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TheCity of Sacramento and theSacramento metropolitan area are home to two major league professional teams — theSacramento Kings of theNational Basketball Association (NBA) and theAthletics ofMajor League Baseball (MLB) — as well as numerous minor league and amateur sports teams. Sacramento also has recreational facilities.

Sacramento is home to theSacramento Kings of theNational Basketball Association. The Kings relocated to Sacramento fromKansas City in 1985.

In 2000, AAA minor league baseball returned to Sacramento with theSacramento River Cats, an affiliate of theSan Francisco Giants. The River Cats play atSutter Health Park, located inWest Sacramento.

On April 3, 2024, theOakland Athletics ofMajor League Baseball reached an agreement with the City of Sacramento to play at Sutter Health Parkon a temporary basis, beginning in 2025 before their permanent move to Las Vegas in 2028.^[1]

The now defunctSacramento Monarchs of theWomen's National Basketball Association were one of the eight founding members of the WNBA, which started in 1997. The Monarchs won theWNBA Championship in 2005 to become the first major, professional sports team in Sacramento to do so.^{[citation needed]} However, the Monarchs team folded in November 2009.

TheSacramento Solons, aminor league baseball team of thePacific Coast League, played in Sacramento during several periods (1903, 1905, 1909–1914, 1918–1960, 1974–1976), mostly at Edmonds Field.

TheSacramento Express played at Bonney Field (now namedHeart Health Park) and began play in the onlyPRO Rugby season before the league folded.

In the past, the city hosted three professional football teams, theSacramento Surge of theWorld League of American Football (who won theWorld Bowl II on June 6, 1992), theSacramento Gold Miners of theCanadian Football League, and theSacramento Attack of theArena Football League.

Teams in several smaller leagues have been and continue to be in Sacramento. TheSacramento Heatwave of theAmerican Basketball Association currently plays at Folsom High School.

Sacramento was also home to anindoor soccer team, theSacramento Knights of theContinental Indoor Soccer League (later called theWorld Indoor Soccer League). The Sacramento XSV (pronounced "excessive") of the National Professional Paintball League represents the City but is based inModesto, California. The last sports team to come to Sacramento was theSacramento Mountain Lions which was part of theUnited Football League (2009). They played atRaley Field, home of the Sacramento River Cats.

Sacramento hosted the 2000 and 2004 USA Olympic Track & Field Trials. The California International Marathon (est. 1983) finishes in front of the Capitol, and attracts a field of international elite runners who vie for a share of the $50,000 prize purse. The fast point-to-point course begins in Folsom and is popular for runners seeking to achieve a Boston Marathon qualifying time and fitness runners. The Sacramento Mile is a national flat-trackmotorcycle racing event. From 1961 to 1980, Sacramento hosted theCamellia Bowl, which selected or helped select ten national champions in college football's lower divisions.

The Sacramento area is home to two NCAA Division 1 sports programs —Sacramento State, which fields 21 varsity sports, most in theBig Sky Conference; andUC Davis, which fields 23 varsity teams, most in theBig West Conference.

Sacramento has frequently hosted theNCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship as well as the 1st and 2nd rounds of theNCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

Sacramento is a hotbed for high school rugby. Jesuit High has won national championships, winning six times in total. Their arch-rival school Christian Brothers has come in second nationwide. Granite Bay, Burbank, Del Campo, Sierra Foothills, and Vacaville have also placed well in the national competition over the years. The Sacramento Valley High School Rugby Conference hosts the largest and arguably deepest preseason youth and high school rugby tournament in America.

Sacramento hosts some recreational facilities and events. TheJedediah Smith Memorial Trail that runs betweenOld Sacramento andFolsom Lake grants access to the American River Parkway, a natural area that includes more than 5,000 acres (20 km²) of undeveloped land. It attracts cyclists and equestrians from across the state. TheCalifornia State Fair is held in Sacramento each year at the end of the summer, ending onLabor Day. In 2010, the State Fair moved to July. More than one million people attended this fair in 2001.

Among other recreational options in Sacramento is Discovery Park, a 275-acre (1.1 km²) park studded with stands of mature trees and grasslands. This park is situated where the American River flows into the Sacramento River.

In amateur sports, Sacramento claims many prominent Olympians such as Mark Spitz, Debbie Meyer, Mike Burton, Summer Sanders, Jeff Float (all swimming), and Billy Mills (track). Coach Sherm Chavoor founded his world famous Arden Hills Swim Club just east of the city and trained Burton, Myer, Spitz and others.

• Sports in California
• Sports in Sacramento, California
• Sacramento, California
• Sports in Sacramento County, California
• Sacramento metropolitan area

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