page_title: Sports in Florida
section_title: American football
hierarchical_section_title: Sports in Florida / By sport / American football
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Floride, USAEnglish: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida, USA
context_page_description: The U.S. state of Florida has three National Football League teams, two Major League Baseball teams, two National Basketball Association teams, two National Hockey League teams, and two Major League Soccer teams.
  Florida gained its first permanent major-league professional sports team in 1966 when the American Football League added the Miami Dolphins. The state of Florida has given professional sports franchises some subsidies in the form of tax breaks since 1991.
context_section_description: Miami's first entry into the American Football League was the Miami Dolphins, which competed in the fourth AFL league from 1966 to 1969. In 1970 the Dolphins joined the National Football League when the AFL–NFL merger, agreed to in 1966, was finalized. The team made its first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl VI, but lost to the Dallas Cowboys. The following year, the Dolphins completed the NFL's only perfect season culminating in a Super Bowl win.  The 1972 Dolphins were the third NFL team to accomplish a perfect regular season, and won Super Bowl VIII, Miami also appeared in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX, losing both games.
  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers began in 1976 as an expansion team of the NFL. They struggled at first, losing their first 26 games in a row to set a league record for futility. After a brief taste of success in the late 1970s, the Bucs again returned to their losing ways, and at one point lost 10+ games for 12 seasons in a row. The hiring of Tony Dungy in 1996 started an improving trend that eventually led to the team's victory in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003 under coach Jon Gruden. Tampa has hosted four Super Bowls: Super Bowl XVIII (1984), Super Bowl XXV (1991), Super Bowl XXXV (2001), and Super Bowl XLIII (2009). The first two events were held at Tampa Stadium, and the other two at Raymond James Stadium.
  The Jacksonville Jaguars joined the NFL as an expansion team in the 1995 season; they play their home games at EverBank Field. In 2005, Jacksonville hosted Super Bowl XXXIX.
  The Tampa Bay Vipers began play in the XFL in February 2020; they play their home games at Raymond James Stadium.
  The World Football League featured the Florida Blazers, Jacksonville Sharks and Jacksonville Express, whereas the United States Football League included the Tampa Bay Bandits, Jacksonville Bulls and Orlando Renegades. The Orlando Rage played in the original XFL in 2001, and the Orlando Apollos played in the Alliance of American Football in 2019.
  The Orange Bowl is a major college football bowl, held at the Miami metropolitan area since 1935, currently as a member of the College Football Playoff. The Miami metro area has hosted the Super Bowl a total of ten times (five Super Bowls at Hard Rock Stadium, including Super Bowl XLI and five at the Miami Orange Bowl), tying New Orleans for the most games.
  Camping World Stadium (the former Citrus Bowl stadium) hosts three annual college football bowl games: the Citrus Bowl since 1947, the Camping World Bowl since 2001, and the Cure Bowl since 2015.
  Jacksonville hosts the Florida–Georgia game, an annual college football game between the University of Florida and the University of Georgia since 1933, as well as the Gator Bowl, a post-season college bowl game since 1946.
caption: Raymond James Stadium
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