Denver

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Location ofDenver in theUnited States

Denver is home to many professional sports teams who are based out of Denver and surrounding cities in themetropolitan area. It is also one of the twelve American cities to house a team from each of thefour major league sports. All four of its teams play their home games near downtown with three active sports venues which includesEmpower Field at Mile High, home of theDenver Broncos;Ball Arena, home of theColorado Avalanche andDenver Nuggets; andCoors Field, home of theColorado Rockies. There is also aMajor League Soccer (MLS) team based in the Denver metro area (Colorado Rapids), but they do not play their home games in the city of Denver; the team is located in nearbyCommerce City.

Denver, and the wider metropolitan area, is home to six college sports teams with two schools havingNCAA Division I programs and four schools withNCAA Division II programs. The Division IColorado Buffaloes are located in Boulder which is part of the metro area while theDenver Pioneers are located in Denver. Division IIMetro State Roadrunners andRegis Rangers are also located in Denver, whileColorado Christian University and theColorado School of Mines are located in the western Denver suburbs of Lakewood and Golden respectively.

Denver is the least populous of the 13U.S. cities with teams from four major sports.

TheDenver Broncos of theNational Football League (NFL) have drawn crowds of over 70,000 since theirAFL origins in the early 1960s atMile High Stadium and continue to draw fans today to their current homeEmpower Field at Mile High. The Broncos have sold out every home game (except for strike-replacement games) since 1970. The Broncos last championship was in 2016, defeating theCarolina Panthers inSuper Bowl 50. In total, the Broncos have advanced to theSuper Bowl eight times and won back-to-back titles in 1998 and 1999, and again in 2015.

In the 1980s and 90s, one of the top priorities of former MayorFederico Peña was bringingMajor League Baseball to the city. In 1993, the MLB awarded an expansion team to Denver and they were named theColorado Rockies. Mile High Stadium was home to the Rockies from 1993 to 1995 whileCoors Field was under construction. They appeared in their firstWorld Series in 2007 after winning their first NL pennant, their only one to this day, where they were swept by theBoston Red Sox of the American League in four games.

TheDenver Nuggets of theNational Basketball Association (NBA) play atBall Arena. The team was founded as the Denver Larks in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association (ABA) but changed its name to the Denver Rockets before their first season. They changed their name to the Denver Nuggets in 1974. The team joined the NBA in 1976 after theABA-NBA merger. They made their first NBA finals appearance in May of 2023, after sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. In the 2023 NBA Finals, the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in five games to win their first NBA title in franchise history.

Denver is also home to theColorado Avalanche, aNational Hockey League (NHL) team that relocated fromQuebec City in 1995. They have won threeStanley Cups in 1996, 2001 and in 2022 while playing in Denver, and they also play at Ball Arena. The Avalanche played theDetroit Red Wings in the first ever outdoor professional hockey game in Denver on Saturday, February 27, 2016, at Coors Field and again against theLos Angeles Kings at the Air Force Academy on Saturday, February 15, 2020.^[1]

TheColorado Rapids ofMajor League Soccer (MLS) play atDick's Sporting Goods Park, asoccer-specific stadium in the Denver suburb of Commerce City. The Rapids were one of the ten founding teams of Major League Soccer that began play in 1996, and initially played at what was then known asInvesco Field at Mile High before moving into their current home in 2007. The Rapids won the MLS Cup in 2010. The Rapids' main rival isReal Salt Lake, and the two teams play every year for theRocky Mountain Cup. Dick's Sporting Goods Park has also hosted several international soccer matches, includingU.S. national team qualifying matches for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. Denver was also awarded aNWSL team calledDenver Summit FC in 2025.

Denver and the wider metro area is also home to other professional sports teams.

• Colorado Buffaloes: The CU Buffaloes are a member of theBig 12 Conference and are located inBoulder.
• Denver Pioneers: The DU Pioneers, located in the city ofDenver, play in NCAA Division I and are a member ofThe Summit League. In sports not sponsored by that conference, it is a member of several other conferences; most notably, the men's ice hockey team plays in theNational Collegiate Hockey Conference, the women's gymnastics team in theBig 12 Conference, and the men's and women's lacrosse teams in theBig East Conference.
• Metro State Roadrunners: The Metro State Roadrunners play in NCAA Division II and are a member of theRocky Mountain Athletic Conference and are located inDenver.
• Regis Rangers: The Regis Rangers play in NCAA Division II and are a member of theRocky Mountain Athletic Conference and are located inDenver.

• Denver Bears (Western League) formerWestern League team (1885-1954); replaced by the newDenver Bears
• Denver Zephyrs originally, the Denver Bears, who played in theAmerican Association (1955-1962, 1969–1992) and thePacific Coast League (1963-1968) moved to New Orleans in 1992. Now play as theWichita Wind Surge
• Denver Nuggets formerNational Basketball League &National Basketball Association team (1948–1950); folded as theEvansville Agogans
• Denver Spurs formerWorld Hockey Association team (1975–76); folded as theOttawa Civics
• Colorado Rockies formerNational Hockey League team (1976–1982); now play as theNew Jersey Devils
• Denver Avalanche formerMajor Indoor Soccer League team (1980–1982); ceased operations
• Colorado Flames formerCentral Professional Hockey League team (1982–1984); league ceased operations
• Denver Gold formerUnited States Football League team (1983–1985); ceased operations
• Denver Dynamite formerArena Football League team (1987, 1989–1991); ceased operations
• Denver Rangers formerInternational Hockey League team (1988-1989); folded as thePhoenix Roadrunners
• Denver Grizzlies formerInternational Hockey League team (1994–1995); relocated to Utah after one season. Now play in theAmerican Hockey League as theCleveland Monsters
• Colorado Crush formerArena Football League team (2003–2008); the AFL suspended operations indefinitely
• Denver Cutthroats formerCentral Hockey League team (2012–2014); league ceased operations
• Denver Stampede formerPRO Rugby team (2016–2017); league ceased operations after one season
• Colorado Raptors formerMajor League Rugby team (2018-2020); withdrew from the league after three seasons of play
• Denver Dynamite (soccer) formerPASL-Pro (2008-2010) &PASL-Premier (2011-2015) team; ceased operations
• Furniture Row Racing, formerNASCAR team that fielded the #78 Chevrolet SS forMartin Truex Jr., was owned and sponsored by the U.S. furniture store chain Furniture Row as the onlyNASCAR team headquartered in Colorado until 2018.
• Denver Outlaws, formerMajor League Lacrosse team (2006–2020), ceased operations after theMLL–PLL merger

• Denver hosted a yearly auto race on theChamp Car World Series circuit, theGrand Prix of Denver, before that series' demise in 2008.
• TheColorado Colfax Marathon is run through the city annually.

• The1998 and2021Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Coors Field.
• The 2001NHL All-Star Game and FanFest at Pepsi Center.
• The ABA All-Star Game in 1976, the1984 NBA All-Star Game atMcNichols Arena, and the 2005 NBA All-Star game at Pepsi Center.

• Initially awarded the1976 Winter Olympics. However, due to rising costs and worries about environmental impact, voters rejected a public-funding ballot measure. Without the bond, Denver could not support the games, and the IOC retracted the award.
• The city strongly considered a bid for the2022 Winter Olympics. In December 2011 a Denver 2022 exploratory committee was launched.^[3] Reno-Tahoe was also interested in bidding for 2022.^[4]
• TheChurchill Cup, a now-defunct annual international competition inrugby union featuring theUSA andCanada senior national teams, theEngland Saxons (that country's second-level national team), and three invited teams, was hosted by Denver in2009, with matches held at the rugby-specificInfinity Park inGlendale and Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Denver was suggested as a permanent home for the competition. The 2010 tournament featured preliminary rounds in Denver. Also, Denver was reportedly in the running to host aBledisloe Cup match between theAustralia andNew Zealand national teams, possibly in 2010, though that did not materialize.

• Denver co-hosted the 1962International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships (together with Colorado Springs).
• Denver also hosted the 1990NCAA Final Four at McNichols Arena.
• TheUltimate Fighting Championship, which eventually become the world's leadingmixed martial arts organization, held its first two events in Denver—UFC 1 on November 12, 1993, andUFC 2 on March 11, 1994.
• The 2008 NCAAFrozen Four Tournament was hosted in Denver.
• Denver was the host for Sportaccord 2009, the largest international sports convention in the world.
• Infinity Park became the new host of theUSA Women's Sevens, the country's stop in theWorld Rugby Women's Sevens Series for nationalrugby sevens teams, in2018.

• Sports in Colorado
• Bibliography of Colorado
• Geography of Colorado
• History of Colorado
• Index of Colorado-related articles
• List of Colorado-related lists
• Outline of Colorado

39°44′21″N104°59′06″W / 39.7392°N 104.9850°W /39.7392; -104.9850 (Denver)

• Sports in Denver

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