 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Sports in Texas" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Texas is home of several national sports league franchises among other professional sports, being the second most populatedU.S. state. Since the state is located in theSouth Central United States, most teams are part of the Central / South or West league divisions, with the notable exception of the NFLDallas Cowboys, which is anNFC East franchise.
Texas is home to 12major league sports teams and twomajor women's teams.
Many Texans are passionate aboutAmerican football and intensely followhigh school andcollege football teams, which often dominate social and leisure activity.Professional football is also intensely popular in Texas, and the state is home to twoNational Football League (NFL) franchises, theDallas Cowboys andHouston Texans. In addition to the Cowboys and Texans, two current NFL teams previously played in the state, and one now-defunct NFL team also called the state home.
The Dallas Cowboys, founded in1960, are one of the most popular teams in the league and have fans in many parts of the United States, leading to the nickname "America's Team". They are also one of the most successful, having reached eightSuper Bowls and won five (tied with theSan Francisco 49ers for second all-time). The Cowboys play their home games atAT&T Stadium in nearbyArlington, into which they moved in2009 after having spent 38 years atTexas Stadium inIrving.
The first major-league sports team in Texas was also an NFL franchise—theDallas Texans, which joined the league in1952. The team's first game, however, proved to be a harbinger for the season—a 24–6 loss in front of fewer than 18,000 fans in the then-75,000-seatCotton Bowl. Home attendance continued to slump, dropping to 10,000 for a loss that left the team 0–7. The team owners, unable to make payroll, returned the Texans to the league, and the team played the rest of the 1952 season as a traveling team, never returning to Texas. After the season, the NFL folded the Texans, making them the last NFL team to permanently cease operations.
In the same year that the Cowboys entered the NFL, theAmerican Football League (AFL) began operations with two teams in the state—the Dallas Texans andHouston Oilers. The new Texans shared the Cotton Bowl with the Cowboys, while the Oilers played atJeppesen Stadium (now the site of theUniversity of Houston'sTDECU Stadium). The Texans and Cowboys shared the city and stadium through the 1962 season; while the Texans enjoyed more on-field success, including an AFL title in 1962, the team's ownerLamar Hunt concluded that Dallas could not support two professional football teams and moved the Texans toKansas City, Missouri, where they play to this day as theKansas City Chiefs. The Oilers moved from Jeppesen Stadium to the largerRice Stadium after the 1964 season, and then joined baseball'sHouston Astros at theAstrodome in 1968. Two years later, themerger that the AFL and NFL had agreed to in 1966 took effect, with all AFL franchises being incorporated into the NFL. The Oilers remained at the Astrodome into the 1990s, but the failure of team ownerBud Adams to reach an agreement with the city on a new stadium led to his moving the franchise toNashville, Tennessee, where it was renamed theTennessee Titans.
The NFL returned to Houston in2002 with the debut of the current Texans, who play their home games atNRG Stadium, the first NFL stadium with aretractable roof.
In 2020, theDallas Renegades andHouston Roughnecks launched as inaugural teams in the newXFL.[1] The XFL's first season was cut short by COVID-19, and the league did not resume play until 2023, with both teams returning. Shortly before play resumed, the Renegades changed their geographic identifier to Arlington. In the meantime, thesecond USFL started play in 2022, with the Houston Gamblers as one of its eight original teams. After both leagues' 2023 seasons, the USFL and XFL merged to form the currentUnited Football League. The Renegades were one of the four XFL teams brought into the new league, while the Gamblers and Roughnecks merged, maintaining theRoughnecks branding but retaining the player rights and coaching staff of the Gamblers.
Baseball has a strong presence in Texas, with twoMajor League Baseball (MLB) teams. TheHouston Astros (originally the "Colt .45s") started playing in 1962. TheTexas Rangers debuted in 1972 after relocating from Washington, D.C. In 2005, the Astros became the first team in Texas to make it to the World Series. The Rangers followed the Astros in 2010 to their first World Series and the following year as well. In 2017, the Astros became the first team in Texas to win the World Series. In 2023, the Rangers also won their first World Series title.
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is also closely followed in Texas—especially in the smaller metropolitan areas. As of the 2023 season, three teams play in theTriple-APacific Coast League: theEl Paso Chihuahuas,Round Rock Express, andSugar Land Space Cowboys. Five teams play in theDouble-ATexas League: theAmarillo Sod Poodles,Corpus Christi Hooks,Frisco RoughRiders,Midland RockHounds, andSan Antonio Missions. TheFort Worth Cats were a team in Fort Worth that won three-straight championships in independent leagues, one in theCentral Baseball League and the last two in theAmerican Association.
College baseball is also quite popular, asTexas A&M University,Rice University,University of Texas at Austin,University of Houston,Baylor University,Texas Tech University, andTexas Christian University have all made multipleMen's College World Series appearances.
Basketball is also popular, and Texas hosts threeNBA teams: theSan Antonio Spurs, theHouston Rockets, and theDallas Mavericks. All three have won championships, with the Rockets winning back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995 with the help of NBA MVPHakeem Olajuwon. Following this, the Spurs enjoyed a period of consistent success, winning 5 championships between 1999 and 2014 with the help ofTim Duncan,Tony Parker, andManu Ginóbili. The Dallas Mavericks enjoyed a similarly successful period after trading theMilwaukee Bucks forDirk Nowitzki. They managed to break through and win a championship in 2011.
Texas is home to oneWNBA team, theDallas Wings, which relocated fromTulsa, Oklahoma after the 2015 season. The state had two other WNBA teams, theHouston Comets andSan Antonio Stars. The Comets, a founding member of the WNBA, won the league's first four championships (1997–2000) but folded after the 2008 season. The Stars were also a founding member of the WNBA as theSalt Lake City-basedUtah Starzz, and moved to San Antonio when the team was bought by the Spurs' parent company,Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SSE), before the 2003 season. The team then took the identity of San Antonio Silver Stars, dropping the word "Silver" after the 2013 season. After the 2017 season, SSE sold the Stars toMGM Resorts International, which moved the team toLas Vegas as theLas Vegas Aces.
At the collegiate level, the state is home to two NCAA Division I Men's Championship teams: theTexas Western Miners (nowUTEP Miners) team, who won the1966 NCAA University Division basketball tournament (the historic predecessor to today'sDivision I men's tournament), and theBaylor Bears, who won the2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. In women's collegiate basketball, several teams have won championships, including theTexas Tech Lady Raiders,Texas Longhorns,Texas A&M Aggies, andBaylor Bears.
Texas also has a statewide championship recreationalbasketball league,Shamrock Basketball Association.[2]
From 1905–1915, people in Dallas and Fort Worth turned out by the thousands for horse racing, which was usually tied to the state fair schedule. Dallas established a Jockey Club early on. The Fort Worth Driving Club (for owners of Standardbred trotters and pacers) had 101 members when it opened in 1905. Trotters raced at a park in Fort Worth, but both cities attracted thousands of people for each style of racing.[3]
Lone Star Park, in the Dallas–Fort Worth suburb of Grand Prairie, hosted theBreeders' Cup, the climax to the American Thoroughbred racing season, in 2004.
Ice hockey has been a growing participatory sport in theDallas-Fort Worth area since theMinnesota North Stars of theNational Hockey League (NHL) became theDallas Stars in 1993. The Stars made theStanley Cup playoffs their first year in Dallas and remained competitive through the rest of decade, culminating in aStanley Cup championship in 1999. The team returned to theStanley Cup Finals the next year, only to lose to theNew Jersey Devils. In addition to the 1999 Stanley Cup and 2000Western Conference championship, the team has also won twoPresidents' Trophies as the NHL's regular-season points champion and seven division titles.
Prior to the advent of the Stars, top-tier professional ice hockey existed in Texas in the form of theHouston Aeros, who played in theWorld Hockey Association (WHA) from 1973 to 1978. The team was notable for featuring hockey legendGordie Howe, who was lured out of retirement by the prospect of playing alongside his sons,Mark andMarty. Led by the Howes, the Aeros won back-to-backAvco World Trophies as the WHA champions in 1974 and 1975. The Aeros folded after they failed to gain admission into the NHL, first as part of amerger between the WHA and NHL and then as an expansion team.
Minor league professional hockey has also become popular in the last several decades. TheHouston Huskies played in the oldUnited States Hockey League (USHL) and won its championship in 1948, led by legendary NHL coachToe Blake. In 1994, Houston received a franchise in theInternational Hockey League (IHL), which was named the Aeros after the city's old WHA side. Thenew Aeros won the IHL'sTurner Cup in 1999. In 2001, the team transferred to theAmerican Hockey League (AHL) after the IHL's demise; it won the AHL'sCalder Cup in 2003 and reached the Calder Cup Finals in 2011. The AHL has established two more teams in Texas since that time – theSan Antonio Rampage (owned by the NBA'sSan Antonio Spurs and affiliated with the NHL'sColorado Avalanche) began play in 2002, and theTexas Stars (an AHL affiliate of theDallas Stars based in theAustin suburb ofCedar Park), began play seven years later. In 2013 the Aeros would leave Texas to become theIowa Wild. In 2020, the Rampage would be purchased by theVegas Golden Knights and relocated toHenderson, Nevada, becoming theHenderson Silver Knights.
Between 1992 and 2014, theCentral Hockey League had fifteen different teams based in Texas and as many as nine from2002 to2005. However, by the CHL'sfinal season, only theAllen Americans remained. The Americans joined theECHL in 2014 and went on to win thechampionship in their first season in the league.
The major professionalNorth American Soccer League had teams in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Houston, and in San Antonio. TheDallas Tornado played between 1968–1981 (winning the1971 Soccer Bowl), theHouston Stars played for one season in 1968, and theSan Antonio Thunder played for two seasons, 1975–1976. Houston returned to the league in 1978 as theHurricanes and played until 1980. Soccer returned to Texas with the1994 FIFA World Cup with theCotton Bowl hosting matches.
In 1996, the Dallas Burn was born as one of 10 founding members ofMajor League Soccer, which is the current Division 1 professional soccer league overseen by theU.S. Soccer Federation. The Dallas Burn were later renamedFC Dallas with a new logo and colors, and now play in asoccer-specific stadium calledToyota Stadium in Frisco. A second Texas team,Houston Dynamo FC, joined MLS in 2006 (with "FC" added to the club branding in 2020). The Dynamo won theMLS Cup in their first year in Houston, and again in their second year in 2007. Dynamo FC now plays atShell Energy Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium near downtown Houston. Texas received its third MLS team in 2021 with the arrival ofAustin FC. The city had originally been planned as the future home of theColumbus Crew, but the move proved controversial, triggering lawsuits by the city of Columbus and state of Ohio. The dispute was settled with an investment group led by the owners of theCleveland Browns buying the Crew, while former Crew ownerAnthony Precourt received a new Austin team.
Before the Austin FC deal was finalized, MLS Commissioner Don Garber had stated publicly that a third city in Texas—either San Antonio or Austin—was under consideration for a possibleMLS expansion franchise. At that time, only San Antonio had a professional minor league soccer team;San Antonio FC play in the second-tierUSL Championship, but another Texas team,Austin Bold FC, joined in 2019. Bold FC effectively replaced theAustin Aztex, which joined the USL Championship in 2015, when the competition was known as the United Soccer League, but only played one season. The Aztex went on hiatus while seeking to build a new stadium, but eventually folded after being unable to secure a site. Eventually, a new deal for a stadium on the grounds of theCircuit of the Americas emerged, clearing the way for Bold FC to join the league. Bold FC isn't currently active in the league, pending a move to Fort Worth. Texas currently has three active teams in the USL Championship—Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, which began play in 2016 as the reserve side of the Dynamo,San Antonio FC which also began play in 2016, andEl Paso Locomotive FC, which started play in 2019. Another professional team,North Texas SC, began play in 2019 as the reserve side of FC Dallas, playing in the newly launched third-levelUSL League One. It has since moved to another third-level league,MLS Next Pro, which began play in 2022 as the de facto successor to MLS' formerreserve league.
In 2014, theHouston Dash, owned and operated by Dynamo FC and also playing at Shell Energy Stadium, joined theNational Women's Soccer League, the longest-tenured and most prominent of the country's two current top-level women's leagues.[4] Texas also fields 12 teams in theWomen's Premier Soccer League, the second-highest league in theUnited States soccer pyramid. Those teams are the El Paso Surf, DKSC BADTOP, FC Dallas, SouthStar FC, AHFC Royals,Austin Rise FC, Bat Country FC, Challenge Red Devils, Corinthians FC of San Antonio,Houston Aces, Lonestar SC and San Antonio Blossoms.
TheCotton Bowl inDallas hosted six matches during the1994 FIFA World Cup. During the2026 FIFA World Cup, matches will be held atAT&T Stadium in theDallas-Fort Worth Metroplex andNRG Stadium inHouston. Along withCalifornia, Texas is one of two states which will host 2026 FIFA World Cup matches at two stadiums in their respective state.[5][6][7]
Originally, most TexasDivision I universities were part of theSouthwest Conference until it dissolved in 1996. As of the current 2024 season, 13 Texas schools compete in the top level of college football,Division I FBS. Seven of those schools compete in aPower Four conference. TheBaylor Bears,Houston Cougars,TCU Horned Frogs, andTexas Tech Red Raiders compete in theBig 12 Conference; theTexas Longhorns andTexas A&M Aggies in theSoutheastern Conference; theSMU Mustangs in theAtlantic Coast Conference; theNorth Texas Mean Green,Rice Owls, andUTSA Roadrunners in theAmerican Athletic Conference; theTexas State Bobcats in theSun Belt Conference; and theSam Houston Bearkats andUTEP Miners in Conference USA. Texas has the most FBS schools in the United States.
According to a survey of FBS coaches, therivalry between theUniversity of Oklahoma and the University of Texas at Austin, theRed River Shootout, ranks the third-best in the nation.[8] A fierce rivalry, theLone Star Showdown, also exists between the two state's largest universities, Texas A&M University and the University of Texas. This athletic rivalry was put on hold after the Aggiesjoined the Southeastern Conference in 2012, but is resuming with the Longhorns'2024 move to the SEC. The SMU Mustangs and Texas Christian University Horned Frogs have a rivalry called theBattle for the Iron Skillet. TheHouston–Texas Tech football rivalry is a Big 12 intraconference rivalry. Houston's two largest athletic programs hold theHouston–Rice rivalry with a large focus on theBayou Bucket Classic.
Texas is home to many otherDivision I programs with football teams competing inDivision I FCS—theAbilene Christian Wildcats andTarleton Texans of theWestern Athletic Conference (WAC) and, for football only, theUnited Athletic Conference (UAC); theHouston Christian Huskies,Incarnate Word Cardinals,Lamar Cardinals,Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, andTexas A&M–Commerce Lions of theSouthland Conference (SLC); and thePrairie View A&M Panthers andTexas Southern Tigers of theSouthwestern Athletic Conference. Rivalries include theBattle of the Piney Woods between Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin and another between Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern.
In addition, the state has three Division I programs that do not sponsor football—theTexas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders andUTRGV Vaqueros of the SLC, and theUT Arlington Mavericks of the WAC. UTRGV is in the process of establishing an FCS football program, with an exhibition schedule in 2024 followed by full varsity play in 2025.
Collegiate teams nationwide see Texas as an American football recruiting hotbed. In 2006, 170 players in the NFL came from Texas high schools.[9]
Most primary and secondary school athletic, music, and academic contests in Texas involving public schools are organized and administered by theUniversity Interscholastic League (UIL).[10] As a general rule, the UIL only governs public schools. Private schools are governed by other bodies, the largest of which is theTexas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS). Both bodies have similar governing scope, although some terminology differs. The TAPPS category of "fine arts" encompasses what UIL calls "academic" and "music" competitions, and also includes competitions for spirit squads (i.e., cheerleading and dance teams), which UIL does not sponsor (other bodies govern cheer/dance competitions among public schools).
Texans also enjoy going to therodeo. The annualHouston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the largest rodeo in the world. The event begins with trail rides that originate from several points throughout the state, all of which convene atReliant Park. The world's first rodeo was held inPecos, Texas on July 4, 1883. TheSouthwestern Exposition and Livestock Show inFort Worth, Texas has a cowboy, and a Mexican and many traditional rodeos. TheState Fair of Texas is held each year at Fair Park inDallas.
Gymnastics in Texas is very popular and is one of the largest states for thesport in the country. Multiple Olympians and World Champions have come out of the state including;Nastia Liukin (2008 Olympic AA Champion),Carly Patterson (2004 Olympic AA Champion),Simone Biles (2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2023 World AA Champion and 2016 and 2024 Olympic all-around champion), andMadison Kocian (2015 world uneven bars champion).
There are many gymnastics clubs in Texas but the top facilities includeWorld Olympic Gymnastics Academy (Plano &Frisco),Texas Dreams Gymnastics (Coppell) andMetroplex Gymnastics (Allen).
The Women's U.S. National Gymnastics Training Center had been just outsideHouston, at theKarolyi Ranch inHuntsville, Texas, from 2001 to 2018,[11] when Karolyi Ranch closed permanently in the wake of theUSA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal.
Plano, Texas is considered the "gymnastics capital of the world" because of the gymnastics academy,WOGA.
Texas hosts five PGA Tour golf tournaments:WGC Match Play,Houston Open,Texas Open,Byron Nelson Classic, andColonial National Invitational. Other professional tournaments in the state are theNorth Texas LPGA Shootout and theInsperity Invitational. Notable Texan golfers includeBen Hogan,Byron Nelson,Jimmy Demaret,Tom Kite,Ben Crenshaw,Scottie Scheffler (born in New Jersey, but moved to Texas as a child),Jordan Spieth,Lee Trevino, andKathy Whitworth.
The state is home to motorsport venues such as theTexas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, which hostsNASCAR andIndyCar races, and theTexas World Speedway in College Station. TheCircuit of the Americas near Austin hosts theUnited States Grand Prix inFormula One and theMotorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas inMotoGP.
TheTexas Motorplex andHouston Raceway Park dragstrips host rounds of theNHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Dallas and Houston have hosted street races, theDallas Grand Prix and theGrand Prix of Houston, as well asAMA Supercross Championship rounds.
Auto racing is the second most watched sport on TV in the state,[citation needed] behindAmerican football. NASCAR races tend to do better in Texas media markets thanNBA games.[citation needed]
Majoresports organizations located in Texas:
| Organization | Location |
|---|---|
| Clutch Gaming | Houston |
| compLexity Gaming | Frisco |
| Dallas Fuel | Dallas |
| Houston Outlaws | Houston |
| Mavs Gaming | Dallas |
| OpTic Gaming | Dallas |
| OpTic Texas | Dallas |
Another popular sport in Texas is year-roundfishing.Lacrosse, originally played by some of the indigenous tribes, is growing in popularity.
.jpg)
.jpg)
