page_title: Sports in the United States by state
section_title: Florida
hierarchical_section_title: Sports in the United States by state / South / Florida
caption_attribution_description: First pitch at Marlins Park, home of the Miami Marlins, which held its first Major League game on April 4, 2012, between the Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals.
context_page_description: Sport in the USA are an important part of American culture. American football is the most popular sport to watch in the United States, followed by baseball, basketball, and ice hockey, which makes up the "4 major sports". Soccer, tennis, golf, wrestling, auto racing, arena football, field lacrosse, box lacrosse and volleyball are also played in the country. Based on Olympic Games, World Championships, and other major competitions in respective sports, the United States is the most successful sports nation in the world.
  Based on revenue, the four major professional sports leagues in the United States are Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, and the National Hockey League. The market for professional sports in the United States is roughly $69 billion, roughly 50% larger than that of all of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined. All four enjoy wide-ranging domestic media coverage and are considered the preeminent leagues in their respective sports in the world, although American football does not have a substantial following in other nations.
context_section_description: Florida has three NFL teams, two MLB teams, two NBA teams, two NHL teams, and one MLS team. Florida gained its first permanent major-league professional sports team in 1966 when the American Football League added the Miami Dolphins. Florida has given professional sports franchises some subsidies in the form of tax breaks since 1991.
  About half of all Major League Baseball teams conduct spring training in the state, with teams informally organized into the "Grapefruit League". Throughout MLB history, other teams have held spring training in Florida.
  NASCAR (headquartered in Daytona Beach) begins all three of its major auto racing series in Florida at Daytona International Speedway in February, featuring the Daytona 500, and ends all three Series in November at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Daytona also has the Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR race weekend around Independence Day in July. The 24 Hours of Daytona is one of the world's most prestigious endurance auto races. The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and Grand Prix of Miami have held IndyCar races as well.
  Florida is a major golf hub. The PGA of America is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, the PGA Tour is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, and the LPGA is headquartered in Daytona Beach. The Players Championship, WGC-Cadillac Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational, Honda Classic and Valspar Championship are PGA Tour rounds.
  Florida has teams in all the major league sports—National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer Florida's most recent major-league team, Orlando City, began play in MLS in 2015.
  The Miami Masters is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and WTA Premier tennis event, whereas the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships is an ATP World Tour 250 event.
  Minor league baseball, football, basketball, ice hockey, soccer and indoor football teams are based in Florida. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is the largest football stadium in Florida, the 12th largest stadium in American college football, and the 18th largest stadium in the world, as measured by its official seating capacity of 88,548—though, it has often held over 90,000 for Florida's home football games.
  Florida's universities have a number of collegiate sport programs. Major college football programs include the Florida State Seminoles and Miami Hurricanes of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference. Since 1996, Florida has added four additional programs to the ranks of Division I FCS: UCF Knights, South Florida Bulls, Florida Atlantic Owls and FIU Panthers.
caption: Marlins Park in Little Havana
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