is very high on the list" of about 10 cities for potential expansion.^[144][145] On May 23, 2024, theToronto Tempo was created and will begin play in 2026 at theCoca-Cola Coliseum.

TheCaribbean Premier League professionalTwenty20cricket league has discussed its desire to place a franchise in Toronto.^[146][147]

TheGlobal T20 Canada is a20-overcricket tournament played in Canada.^[148] Thefirst season of the tournament started in June 2018, with six teams competing, including theToronto Nationals.^[148] TheMaple Leaf Cricket Club inKing City, Ontario hosted all matches for the first season of the competition.^[149] From the second season in 2019, the tournament was relocated to theTD Cricket Arena at the Sports Complex inBrampton, Ontario.^{[150][151][152]} After playing four seasons (2018, 2019, 2023, 2024), the tournament was suspended afterCricket Canada announced the termination of their contract with Bombay Sports Limited on December 2024 forbreach of contract.^[153]

On February 14, 2025, Cricket Canada, in partnership with British-based Star 333 Sports Inc., announced the launch of the newCanada Super60 cricket league, a10-over tournament to debut in October 2025 atBC Place in Vancouver.^[154][155] TheToronto Sixers will be one of six teams competing in the tournament.^[156]

In 2025 it was reported that Toronto was being considered as an expansion location for a newMajor League Cricket team to be launched by 2027.^[157][158]

Outside of2014 &2021, Toronto has hosted thePlayers' Championshipbonspiels, the finalcurling event of theGrand Slam of Curling tour, since2013 at theMattamy Athletic Centre.

There are several golf courses in Toronto. Five of these golf courses are maintained by the municipal government of Toronto, including Dentonia Park Golf Course, Don Valley Golf Course, Humber Valley Golf Course, Scarlett Woods Golf Course, and Tam O’Shanter Golf Course.^[159] In addition to publicly operated golf courses, several private golf andcountry clubs also maintain golf courses in the city, including the Cedar Brae Golf Club, the Centennial Park Golf Club, the Donalda Club, theLambton Golf and Country Club, the Markland Wood Golf Club, theRosedale Golf Club, the Royal Woodbine Golf Club, theScarboro Golf and Country Club, and theToronto Hunt Club.

Several private golf clubs whose members are based in Toronto and that once operated a golf course within the city limits include the Ladies' Golf Club of Toronto and theToronto Golf Club, although the former club later moved its course toMarkham, Ontario while Toronto Golf Club moved toMississauga. In addition to these golf clubs, several other golf courses operate adjacent to the City of Toronto.

Several golf courses in Toronto managed by private golf clubs have hosted professional golf tournaments in years past. This includes theCanadian Open, theCanadian PGA Championship, theCanadian Women's Open, theLabatt Open, and theOntario Open. St. George's Golf and Country Club has hosted six Canadian Opens tournaments, the most out of any golf course in the city. The last golf course in the city to host a tournament wasOakdale Golf & Country Club in 2023.

Horse racing meets are held atWoodbine Racetrack in the northwestern suburb of Rexdale in Toronto. Woodbine is the only horse racing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging,thoroughbred andstandardbred racing programs on the same day. Woodbine hosts two of the three legs of theCanadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing—the openingQueen's Plate on itsPolytrack synthetic dirt course, and the closingBreeders' Stakes on grass. In 1996 Woodbine became the first and only track outside the United States to host theBreeders' Cup World Championships. The Woodbine facility is also home to theCanadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Main articles:Toronto Maple Leafs,Toronto Blueshirts,Toronto Arenas,Toronto St. Patricks,Toronto Ontarios,Toronto Tecumsehs,Toronto 228th Battalion (NHA),Toronto Toros,Toronto Marlies,Toronto Roadrunners,Toronto Furies,Toronto Six, andToronto Sceptres

The city is known for theToronto Maple Leafs of theNational Hockey League, a team with passionate support in the city, and the most financially successful sports franchise in the country. The team built Maple Leaf Gardens, a sporting venue which served as the home arena for the Maple Leafs, and was also used for cultural and other events. Since 1999, they have played in theScotiabank Arena (initially referred to as the Air Canada Centre). The team's roots stretch back to theToronto Blueshirts of theNational Hockey Association, the predecessor to the NHL. The NHA was founded in 1909 without any teams from Toronto. In 1911, theArena Gardens was being built andAmbrose O'Brien, who had operated four NHA franchises but decided to get out of the business, sold two of his franchises to Toronto-based groups. The Toronto Hockey Club purchased one, which would become known as the Blueshirts, and a second was sold to a group affiliated with theTecumseh Lacrosse Club for $500 cash and promissory notes for $2,000 which would be called theToronto Tecumsehs. They were scheduled to begin play in the 1911–12 season, but construction delays led to the two Toronto teams being dropped from the schedule and they instead began play in 1912–13.After a year of play, the Tecumsehs were sold and renamed theToronto Ontarios. The following year the team was purchased byEddie Livingstone, who renamed them the Toronto Shamrocks in January 1915. Later that year, Livingstone purchased the Blueshirts giving him ownership of two NHA teams, but after thePacific Coast Hockey Association raids left him with only enough players for one team, he transferred Shamrocks players to the Blueshirts and only the Blueshirts competed in the1915–16 NHA season. When Livingstone failed to sell the Shamrocks, the NHA seized the franchise, which was left dormant for the year before being reactivated in1916–17, awarding it to a Canadian military team, theToronto 228th Battalion. When the regiment was ordered overseas in February 1917, the team was forced to withdraw. That left the NHA with an odd number of teams, and as a result, the team owners, who wanted Livingstone out of the league, decided to suspend operations of the Blueshirts for the remainder of the season. Following the end of the season, Toronto was reinstated, with the condition that the club was to be sold within 60 days. However, Livingstone obtained a court order to prevent the sale.^[160]Before the start of the 1917–18 season, the NHA owners announced that the league would not operate in the 1917–18 season. About two weeks later, all of the owners except Livingstone announced that they were creating a new league, the National Hockey League. Livingstone was not invited to participate in the new league. However, the other teams wished to continue a team in Toronto, and also needed a fourth team to balance the schedule. Accordingly, Livingstone's landlord, the Toronto Arena Company, was given a temporary franchise in the NHL and leased Livingstone's Torontos players for the inaugural1917–18 NHL season.^[161] Although the team had no official name, it was made up mostly of former Blue Shirts and as a result, the newspapers still called the team the Blue Shirts or the Torontos, as they always had.^[162] The Arena Company had originally promised to return the Toronto players to Livingstone if no transfer could be arranged. Instead, before the1918–19 season, it formed a new club, which was known as theToronto Arenas.^[163] This new franchise was separated from the Arena Company. The dispute with Livingstone forced the Arena Company into bankruptcy. The Arenas were sold to a group headed byCharles Querrie for $5000, who renamed them theToronto St. Patricks. In 1927, with the team in trouble financially due to Querrie having lost a lawsuit to former Livingstone, Querrie put the St. Pats up for sale and agreed in principle to sell them for $200,000 to a group that would move the team toPhiladelphia.^[164] However,Conn Smythe persuaded Querrie that civic pride was more important than money and put together a syndicate that bought the St. Pats. Smythe himself invested $10,000 of his own money and his group contributed $75,000 up front and a further $75,000 due 30 days later, with minority partnerJack Bickell retaining his $40,000 share in the team.^[164][165] The deal was finalized on Valentine's Day,^[165] and the new owners quickly renamed the team the Toronto Maple Leafs.^{[166]: 85–86}

When theWorld Hockey Association, a rival league to the NHL, awarded Doug Michel an Ontario-based franchise in 1971 for $25,000 to play in the WHA's inaugural1972–73 season,^[167] Toronto was one of several cities under consideration as home for the team.Harold Ballard, owner of the Maple Leafs and Maple Leaf Gardens, offered to rent the arena to the team, but Michel found the rent excessive.^[168][169] He then tried to base the team inHamilton, but the city did not have an appropriate venue.^[169] Michel settled onOttawa and the team became theOttawa Nationals. However, after a season at theOttawa Civic Centre, the team decided to relocate and played their home playoff games at Maple Leaf Gardens. During this time, the team was referred to as the Ontario Nationals. The team moved to Toronto permanently for the following season after being sold toJohn F. Bassett, son of former Leafs part-ownerJohn W. H. Bassett.^[167] Future Leafs ownerSteve Stavro was a minority shareholder.^[167] They were renamed theToronto Toros in June 1973. In their inaugural season they played out ofVarsity Arena, but played the next two seasons out of Maple Leaf Gardens. In the middle of the1976 WHA playoffs Bassett announced that the team would relocate, citing average losses of nearly $1.5 million a year due to having only 3,600 season ticket holders for a venue that charged $15,000 rent per game.^[170] The team moved toBirmingham, Alabama as theBirmingham Bulls.^[171]

In the early 1980s, Ballard and the owner of theEdmonton Oilers discussed to possibility of the franchise swapping home cities with the Maple Leafs, with Ballard receiving $50 million to compensate him for relocating to the smaller city, but the deal fell through.^[172]

There have been numerous attempts to establish asecond NHL team in the Greater Toronto Area or nearbyHamilton. The latter briefly had theHamilton Tigers in the NHL from 1920, when local interests purchased and relocated theQuebec Bulldogs, until 1925 when they folded.

In 2003, theToronto Roadrunners of theAmerican Hockey League played their inaugural season out of a renovatedRicoh Coliseum in Exhibition Place. They served as afarm club for the NHL's Edmonton Oilers. After a season of bad attendance, the team relocated toEdmonton, Alberta. However, with the Ricoh Coliseum vacated, a new tenant for the facility was found with the Maple Leafs relocating their AHL farm team, theSt. John's Maple Leafs, fromSt. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador to Toronto as theToronto Marlies in 2005.

Toronto has also hosted various international hockey tournaments: hosting parts of the1972 and1974 Summit Series; parts of the 1976 and1991 Canada Cups; parts of the2004 World Cup of Hockey and all of the2016 edition; and parts of the2015 and2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Participation inminor hockey is very popular. TheGreater Toronto Area is home to theGreater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL), the largest minor hockey league in the world.^[173] In addition to the GTHL, a number of other minor hockey leagues that are unsanctioned by theOntario Hockey Federation also operate in Greater Toronto.^[173]

The Greater Toronto Area has also been home to several women's hockey team including the professionalCanadian Women's Hockey League's (CWHL)Markham Thunder andToronto Furies. However, the league ceased operations in 2019. In 2020, the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), later rebranded as thePremier Hockey Federation (PHF) announced expansion to Toronto with theToronto Six taking the ice for the 2020–21 season. The Six would ultimately win the 2023Isobel Cup as the PHF's champions. It would ultimately become the PHF's final championship team as the league was dissolved to make way for a newProfessional Women's Hockey League consisting of the former PHF consolidating with the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association later that summer withToronto Sceptres being granted one of the league's six charter teams for their inaugural season in 2024.

On July 10, 2020, Toronto was named one of two cities appointed as a hub city (alongsideEdmonton, Alberta) for theNHL Return to Play Plan to facilitate the delayed start of the2020 Stanley Cup playoffs due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. All matches in Toronto were played inScotiabank Arena beginning August 1, 2020. The plan featured a Stanley Cup Qualifiers round for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs as well as its first 2 rounds. Of the 24 participating teams, Toronto hosted 12 Eastern Conference teams to their city in the early rounds, while Edmonton hosted 12 Western Conference teams in the early rounds, both Conference Finals, and the Stanley Cup Finals.

TheToronto Torpedoes played in theMajor League Roller Hockey in 1998 atCarnegie Centennial Centre.^[174]

TheToronto Planets played in the inaugural season ofRoller Hockey International in 1993 atVarsity Arena, but folded at the conclusion of the season.^[175][176]

In September 2025 theProfessional Inline Hockey Association announced that theToronto 6ixers had joined the league as a new team.^[177]

Toronto is home to the oldest professionalfootball team in North America, the Toronto Argonauts, who have won theGrey Cup championship a record 18 times, most recently in2022. Toronto has also played host to the Grey Cup Championship 48 times, more than any other city and most recently the104th Grey Cup in 2016. The Argos were founded in 1873 by the Argonaut Rowing Club and is referred to colloquially as theBoatmen in honour of that heritage. The team is also known as thedouble blue because of the franchise colours (Oxford blue andCambridge blue); the colour blue has become emblematic of the city and most of its sports franchises. The Argos also draw the highest per-game attendance of any sports team in Toronto and draw the second highest per-game TV ratings nationally of any Toronto-based sports team (after the Maple Leafs hockey club). In the early 1970s, Maple Leaf Gardens Limited announced plans to apply for a secondCanadian Football League team to be based in Toronto which would play atVarsity Stadium, but the proposal never went anywhere.^{[178][179][180]} During his tenure as owner of theHamilton Tiger-Cats, Ballard repeatedly threatened to move the franchise to Varsity Stadium,^[181] but the move was vetoed by the Argos.^[182] The GTA Grizzlies is another semi-professional junior team of theCanadian Junior Football League; playing their home games atCentennial Park Stadium.

Toronto has also hosted theVanier Cup Championship 41 times, the most out of any host city, serving as its exclusive host from its inception in 1965 until 2003. In 2004,Canadian Interuniversity Sport began accepting bids from other cities to host the event. Since then, Toronto has won 2 additional bids to host Vanier Cup Championships in 2007 and 2012 to coincide with both the 95th and 100th Grey Cups being played during the same weekend in the city.

Toronto also has a long history withAmerican football. The first professional U.S. football team to play a home game in Toronto was theLos Angeles Wildcats of theAmerican Football League of 1926, the first major competitor to theNational Football League for the dominance of professional football. While the Wildcats nominally represented Los Angeles, California, frequent travel to the west coast still posed a major obstacle so the team was instead atraveling team based inIllinois and played most of its games in the home stadiums of its opponents, with the exception of the Toronto game. The Wildcats lost the regular season game to theNew York Yankees (which would join the National Football League (NFL) the following year) 28–0 in front of 10,000 fans at Maple Leaf Stadium on November 8, 1926.^[183] TheNFL has had a presence in Toronto since 1959 when theArgonauts hosted three NFL teams in a three-season span. The nearby Hamilton Tiger-Cats also hosted a game against theBuffalo Bills, then anAmerican Football League team. Several decades later, theAmerican Bowl and later theBills Toronto Series brought both preseason and regular season games to the Rogers Centre.^[184][185]

There have been several failed attempts to establish a professional American football franchise in Toronto in the past. A Toronto group submitted a bid for an American Football League expansion team for the city in 1960, the expansion fee set at $125,000, with plans to play in the league's second season in the following year.^{[186][187][188]} Toronto interests continued pursuing an AFL team for several years,^[189] with the league naming the city as a potential expansion market in 1965.^[190] In 1964 a Toronto group applied for aUnited Football League franchise,^{[191][192][193]} but ultimately withdrew their bid for a team.^[194] Following the season, a Toronto group attempted to purchase theCanton Bulldogs of the UFL to relocate them to Toronto.^[195][196] When theContinental Football League was established for the 1965 season with former UFL teams, theQuebec Rifles of the UFL were admitted and transferred to Toronto to become theToronto Rifles due to a lack of a suitable facility in Montreal.^{[195][197][198][199]} The Rifles competed in the Continental League from 1965 to 1967, but the owners pulled out in the middle of their final season after having lost a reported $400,000 in their final full season.^[200] The league took over the club and planned to have it play all of its games on the road, but several weeks later the team folded.^[201][202] TheUniversal Football League announced in 1973 that it would begin play the following year with Toronto was listed as one of ten teams, but the league never launched.^[203]

During John Bassett's ownership of the Argonauts from the late 1950s to early 1970s, he entertained various machinations for bringing American football to Toronto, including moving the Argos to the NFL or bringing an NFL team to the city alongside the Argos.^{[204][205][206]} Other CFL team owners were steadfastly against Bassett's moves and almost rescinded his franchise in 1974.^[207] His son John F. Bassett obtained aWorld Football League franchise for the city in the league's inaugural season of 1974, which he named theToronto Northmen, but in response the Canadian government proposed theCanadian Football Act, a bill that would have banned US football leagues from playing in Canada to protect the CFL from competition.^[182][208] The bill forced Bassett to move the club toMemphis where they became theMemphis Southmen.^[209] When the legislation died without being approved before the1974 Canadian federal election, Bassett again attempted to put a WFL team in Toronto for the 1975 season.^{[210][211][212][213]} There were plans to establish aUnited States Football League franchise in Toronto in 1983 being pushed by John F. Bassett, but again the Canadian government warned against it and the idea was dropped.^[182][214]

TheInternational Football Federation announced in 1999 that it planned to begin play the following year with Toronto listed as one of 13 teams, but the league never launched.^[215] TheXFL considered expanding to Toronto for its 2002 season, but ultimately folded after its inaugural season in 2001.^{[216][217][218]} There have been efforts to bring an NFL team to Toronto for more than 40 years.^[219] In 2014, it was widely reported that Toronto interests, including Larry Tanenbaum, part owner ofMaple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), andEdward Rogers III, Deputy Chairman ofRogers Communication, were attempting to acquire an NFL franchise in hopes of moving it to Toronto.^{[220][221][222][223]}

There were numerous attempts to bring theArena Football League to Maple Leaf Gardens in the 1990s.^[224] The city was considered by the league for a 1996 and 1997 expansion club, with John Bitove, owner of the Toronto Raptors, one of several groups interested in owning the team.^{[225][226][227]} MLSE held negotiations with the Arena League on acquiring a $4–7 million expansion franchise for 1999 to coincide with the opening of their new building the ACC.^[228][229] Several other groups also considered putting a club in the ACC following its opening.^[230][231] In 2000, the New England Sea Wolves were purchased by a group led by Rogers Communication and relocated fromHartford, Connecticut, becoming theToronto Phantoms the following year.^[232] However, the team lasted only two seasons before folding when the Arena League switched its regular season window from the summer to the spring.^[233]

Toronto also hosted a series ofNCAA footballbowl games called theInternational Bowl between 2007 and 2010.

Toronto was granted an expansion team in the women's Lingerie Football League (now theLegends Football League), theToronto Triumph. The team played their games at the Ricoh Coliseum for one season in 2011–12. The league is legitimateindoor football, which at the time was played by women in lingerie and football pads, though players now wear more standard athletic apparel.

Main articles:Toronto Rock,Hamilton Nationals,Toronto Tomahawks, andToronto Maple Leafs (NLA)

The city previously had several professionalbox lacrosse teams. A team named theToronto Maple Leafs competed in the first season of the professionalInternational Lacrosse League in 1931 at theArena Gardens.^[234][235] Following the season, a new franchise was awarded toConn Smythe on behalf ofMaple Leaf Gardens Ltd. (MLGL),^[236][237] which was also named theToronto Maple Leafs, with the previous season's Maple Leafs being renamed the Tecumsehs.^[234][237] Both teams played at the newly opened Maple Leaf Gardens.^[238][239] Smythe pulled out following the season due to financial losses,^[240] and the league didn't play the following year. Toronto also had a team in theAmerican Box Lacrosse League in 1932.^{[241][242][243]}

TheToronto Maple Leafs competed in the inaugural season of theNational Lacrosse Association in 1968 at the Gardens.^[244]Stafford Smythe andHarold Ballard, part owners of the NHL Maple Leafs, were two of the five founding partners of the club,^[245] but financial difficulties forced MLGL to take over ownership midway through the season.^{[244][246][247]} The NLA suspended operations prior to the following season.^[247][248] However, the eastern division of the NLA reconstituted itself as theEastern Professional Lacrosse Association, in which the Maple Leafs competed in 1969.^{[249][250][251]} By 1970 the pro league had disbanded.

TheToronto Shooting Stars joined the professionalNational Lacrosse League (unrelated to the modern NLL) for its inaugural season in 1972.^[252][253] When a new professional league launched as theNational Lacrosse League (again unrelated to today's NLL) in 1974, theToronto Tomahawks were included as a charter franchise. The Shooting Stars continued as an amateur team in theOntario Lacrosse Association,^[254][255] but folded following the 1974 season.^[256] The Tomahawks were sold following the 1974 season,^[257][258] and received league approval to move the team toNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum inLong Island, New York.^[259][260] However, ultimately it was decided to relocate the team toBoston to become theBoston Bolts for the start of the 1975 NLL season,^{[256][261][262]} with theRochester Griffins becoming theLong Island Tomahawks.^{[256][261][263]}

TheToronto Rock, which operate in theNational Lacrosse League, were founded in 1998 as theOntario Raiders inHamilton. The following year, the team moved to Toronto and proceeded to finish first every year from 1999 to 2005, winningthe league championship in five of those seven seasons. The Rock played their home games at Maple Leaf Gardens from 1999 to 2000, & at Scotiabank Arena from 2001 to 2020. On May 11, 2021, the Rock announced that they were relocating back to Hamilton, but would continue to keep the "Toronto Rock" name due their branding as a team that has "always represented theGTHA".^[264]

In 2009, theToronto Nationals ofMajor League Lacrosse was established, with much of the roster of theRochester Rattlers, which would be suspended, being transferred to the new Nationals' team. However, the name, colours, and history stayed behind in Rochester to potentially be used by a future MLL team.^[265] In their inaugural year in Toronto, the Nationals went on to win theSteinfeld Cup. In 2011 the team relocated toHamilton, Ontario, and played their games atRon Joyce Stadium. After the 2013 season the team announced they would not field a team the following season. ThePremier Lacrosse League played a week of their inaugural2019 season atTim Hortons Field in Hamilton.

In 2014, Toronto investors submitted an application for a professionalrugby league franchise in the British/FrenchLeague 1, the third-tier of theRugby Football League (RFL) system. It was announced in 2016 that theToronto Wolfpack would join the RFL's third divisionLeague One from April 2017, becoming the not the first professional transatlantic sports team to be based in Toronto in addition to being the first for the RFL system.^[266] The team plays in Toronto's 9,600 seatLamport Stadium,^[267] with the goal of earning promotion to the top-tierSuper League.^[268][269] The club won the League 1 championship in its inaugural season, thereby earning promotion to the second divisionChampionship for the 2018 season.

In 2018, the Wolfpack reachedthe Qualifiers, an end of season round robin tournament for the four top teams from the RFL Championship, and the bottom four teams from Super League. Finishing fourth qualified Wolfpack for theMillion Pound Game, a final eliminator for the last place in Super League in 2019. However, they were defeated 6–4 byLondon Broncos, and thus rejoined the RFL Championship for the 2019 season. That season saw a change in the promotion system, with the top five Championship teams entering a playoff whose winner received automatic promotion to Super League. The Wolfpack finished atop the Championship regular-season table, and easily won both of their playoff matches, securing their promotion to Super League with a 24–6 win overFeatherstone Rovers.

In July 2020, Toronto Wolfpack withdrew from the2020 Super League due to financial difficulties and new logistics needed for international travel caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[270] A subsequent bid for readmission was rejected on November 2, 2020, and resulted in the team's removal from the league & their ensuing announcement that they would not operate in 2021. On March 31, 2021, it was announced that a private investor group had purchased the Wolfpack and that they would be resuming play in the newly formedNorth American Rugby League.^[271]

The amateur Ontario Rugby league competition has fluctuated between 2 and 4 teams since it began in 2010.^[272]

TheCanada national rugby league team, nicknamed the Wolverines, are also based at Lamport Stadium.

Main articles:Toronto Rebellion andToronto Arrows

Amateur rugby is organized under the Toronto Rugby Union, a branch ofRugby Ontario. There are over 20 clubs in the city and surrounding area.^[273] There a 4 divisions for Toronto teams as well as the top teams playing in the province-wide Marshall Premiership and McCormick Cup competitions.^[274] Rugby has been played in Toronto since the 1870s, although at times sporadically. The oldest of the current clubs date back to the 1940s and '50s, starting with the Wanderers in 1949.^[275]

The semi-prorugby union team theToronto Rebellion (formerly the Renegades and Xtreme) played in theRugby Canada Super League from 1999 to 2007 and theRugby Canada National Junior Championship in 2009. The team hosted games atMarkham, Ontario'sFletcher's Fields in the north of theGreater Toronto Area. The team was replaced by theOntario Blues of theCanadian Rugby Championship in 2009, who play their games at various locations across the province including Fletcher's Fields. In 2016, the United States-basedPRO Rugby league stated that it was considering expanding to Toronto,^[276] though the plans fell through^[277] and the league folded before its second season.^[278]Pro14, a European-based league, in 2017 was reportedly considering placing an expansion franchise in Toronto.^[279]

In 2017, the Ontario Arrows were formed as a semi-professional version of the Ontario Blues. They began playing a series of exhibition games against MLR, American amateur clubs, and other opposition, to prepare for applying to joinMajor League Rugby. In November 2018 their entry was announced, including a re-brand to theToronto Arrows. They began MLR play in January 2019 as an expansion team along withRugby United New York.^{[280][281][282]} The Arrows have played atYork University's Alumni Field and downtown atLamport Stadium,^[283] but moved their games toYork Lions Stadium for the 2022 season.^[284] On November 27, 2023, it was announced that the Arrows would not compete in the 2024 MLR season.^[285]

The city is home to twomarathons: theToronto Marathon (held annually in May fromMel Lastman Square, in the north end of Toronto toOntario Place) and theToronto Waterfront Marathon (held annually in October throughout downtown Toronto). Toronto also hosts the annualSporting Life 10K, a charitable fundraising10K run held in May from Yonge & Davisville toLake Shore Boulevard near Ontario Place, and theUnder Armour Toronto 10K, a 10K run held in June along Toronto's waterfront.

Main articles:Toronto FC,Inter Toronto FC,AFC Toronto,Toronto Blizzard (1971–84),Toronto Falcons (1967–1968),Toronto City,Football at the 1976 Summer Olympics,Toronto Blizzard (1986-93),Toronto ThunderHawks,Toronto Shooting Stars,Toronto Lynx,Toronto FC II,Mississauga MetroStars, andCanadian Crusaders

The popularity of soccer reflects the city'sdemographics; Toronto is a multicultural city with a large immigrant population that has long-established roots with the game.

Toronto has had teams in a number of first division soccer leagues of the United States. TheToronto Greenbacks were members of theNorth American Soccer Football League for its two years of existence in 1946–47.^[286][287] In 1967, two rival leagues began play: theUnited Soccer Association (USA) andNational Professional Soccer League (NPSL). Both leagues had Toronto-based clubs withToronto City (owned by future owner of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Steve Stavro) joining the US and theToronto Falcons in the NPSL and both playing their games atVarsity Stadium.^[288][289] Following the merger of the two leagues for the 1968 season only the Falcons survived, with Stavro selling his team back to the league for $160,000.^[290][291] However, the Falcons only played a single year in the newly foundedNorth American Soccer League (NASL) with losses reported to be up to $500,000 before folding.^[292] The following year, Toronto City was invited to join the NASL.^[293] Subsequently, theToronto Metros joined the NASL in 1971,^[294] and though they were renamed theToronto Metros-Croatia in 1975 following the purchase of 50 per cent of the club for $250,000 by theToronto Croatia of theNational Soccer League,^[295] and again in 1979 to theToronto Blizzard following the acquisition of 85% of the team byGlobal Television Network for $2.6 million,^[296][297] the team played until the NASL folded in 1984.

Varsity Stadium on the campus of theUniversity of Toronto, hosted some of the matches of theOlympic football tournament of the1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.

In 1994, then part owner ofSkyDome,Labatt, considered purchasing a team inMajor League Soccer (MLS), the new top US league, to play at the stadium.^[298] In 2004, then Toronto Argonauts ownersHoward Sokolowski andDavid Cynamon considered bringing a MLS team to the city in connection with negotiations on the construction of a new stadium to jointly house the Argos and soccer,^[299] but whenBMO Field was ultimately built the Argos were excluded for the deal.^[298] In 2007, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment launchedToronto FC in MLS as its first international team.

Toronto has also hosted professionalindoor soccer teams. The Metros-Croatia fielded a team in NASL's indoor league from 1975 to 1976,^[300] as did the Blizzard in 1980–82.^[301] TheMajor Indoor Soccer League considered putting a team in Toronto in 1987.^[302] In 1988 theAmerican Indoor Soccer Association (AISA) granted Toronto a franchise which was to play its games at Hamilton, Ontario's Copps Coliseum (nowTD Coliseum),^[303] but the team never launched. TheToronto Shooting Stars competed in theNational Professional Soccer League, as the AISA had renamed itself, during the 1996–97 season, but the ownership of the franchise collapsed just 3 games in, forcing the league to take control of the team's operations for the remainder of the season.^[304] After losses of nearly $1 million, the team suspended operations and never returned to play.^[305][306] An application was made for a new NPSL Toronto team in 1998.^[307] The NPSL returned to Toronto with theToronto ThunderHawks for the 2000–01 season, playing at theHershey Centre inMississauga, Ontario.^[308] When the NPSL disbanded in the summer of 2001 and reorganized as theMajor Indoor Soccer League, the ThunderHawks were admitted to the new league under the condition that they would suspend operations for the 2001–02 season to work on the business side of the franchise and return to active competition for the 2002–03 season.^[309] However, the team never returned from this temporary suspension of operations. In April 2017 theMajor Arena Soccer League announced that it had granted Totonto an expansion franchise, which was later named theMississauga MetroStars and begin play in 2018 at the Hershey Centre.^[310][311] Prior to the 2019–20 season the team rebranded as MetroStars Canada, and planned to play their 12 home games in six cities across Ontario (St. Catharines, Kingston, Oshawa, Windsor, Sarnia, and Brampton),^[312] but before playing a single game that season the team confirmed that they would not participate due to issues coordinating their home matches.^[313] In August 2024 theCanadian Crusaders joined theMajor League Indoor Soccer, with the franchise being a relocation of former club Central Florida Crusaders of theNational Indoor Soccer League which had merged with the MLIS earlier in the year. The team plays their games in Toronto at the Scarborough Soccer Centre.^[314]

Toronto has also been home to numerous minor pro soccer teams. The Toronto Nationals played in theCanadian Professional Soccer League in its only season in 1983. TheEastern Canada Professional Soccer League, which existed between 1961 and 1966, featured 3 Toronto based teams over those years:Toronto City (1961–1965), which later joined the United Soccer Association, Toronto Roma FC (1962–1964) / Inter-Roma (1965–1966), and Toronto Italia FC (1961–1964) / Italia Falcons (1965–66). TheToronto Blizzard played in theCanadian Soccer League from 1987 to 1992 and theAmerican Professional Soccer League in 1993 before folding following theUnited States Soccer Federation's decision to reject the APSL's bid for sanctioning as a first division league in favour of a competing bid from the group that would found MLS. The Blizzard were replaced in the APSL by theToronto Rockets in 1994, but they to folded prior to the following season. TheA-League, as the APSL was then known, awarded Toronto another team to begin play in 1997.^[315][316] When the A-league andUSISL Select League merged for the 1997 season, the Toronto expansion team, which was named theToronto Lynx, debuted in the combined league, which carried on the A-League name. The Lynx would play in the A-League until 2004. When the league was renamed theUSL First Division, they continued their membership. However, in 2007, with the arrival of TFC to the city, the Lynx dropped down to the fourthUSL Premier Development League, where they competed until 2014.

Toronto hosted parts of the2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Toronto also hosted the2010 Major League Soccer championship match betweenFC Dallas andColorado Rapids (Colorado defeated Dallas 2–1). It was the first time the MLS Cup took place outside of the United States.

Toronto would go on to host 2 more MLS Cups. On December 10, 2016, theMLS Cup was held at BMO Field where Toronto FC andSeattle Sounders FC played to a 0–0 draw, with the Sounders winning 5–4 on penalty kicks to claim the championship. On December 9, 2017, Toronto FC defeated the Sounders 2–0 in anMLS Cup rematch, and became the first MLS team to complete adomestic treble with their win by virtue of winning theSupporters' Shield with an MLS record 69 points and theCanadian Championship combined. They also became the first Canadian team to win the MLS Cup.^[317]

On June 16, 2022,FIFA officially announced Toronto as one of two host cities in Canada for the2026 FIFA World Cup to be held in the USA, Mexico, & Canada.^[318] BMO Field was listed as a potential venue for the World Cup from as early as 2017 during the initial bidding stage.^[319]

Toronto's first women's professional soccer team,AFC Toronto of theNorthern Super League, began play in 2025.

TheNational Bank Open, historically known as the Canadian Open, is an annual professional tennis tournament held atSobeys Stadium atYork University. The tournament began in 1881 and is the second oldest major tennis tournament in the world behind onlyWimbledon. The men's competition is anATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on theAssociation of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour. The women's competition is aWTA 1000 tournament event on theWomen's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. The events alternate from year-to-year between the cities of Montreal and Toronto. In odd-numbered years, the men's tournament is held in Montreal, while the women's tournament is held in Toronto, and vice versa in even-numbered years. The competition is played on hard courts.

From 1971 until 1990, Toronto hosted theToronto Molson Light Challenge a second annual professional men'stennis tournament played onindoor carpet courts at Maple Leaf Gardens. The final tournament took place in February 1990 at the SkyDome and went by the tournament nameSkydome World Tennis.

In 1974, theToronto-Buffalo Royals ofWorld Team Tennis played half their home matches at theCNE Coliseum & the other half at theBuffalo Memorial Auditorium. Under the ownership ofJohn F. Bassett & John C. Eaton III, the team lasted only one season before selling the team to Bert Hoffman & Phyllis Morse with the intent of relocating them toHartford, Connecticut. However, in February 1975, the team was contracted by the WTT, with the players distributed to other teams via adispersal draft.

Ultimate is ateam sport played with aflying disc. The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to members of your own team, on a rectangular field approximately the size of a soccer field, until you have successfully completed a pass to a team member in the opposing team's end zone. In the 1970s,Ken Westerfield introduceddisc sports includingultimate north of the 49th parallel at theCanadian Open Frisbee Championships and by creating the Toronto Ultimate League (Club).^[320] Since 1998, Canada has been ranked number one in the World Ultimate Rankings, several times in all divisions (including Open and Women's) according to theWorld Flying Disc Federation.^[321] In 2013, as a founding partner, the TorontoUltimate Club presented Canada's first semi-professionalultimate team theToronto Rush, to theUltimate Frisbee Association (UFA) (originally branded as the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL)).^[322][323] They finished their first season undefeated 18–0 and won the AUDL Championships.^{[324][325][326]}Disc ultimate has become one of today's fastest growing sports.^[327] In 2015, theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) granted full recognition to theWorld Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) forflying disc sports includingultimate.^[328][329]

The first major multi-sport event that the city of Toronto hosted was the1976 Summer Paralympics. It was the fifth edition of theParalympic Games and the first time it was hosted in Canada. Toronto also hosted the first everWorld Masters Games in 1985 as well as the1997 Special Olympics World Winter Games, the2017 North American Indigenous Games, and the2017 Invictus Games.

In 2009, Toronto submitted a bid to host thePan American Games andParapan American Games, subsequently winning both of them for 2015. After successfully hosting both the2015 Pan Am andParapan American Games, the city briefly considered another Olympic bid for the2024 Summer Olympics,^[330] but on September 15, 2015, Toronto MayorJohn Tory announced that the city would not be a candidate for a bid.^[331]

Toronto submitted bids to host theSummer Olympic Games five times:1960,1964,1976,1996 and2008.^[330] The closest it came to winning the games was in 2008, when it finished second to Beijing by a vote of 56–22.Varsity Stadium on the campus of theUniversity of Toronto, hosted some of the matches of theOlympic football tournament of the1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(March 2019)

Due to their geographic locations, Toronto has an intense sports rivalry with several Canadian cities around theQuebec City–Windsor Corridor, in addition to American cities around theGreat Lakes.

The Canadian football team, the Toronto Argonauts have a rivalry with theHamilton Tiger-Cats since 1873, and is heightened during theLabour Day Classic).^[332] The Argonauts also share a rivalry with theOttawa Redblacks and theMontreal Alouettes.

In ice hockey, the Toronto Maple Leafs have several rivalries with theoldest existing clubs in the National Hockey League, including theMontreal Canadiens, theDetroit Red Wings, and theBoston Bruins. The Maple Leafs also have a rivalry with the only other Ontario-based team in the NHL, theOttawa Senators.

In basketball, the Toronto Raptors has a noted rivalry with the Brooklyn Nets.

In soccer, the Toronto FC have a rivalry with the Montreal Impact, referred to as the401 Derby. The Toronto FC also have a rivalry with theColumbus Crew, competing with them over theTrillium Cup, a trophy named after thetrillium, the official flower of Ontario, and the official wildflower ofOhio. A third rivalry Toronto FC has is withSeattle Sounders FC after facing off against them as the same opponent for all 3 of the club'sMLS Cup finals appearances (2016 MLS Cup,2017 MLS Cup, and2019 MLS Cup).

In baseball, the Toronto Blue Jays have developed rivalries over the years with teams within theirAmerican League East division (New York Yankees,Boston Red Sox,Baltimore Orioles,Tampa Bay Rays) as a result of scheduling that sees them play each other more frequently than teams outside of it. Since 2015, the Blue Jays have developed a rivalry with theTexas Rangers that stems from their2015 American League Division Series matchup whereJose Bautista hit a go-ahead home run in game No. 5 to win the series that sparked controversy due to his subsequentbat flip that upset the Rangers based on what was perceived as a violation of theunwritten rules of baseball, and yielded abeanball andbench-clearing brawl as retaliation inthe following season.

The colour of blue has been associated with the city of Toronto, its sports teams and its academic institutions for over a hundred years.^[333] City symbols such as theflag of Toronto, itscoat of arms and citywordmark all reflect this association. Some of the oldest colleges and universities located within theoriginal city of Toronto incorporated blue into theirathletic nicknames including theUniversity of Toronto Varsity Blues (established 1827), theUpper Canada College Blues (1829) and theSt Michael's Kerry Blues (1852) while newer post-secondary institutions atToronto Metropolitan University (1948),George Brown College (1967) andHumber College (1968) included blue in theirschool colours.

When theArgonaut Rowing Club was founded in 1872 the blue colours ofOxford andCambridge universities (the "Double Blue") was adopted as the club colours.^[334] When the club went on to found theToronto Argonauts football club with the same name a year later in 1873, the "Double Blue" colour was also adopted for the football field and has continued with the team nearly 150 years later.^[335]

Other major teams that adopted Toronto blue included the originalToronto Maple Leafs of baseball'sInternational League from 1896 until 1967,^[336] theMarlboros of theOHA (1904), theBlueshirts of theNHA (1911) and theArenas of theNHL (1917).

WhenConn Smythe acquired theToronto St. Patricks in 1927, in addition to the team being rebranded as theMaple Leafs, it was announced that the team had changed their colour scheme to blue and white,^[337] which they have worn ever since. While the Leafs say that blue represents the Canadian skies and white represents snow, another theory is that Smythe changed the colours as a nod to his school alma maters atUpper Canada College and theUniversity of Toronto.^[338]

As various leagues expanded into the city the tradition of using blue in team identity continued including theHuskies of theNBA (1947),WHA'sToros (1973), baseball'sBlue Jays (1977), theNASLBlizzard (1978), theRock of theNLL (1999), and rugby'sArrows (2019).

When theToronto Raptors joined theNBA in 1995, the original owners were given a six-month window to reap 100 percent of merchandise profits sold in their region to help cover the cost of the franchise.^[339] To maximize those initial sales the choice was made to break with Toronto traditions and adopt a name and colour that would appeal to kids between the ages of six and ten with a focus on becoming an international brand.^[340][341] After a name the team contest narrowed the list down to ten names, the nameRaptors with a base colour of purple was chosen after inspiration of the eight-year old son of ownerJohn Bitove.^[340] In 2006, the Raptors re-branded with red as their new base colour to market themselves beyond Toronto as "Canada's Team" with their national colour as the only Canadian NBA team after theVancouver Grizzlies relocated toMemphis, Tennessee in 2001.

In 2007Toronto FC joinedMajor League Soccer and also chose to distance itself from Toronto traditions by adopting red as its primary colour to reflect its status as the only Canadian team in the league.^{[342][343][344]} This status only lasted four seasons until their future rivalsVancouver Whitecaps FC (2011)^[345] and theMontreal Impact (2012) joined the league, ironically both in blue uniforms.

• Canada's Sports Hall of Fame was founded in Toronto in 1955, and was based atExhibition Place between 1955 and 2006. It has since relocated toCalgary, Alberta.
• TheHockey Hall of Fame is an ice hockey museum located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup. Originally based inKingston, Ontario, the Hockey Hall of Fame relocated to Toronto in 1958 where it was given space as a section of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame before becoming its own separate Hall of Fame facility within the same building in 1961. In 1993, the Hockey Hall of Fame relocated to its current location at the northwest corner of Yonge & Front Streets taking up an opulent section ofBrookfield Place that once served as a branch of theBank of Montreal.
• TheCanadian Motorsport Hall of Fame was founded in 1993 by Lee Abrahamson and Gary Magwood assisted by Len Coates to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of the Canadian motorsport communities. It was originally based at Exhibition Place, sharing the same facility as Canada's Sports Hall of Fame until 1997 when it relocated to Bay Street. In 2001, the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame began relocating to various temporary locations before deciding to become a virtual online museum today. Their annual induction ceremonies take place at theMetro Toronto Convention Centre in downtown Toronto.
• The Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame was founded in 1994 and is located at theFord Performance Centre inEtobicoke, Ontario. Their mission statement describes their purpose as "honour(ing), for all time, those athletes, administrators, officials, media and individuals who have achieved the highest standard of excellence in sport" who "encourage and inspire excellence in all fields of athletic endeavour within our community."^[346] The criteria for induction eligibility is being "any individual person or organization/team who has made a difference to our lives through their contribution to both amateur and/or professional sport or who has achieved outstanding and extraordinary success in the field of sport or who demonstrates exemplary values and/or personal characteristics and has made a defining contribution to his/her sport and who has lived or currently resides in Etobicoke or who has worked and/or had a significant impact to the Etobicoke community in the field of sport".^[347]
• TheOntario Sports Hall of Fame was founded in 1994 in Toronto. Currently they only host an online museum instead of a physical sports museum, but their administrative office is located in Toronto. Their annual induction ceremonies take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in downtown Toronto.
• Canada Basketball, the governing body of basketball in Canada, hosts an online hall of fame museum with its mission statement being “to recognize, honour, immortalize and enshrine the contributions to the development and advancement of basketball in Canada or internationally.”^[348] While it does not have a physical sports museum, their administrative office is located in Toronto, & their annual induction ceremonies take place at various Toronto-based venues, most recently at theGladstone House for their 2023 induction ceremony.^[349]
• The Leaside Sports Hall of Fame was founded in 2013 during the centennial year for theLeaside neighbourhood. Sponsored by theEast York Foundation & located at Leaside Gardens outside its arena, their mission statement describes their purpose as serving as "a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating and promoting excellence in sport at the recreational, competitive and elite levels in/from the Leaside community in Toronto" while "aim(ing) to foster a community where participation in recreational and competitive sport is valued, and where the achievements of athletes and the contributions of volunteers are recognized and honoured."^[350]
• The Toronto Sport Hall of Honour was founded in 2016 by theMunicipal government of Toronto. Located at theToronto Pan Am Sports Centre inScarborough, Ontario as "a legacy of the2015 Toronto Pan Am andParapan Am Games", their mission statement describes their purpose as "celebrat(ing) the exceptional contributions and accomplishments of those who have inspired and/or brought recognition to Toronto through sport."^[351] Each year, a selection panel is responsible for determining the inductees for 9 different categories: Athletes of the year, Builder, City of Sport Lifetime Achievement, Coach of the Year, Community Sport Volunteer, Corporate Builder, Spirit of Sport Diversity and Inclusion, Sport Legend, & Team of the Year.^[352] Nominations are also open to the public via e-nomination forms provided through their website.^[353]

Toronto is one of five North American cities (alongsideChicago,Los Angeles,Washington, D.C., andthe New York Tri-state area) to have won titles in its five major leagues (MLB, NHL, NBA, MLS and either NFL or CFL), and the only one to have done so in the Canadian Football League.

The following is a list of when professional sports teams based in Toronto won their respective major league championship.

In addition to professional teams, several amateur teams in Toronto were also awarded major league trophies. The Grey Cup was initially awarded to the champions of Canadian rugby football, including both professional and amateur teams. Three amateur teams based in Toronto have won the Grey Cup, including the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in1909,1910,1911, and1920; theToronto Balmy Beach Beachers in1927 and1930; and theToronto RCAF Hurricanes in1942. In 1954, a decade after the last amateur team won a Grey Cup, the only remaining amateur football union withdrew from Grey Cup competition and the trophy was transitioned into a purely professional trophy.

The Stanley Cup is another championship trophy that was originally open to amateurs and professional ice hockey teams. However, no amateur team based in Toronto was ever awarded the Stanley Cup. In 1909, theAllan Cup was created as a championship trophy for amateur hockey teams, with the Stanley Cup becoming a championship trophy awarded to professional teams.

Toronto Blue Jays (MLB): 2 World Series titles

• 1992
• 1993

Toronto Raptors (NBA): 1 NBA title

• 2019

Toronto Argonauts (CFL): 19 Grey Cups

Toronto Blueshirts (NHA): 1 Stanley Cup

• 1914

Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL): 13 Stanley Cups

The hockey club won its first championship in 1918 as the Toronto Hockey Club (informally the Toronto Arenas), whereas its second championships (in 1922) was won when the club was named the Toronto St. Patricks. All subsequent championships won by the club were awarded when the club was named the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto Metros-Croatia (NASL): 1 Soccer Bowl

• 1976

Toronto FC (MLS): 1 MLS Cup

• 2017

In March 2020, sports leagues throughout North America suspended their operations in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Months later, a number of those sports leagues were able to resume their playbehind closed doors while others either curtailed or cancelled their 2020 seasons altogether.

Due to travel restrictions imposed by the Canadian government in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Canada, many Toronto based teams in those leagues were unable to host games against American based teams until the travel restrictions were relaxed in July 2021. In response, various Toronto teams mitigated the issue by seeking venues in American host cities for home games against American based teams, or by hosting games in Toronto exclusively against Canadian-based teams:

• The Blue Jays' returned to play strategy for their 2020 "home" games featured playing in visitors ballparks as the home team for the first month until ultimately settling atSahlen Field inBuffalo, New York as their home stadium for the duration of their abbreviated 60-game regular season. In 2021, the Blue Jays will play their first two months of their regular season home games atTD Ballpark inDunedin, Florida which will last from April 8 until the end of May. From June 1 onwards, the Blue Jays will return to Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York to play the remainder of their 2021 home games "until it is safe ... to return to play on home soil (at Rogers Centre)".^[354] On July 16, 2021, the Blue Jays received approval by the Canadian government for an exemption on border restrictions & played their first home game at Rogers Centre in Toronto on July 30, 2021, vs. theKansas City Royals.^[355]
• Toronto FC's return to play strategy for their2020 MLS season featured scheduling in 3 phases. The first phase featured teams participating in theMLS is Back Tournament hosted in aquarantined bubble with stringentCOVID-19 testing at theESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inBay Lake, Florida. The tournament also featured round-robin matches which would count toward the regular season standings. This was followed by a second phase of scheduling that saw Canadian-based teams play one another exclusively, allowing for BMO Field to host home games. The third phase of scheduling saw TFC play U.S. based teams for the remainder of the season with home games played atPratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field inEast Hartford, Connecticut. For their2021 MLS season, Toronto FC started their season playing their home games atExploria Stadium inOrlando, Florida, the home stadium forOrlando City SC. On July 14, 2021, Toronto FC was granted approval by the Canadian government to resume hosting games in Toronto vs. American teams on the condition that "clubs and match officials travelling to Canada will be subject to public health protocols required of all individuals entering the country," and that "only fully vaccinated players and staff will be excluded from Canadian quarantine requirements."^[356] They played their first game since the pandemic at BMO Field vs Orlando City SC on July 17, 2021.
• The Raptors also returned to play at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex where the remainder of the2019-20 NBA season and2020 NBA playoffs were played as part of the2020 NBA Bubble with daily COVID-19 testing. Their2020–21 home games were played atAmalie Arena inTampa, Florida in an abbreviated 72-game schedule with the Raptors missing the playoffs. The Raptors played their first home game at Scotiabank Arena since the pandemic on October 20, 2021 against theWashington Wizards.
• Unlike the other leagues, the NHL received an exemption to the travel restrictions, including an exemption from the mandatory 14-day self isolation upon entry into Canada, as part of their return to play in the2020 NHL Bubble with Toronto & Edmonton serving as their 2 hub cities. This allowed for all playoff eligible teams based in Canada & American based teams entering Canada to participate on the condition that all team players and staff members remained isolated within designated secure zones (hotels, restaurants, practice facilities, and arena) which were all surrounded by a secured perimeter, and restricted themselves from access to or by the general public. Additionally, all members had to comply to daily COVID-19 testing, temperature testing, & symptom checks. This allowed the Maple Leafs to return to play atScotiabank Arena in Toronto in a 5-gameStanley Cup qualifier round against the American-basedColumbus Blue Jackets. Their2020-21 NHL season was an abbreviated 56-game season played exclusively against other Canadian-based teams in a realigned "North Division" during the regular season, thereby allowing them to play their home games at Scotiabank Arena this season. The realigned division also allows for an all-Canadian matchup for the first 2 rounds of the2021 Stanley Cup playoffs.
• The Toronto Six played in the2021 NWHL bubble season atHerb Brooks Arena inLake Placid, New York. Herb Brooks Arena hosted all NWHL season games and was also scheduled to host games for the 2021 Isobel Cup Playoffs.^[357] Shortly before the start of the Isobel Cup Playoffs, the season was suspended indefinitely due to positive cases ofCOVID-19 within the bubble.^[358] The season resumed with the start of the Isobel Cup playoffs which was played between March 26–27 atWarrior Ice Arena inBrighton, Massachusetts, with the top seeded Toronto Six being eliminated on the first day of play by theBoston Pride.^[359]
• In 2021, Raptors 905 played their2021 NBA G League season & playoffs in a bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, which was also used as the same venue for the2020 NBA Bubble, with daily COVID-19 testing. The G League regular season lasted an abbreviated 15 games, followed by 3 single game playoff rounds. The top seeded Raptors 905 were eliminated in the second round by theDelaware Blue Coats.
• The Toronto Marlies played their abbreviated 35-game2020-21 AHL season exclusively against other Canadian-based teams in a realigned "North Division" during the season, like their parent club, the Toronto Maple Leafs. This allowed them to play their home games at Coca-Cola Coliseum that season. Although theStockton Heat are normally based inStockton, California, they were based inCalgary, Alberta for the 2020–21 AHL season to facilitate player transfers with their NHL parent club, theCalgary Flames, thereby allowing the Marlies to host games against them at Coca-Cola Coliseum as a North Division team. Unlike the Maple Leafs, the North Division, along with 3 other AHL Divisions, opted out of conducting a traditional 2021 Calder Cup Playoffs that season & did not issue a Calder Cup champion for the second straight year.^[360]
• For the2021 Major League Rugby season, the Arrows temporarily relocated toMarietta, Georgia, to shareRugby ATL's facilities atLupo Family Field.^[361]
• Toronto FC II began their2021 USL League One season playing their first 3 home games at the Grande Sports World training facility inCasa Grande, Arizona, followed by 3 home games at Osceola Heritage Park inKissimmee, Florida. They ultimately resumed playing their home games in Toronto on July 30, 2021 when they hostedGreenville Triumph SC at theBMO Training Ground.^[362]

In some instances, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic forced some teams to curtail their season or cancel their season altogether:

• The Toronto Argonauts were unable to play in 2020 due to the CFL cancelling the2020 CFL season. They resumed play in2021 by playing their 1st game of the season on the road vs. theCalgary Stampeders on August 7, and playing their home opener vs. theWinnipeg Blue Bombers on August 21.
• The2020 Toronto Rock season was curtailed after playing their 11th game of the season on March 8 in Toronto atScotiabank Arena vs theCalgary Roughnecks, & the NLL would also go on to cancel the 2021 season. On May 11, 2021, the Rock announced that they would relocate toHamilton, Ontario in part due to "significant reduction in operation costs significant reduction in game operations costs as well as the opportunities that exist to better connect with our fan base and most importantly grow that fan base and increase revenues."^[363] They also announced that the relocation would not yield a name change. The Rock resumed play in2021 by playing their home opener in Hamilton atFirst Ontario Centre on December 4 vs theAlbany FireWolves.
• The Toronto Marlies 2019–20 season was curtailed after playing their last game on the road vs. theBridgeport Sound Tigers on March 11. The Marlies would resume play in 2021 by playing their 1st game of the season in Winnipeg vs. theManitoba Moose on February 15, 2021, as a member of a revised all-Canadian North Division to avoid cross-border travel.
• Raptors 905's 2019–20 season was curtailed after playing their last game at home vs theCollege Park Skyhawks on March 11. They would resume play in 2021 by playing their 1st game of the season at the G-League bubble inBay Lake, Florida vs. theRio Grande Valley Vipers on February 10.
• Toronto FC II opted out of participating in the2020 USL League One season due to COVID-19 restrictions, but resumed play for the2021 season by playing their 1st game of the season inCasa Grande, Arizona vs.North Texas SC on May 22.

• Amateur sport in Toronto
• List of sports teams in Toronto
• Multiple major sports championship seasons
• CJCL (Toronto all-sports radio station,Sportsnet 590 The Fan)
• CHUM (AM) (Toronto all-sports radio station,TSN Radio 1050)