Sports in California facts,
For a list of professional sports teams in California, see List of professional sports teams in California.
International sports events
California has hosted the Olympic Games three times. Los Angeles, the largest city in the state, hosted both the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics. Squaw Valley, California hosted the 1960 Winter Olympic]. Los Angeles and San Francisco were in the race for the United States Olympic Committee nomination to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, but eventually lost to Chicago.
Besides the Olympics, California has also hosted several major international soccer events:
Two of the venues for the 1994 FIFA World Cup were in the state—Stanford Stadium at Stanford University, with San Francisco serving as the official host city, and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, with Los Angeles as the host city. The Rose Bowl hosted the final, won by Brazil in a penalty shootout with Italy.
Both stadiums were also used for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, along with Spartan Stadium in San Jose. The Rose Bowl again hosted the final, in which a crowd of over 90,000—the largest ever to witness a women's sporting event to this day—saw the USA defeat China in another penalty shootout, capped off by Brandi Chastain's famous shirt-stripping moment.
The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup used one California venue, The Home Depot Center in Carson. It hosted the final of that competition, won by Germany over Sweden.
State-wide sports events
Professional sports
Map
California has over twenty major professional sports franchises, far more than any other US state. The San Francisco Bay Area has their nine major league teams spread amongst three cities: San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. While home to ten major league franchises, the Greater Los Angeles Area is the largest metropolitan area not to have any teams from the National Football League. San Diego has two major league teams, and Sacramento has two.
National Football League
Oakland Raiders
San Diego Chargers
San Francisco 49ers
National Basketball Association
Golden State Warriors – Based in Oakland
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Sacramento Kings
National Hockey League
Anaheim Ducks
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Major League Baseball
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – based in Anaheim
Los Angeles Dodgers
Oakland Athletics
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
Major League Soccer
Chivas USA – based in Carson
Los Angeles Galaxy – also based in Carson
San Jose Earthquakes – based in Santa Clara
Women's National Basketball Association
Los Angeles Sparks
Women's Professional Soccer
FC Gold Pride (Bay Area) – based in Hayward
College sports
Home to some of most prominent universities in the United States, California has long had many respected collegiate sports programs. In particular, the athletic programs of the University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley, UCLA and Stanford University are often nationally-ranked in the various sports. In addition, those Universities boast the highest academic standards (on average) of all major college (NCAA Div I) programs. All 4 schools are ranked, academically, in the top 30 nationally with Cal (specifically) ranked as the #1 public university in the country (usually about #15 overall). California is also home to the oldest college bowl game, the annual Rose Bowl (Pasadena), as well as the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl (San Diego), the Emerald Bowl (San Francisco), and the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego).
The Great Heisman State
Most sports enthusiasts don't know that the state of California has rendered the most Heisman Trophy winners. Fourteen winners were both born and played high school football in the Golden State. Seven played collegiately at USC and one each at UCLA, Stanford, Army, Texas, Colorado, Notre Dame, and Miami.
1946 Glenn Davis from Bonita High School in La Verne
1964 John Huarte from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana
1965 Mike Garrett from Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles
1967 Gary Beban from Sequoia High School in Redwood City
1968 O.J. Simpson from Galileo High School in San Francisco
1970 Jim Plunkett from William C. Overfelt High School, then James Lick High School, in East San Jose
1979 Charles White from San Fernando High School in San Fernando
1981 Marcus Allen from Abraham Lincoln High School in San Diego
1992 Gino Torretta from Pinole Valley High School in Pinole
1994 Rashaan Salaam from La Jolla Country Day School in La Jolla
1998 Ricky Williams from Patrick Henry High School in San Diego
2002 Carson Palmer from Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita
2004 Matt Leinart from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana
2005 Reggie Bush from Helix High School in La Mesa
Local sports
Most city municipals house a variety of sports activities. The available sports are typically listed on their city websites. Additionally, there are a variety of California Sports activities listed on FindSportsNow's California database.
Others
The California State Games, a state-wide Olympics-like sport event, take place in California every year. The United States Olympic Committee governs this event.[4] Many of California's high school teams are often nationally-ranked. The NASCAR Sprint Cup series holds 3 races in California, two at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana and one at Infineon Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway. The IRL Indycar series competes every April in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, through the streets of downtown Long Beach. The IRL also holds an event at Infineon. The NHRA Drag Racing Series holds three national events in California, as well; two at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (formerly Pomona Raceway) and at the aforementioned Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. The AMA Supercross Series holds several events in the state in cities such as Anaheim, San Francisco, and San Diego.
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is a sport heavily associated with California as it is the place where the sport started. Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk was born in California in 1968 and was involved in many bowlriding and vert competitions there.
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