Professional and College Sports
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Professional
We’re No. 1 and proud of it. St. Louis is a recognized world class sport city with The Sporting News naming it the nation's “Best Sports City” in 2000 and the “Best Baseball City” in 2005. We’re home to the St. Louis Blues, the 2011 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals, and St. Louis Rams professional sports franchises, along with many other popular teams:
In addition to having popular professional sports teams, Greater St. Louis also has happy fans. The St. Louis Blues and the St. Louis Cardinals ranked high in fan satisfaction for 2012 (No. 17 and No. 25 respectively) on ESPN The Magazine's 10th annual “Ultimate Standings” survey. The survey ranked fan satisfaction among 122 MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL franchises based on feedback on eight major categories: bang for the buck, fan relations, team ownership, affordability, stadium experience, players, coaches, and title track. Busch Stadium, a retro-style ballpark, opened in 2006 and has hosted both the 2006 and 2011 Cardinals' World Series victories. In 2009 the 80th MLB All-Star Game was held at Busch Stadium. At a press conference surrounding the All-Star events, Commissioner Bud Selig said, "[St. Louis] is a remarkable baseball town. The Commissioner is always supposed to be neutral, but there are some great baseball cities; there is no city with a greater history, tradition and presence than St. Louis."
College
Greater St. Louis is also home to numerous colleges that compete nationally, including the Washington University Bears, Saint Louis University Billikens, University of Missouri-St. Louis Tritons, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Cougars. Its central location nationally and world-class venues have supported St. Louis as a popular host city to numerous NCAA Division I college championships:
- 2000 Men's Wrestling Championship
- 2001 Women's Basketball Final Four®
- 2004 Men's Wrestling Championship
- 2005 Men's Wrestling Championship
- 2005 Men's Basketball Final Four®
- 2006 Men's Soccer College Cup®
- 2007 Men's Hockey Frozen Four®
- 2008 Men's Wrestling Championship
- 2009 Men's Wrestling Championship
- 2009 Women's Basketball Final Four®
- 2011 Women's Volleyball Championship
Venues
St. Louis area teams play in a number of top-notch venues, which attract millions of visitors to the area every year.
- Busch Stadium has already seen two World Series Champions since opening as the Cardinals new home in 2006. The retro themed park holds roughly 46,000 people and consistantly sees over 3 million fans come through the gates annually. In addition to the Cardinals, Busch Stadium hosts concerts and special events.
- The Edward Jones Dome, home to the 2000 Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams, holds an impressive 67,000 spectators while offering fans a vast array of amenities on four different concourse levels.
- The Blues compete in the Scottrade Center, a 19,000-seat arena. The Scottrade Center also hosts numerous other events, including professional wrestling and concerts.
- St. Louis University's new Chaifetz Arena opened in March 2008. It seats just over 10,000 for SLU Billikens NCAA Division I basketball and also hosts concerts and other events.
- Gateway Motor Sports Park features a 1.25 mile track, a quarter-mile drag strip, and a 1.6-mile road circuit. The Track hosts over 300 events per year, bringing in over 500,000 fans, and is one of only a few facilities in North America that can host all major forms of professional motorsports.
- The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park hosts many events, including high school state championships and amateur tournaments.
