page_title: Edmonton
section_title: Sports and recreation
hierarchical_section_title: Edmonton / Sports and recreation
caption_attribution_description: Cheerleaders at an Edmonton Eskimos-Montreal Alouettes game, Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
context_page_description: Edmonton is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchors the north end of what Statistics Canada defines as the "Calgary–Edmonton Corridor".
  The city had a population of 932,546 in 2016, making it Alberta's second-largest city and Canada's fifth-largest municipality. Edmonton's 2019 municipal census subsequently recorded a population of 972,223. Also in 2016, Edmonton had a metropolitan population of 1,321,426, making it the sixth-largest census metropolitan area in Canada. Edmonton is North America's northernmost metropolitan area with a population over one million. A resident of Edmonton is known as an Edmontonian.
  Edmonton's historic growth has been facilitated through the absorption of five adjacent urban municipalities in addition to a series of annexations through 1982, and the annexation of 8,260 ha of land from Leduc County and the City of Beaumont on January 1, 2019.
context_section_description: Edmonton has a number of professional sports teams, including the Edmonton Football Team, formerly referred to as the Edmonton Eskimos, of the Canadian Football League, Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League, and FC Edmonton of the Canadian Premier League. Junior sports clubs include the Edmonton Huskies and Edmonton Wildcats of the Canadian Junior Football League and the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League. Venues for Edmonton's professional and junior sports teams include Commonwealth Stadium (Edmonton Football Team), Argyll Velodrome, Rogers Place (Oilers and Oil Kings), Edmonton Ballpark (Prospects), the Universiade Pavilion (Energy), and Clarke Stadium (FC Edmonton, Huskies and Wildcats).
  Edmonton's teams have rivalries with Calgary's teams and games between Edmonton and Calgary teams are often referred to as the Battle of Alberta.
  Past notable hockey teams in Edmonton include: the original junior hockey incarnation of the Edmonton Oil Kings, with multiple league and national Memorial Cup championships playing in the Western Hockey League; the Edmonton Flyers, with multiple Lester Patrick Cups and one national Allan Cup, and; the Edmonton Roadrunners of the American Hockey League.  Other past notable sports teams include; the Edmonton Grads, a women's basketball team with 108 local, provincial, national, and international titles and the world champions for 17 years in a row; the Edmonton Trappers, a Triple-A level baseball team with multiple division and league titles in the Pacific Coast League, and; the Edmonton Rush, a box lacrosse team with one league championship.
  Local university-level sports teams include the U of A Golden Bears, the U of A Pandas, the NAIT Ooks, and the MacEwan Griffins. Local amateur teams, among others, include the Edmonton Gold of the Rugby Canada Super League and two flat track roller derby leagues: Oil City Roller Derby and E-Ville Roller Derby.
  The Castrol Raceway hosts regular sprint car and a national IHRA events at their facility next to Edmonton International Airport. The airport also hosts horse racing at the Century Mile Racetrack and Casino. The Edmonton International Raceway, which hosts NASCAR Pinty's Series races, is located about 50 km to the south near Wetaskiwin.
  From 2005 to 2012, Edmonton hosted an annual circuit on the Indy Racing League known as the Edmonton Indy. Other past sporting events hosted by Edmonton include the 1978 Commonwealth Games, the 1983 World University Games (Universiade), the 2001 World Championships in Athletics, the 2002 World Ringette Championships, the 2005 World Master Games, the 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup, the 2007 and 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and the CN Canadian Women's Open. Edmonton shared hosting duties with Calgary for the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Edmonton is one of the venues for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
caption: Commonwealth Stadium is an open-air multi-purpose stadium. Opened in 1978 for the 1978 Commonwealth Games, the facility is also used as the home stadium for CFL's Edmonton Football Team.
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