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Sports in Chicago include many professional sports teams. Chicago is one of eleven U.S. cities to have teams from the five major American professional team sports (baseball, football, basketball, hockey, and soccer). Chicago has been named as the "Best Sports City" by Sporting News three times: 1993, 2006, and 2010.
Chicago was a candidate city for the 2016 Summer Olympics but lost to Rio de Janeiro.[1] Chicago also hosted the 1959 Pan American Games, as well as the 2006 Gay Games. Chicago hosted the inaugural 1968 Special Olympics Summer World Games as well as its second games in 1970. Chicago also was the host of the 2017 Warrior Games.
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Wrigley Field is the home of the Chicago Cubs. -
In-game action during a soccer match at Soldier Field, which is the home venue of the Chicago Bears (NFL) and Chicago Fire FC (MLS)
Major league teams
The following is a list of active, professional major-league Chicago sports teams, ranked by attendance:
| Club | League | Sport | Venue | Attendance | Founded | Championships | Last Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Bears | NFL | Football | Soldier Field | 61,142 | 1919 | 1 Super Bowl, 8 prior Championships | 1985 |
| Chicago Cubs | MLB | Baseball | Wrigley Field | 41,649 | 1870 | 3 World Series, 6 prior championships | 2016 |
| Chicago White Sox | MLB | Baseball | Guaranteed Rate Field | 40,625 | 1900 | 3 World Series, 1 prior championship | 2005 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | Ice hockey | United Center | 21,653 | 1926 | 6 Stanley Cups | 2015 |
| Chicago Bulls | NBA | Basketball | United Center | 20,776 | 1966 | 6 NBA Championships | 1998 |
| Chicago Fire FC | MLS | Soccer | Soldier Field | 14,806 | 1997 | 1 MLS Cup, 1 Supporters Shield, 4 U.S. Open Cup | 2006 |
| Chicago Sky | WNBA | Basketball | Wintrust Arena | 6,358 | 2006 | 1 WNBA Championship | 2021 |
| Chicago Red Stars | NWSL | Soccer | SeatGeek Stadium | 5,451 | 2006 | None | N/A |
| Chicago Hounds | MLR | Rugby | SeatGeek Stadium | 4,443 | 2022 | None | N/A |
Soccer (MLS, NWSL)
Soccer in Chicago can be traced back to Chicago Sparta. Founded in 1917 by immigrant Czechs, Sparta competed in several leagues during its existence.[2] The club's achievements include: winning the National Soccer League of Chicago; winning 9 titles in Chicago's International League, of which the team was a member 1926–1936; and winning the National Challenge Cup twice.[3][4] In the 1950s, the Chicago Falcons operated. They won the National Challenge Cup in 1953.[5]
Chicago was once the home of the Chicago Sting who competed in the major professional North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1984. They spread their home games at Soldier Field, Wrigley Field, and Comiskey Park. The Sting won the Soccer Bowl twice: 1981 and 1984. They were the only club other than the New York Cosmos to win multiple titles in the NASL [6] One of the club's notable players was German forward Arno Steffenhagen.
Chicago Fire FC, a member of Major League Soccer (MLS), have won one MLS Cup and four U.S. Open Cups since they entered the league in 1998. The Fire won their sole MLS Cup in 1998, their inaugural season, led by head coach Bob Bradley, who later went on to coach the U.S. national soccer team.[7] The Fire played from 2006 to 2019 at SeatGeek Stadium (originally Toyota Park), a soccer-specific stadium located in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview near Midway Airport. The club currently plays at Soldier Field after finalizing an agreement with the Chicago Park District in September 2019.[8] Some notable former players include Cuauhtémoc Blanco from Mexico, Brian McBride from the U.S., Peter Nowak from Poland, and Bastian Schweinsteiger from Germany – a demonstration of the team's international flavor. The club is named after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Chicago is also home to the Chicago Red Stars, currently playing in the National Women's Soccer League. The Red Stars began their second stint at the venue now known as SeatGeek Stadium in 2016, having played there previously as a member of the now-defunct Women's Professional Soccer.
Baseball (MLB)
Chicago is one of four metro areas in the United States that has two Major League Baseball teams, the others being Los Angeles, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Of these, only Chicago and New York City have both teams in the city limits. Chicago is the only city that has had more than one MLB team every year since the founding of the American League in 1901 (New York City hosted one team between 1958 and 1962, and Los Angeles has only done so since 1961). The Chicago Cubs are members of the National League, while the Chicago White Sox are members of the American League.
The Cubs play in Wrigley Field in the North side neighborhood of Wrigleyville.[9] The Cubs are the oldest Major League Baseball team to have never changed their city, one of nine out of the sixteen teams to predate expansion that have not changed cities. They have played in Chicago since 1871, and continuously so since 1874 due to the Great Chicago Fire. The White Sox play in Guaranteed Rate Field in the South Side neighborhood of Armour Square. They have played in Chicago since the formation of the American League in 1901.
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The Cubs' rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals is one of the most bitter in North American professional sports. The Cubs are the oldest team to play continuously in the same city since the formation of the National League in 1876.[10] They have played more games, have more wins and scored more runs than any other team in Major League baseball since 1876.[11] They have won three World Series titles and are fourth among National League teams with 17 pennants. In 2016, the Cubs broke the two longest droughts in professional sports: They won their sport's title for the first time since 1908, a drought of 108 years, and participated in a World Series for the first time since 1945, a drought of 71 years.
The White Sox have played on the South Side continuously since 1901, with all three of their home fields throughout the years being within mere blocks of one another. They have won three World Series titles (1906, 1917, 2005) and six American League pennants, including the first in 1901. The Sox are fifth in the American League in all-time wins, and sixth in pennants.
Basketball (NBA, WNBA)
The Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association is a professional basketball team. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen led the Bulls to six NBA championships in two "threepeats" from 1991 to 1993 and again from 1996 to 1998.[12][13] The new generation of Bulls, known as "The Baby Bulls", emerged in 2005.[14] In 2007, they swept the defending champs, the Miami Heat. In 2011, led by league MVP Derrick Rose, the Bulls made it to the Eastern Finals, losing to the Miami Heat.
Chicago is home to the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Chicago Sky won the 2021 WNBA Finals beating the Phoenix Mercury 3-1.
American football (NFL)
The Chicago Bears of the National Football League play at Soldier Field. The Bears' history includes many NFL personalities, including owner George Halas, players Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, and coach Mike Ditka. The Bears are one of the original teams of the NFL, founded by Halas in 1919 in Decatur, Illinois. They currently have the most players inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with 26.[15] In 1985, the Bears won Super Bowl XX 46–10 over the New England Patriots.[16] In the 2006 season, the Bears once again made it to the Super Bowl, but lost 29–17 to the Indianapolis Colts.[17] They were led by coach Lovie Smith.
The Bears' rivalry with the Green Bay Packers dates back the 1920s, and is one of the most intense in American professional sports.[18] The Bears have other regional and divisional rivalries with the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions.[19]
The Bears play their home games at Soldier Field, named after "The men and women of the armed forces". It is located next to the shores of Lake Michigan, on Lake Shore Drive. Soldier Field was an aging stadium and was in dire need of renovation by the end of the 20th century. In 2003, the stadium re-opened after an extensive renovation, which increased the number of luxury boxes and dramatically improved the game day experience for Bears fans. However, because of this renovation, the stadium lost its National Historic Landmark designation on February 17, 2006.
Ice hockey (NHL)
The Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League is the city's professional ice hockey team, and are an Original Six team. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 1934, 1938, 1961, 2010, 2013,[20] and again in 2015.[21]The Blackhawks receive national attention for the intense rivalries with the Detroit Red Wings, also an Original Six team.[22] Other rivalries include the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues (former Norris Division rivals), and the Nashville Predators. Some well-known players include: Stan Mikita, Tony Esposito, Bobby Hull, Keith Magnuson, Glenn Hall, Denis Savard, Steve Larmer, Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios, Ed Belfour, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Marián Hossa, Corey Crawford, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith.
Major league professional championships
Chicago Bears (NFL)1 Super Bowl title 8 NFL championships (pre–Super Bowl) Chicago Cardinals (NFL)2 NFL championships (pre–Super Bowl) Chicago Cubs (MLB)3 World Series titles Chicago White Sox (MLB)3 World Series titles Chicago American Giants (NNL)2 Negro World Series titles
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Chicago Sting (Juan)2 Soccer Bowl titles Chicago Fire F.C. (MLS)1 MLS Cup title Chicago Bulls (NBA)6 NBA Finals titles Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)6 Stanley Cup titles Chicago Sky (WNBA)1 WNBA Championship
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Minor league teams
The following is a list of active minor league, semi-pro, and amateur Chicago sports teams, ranked by year of establishment:
