Sports in Memphis, Tennessee are supported in the city by Memphis Park Services, which offers a wide range of public facilities, including 17 swimming pools, 8 public golf courses, 48 athletic fields hosting a range of 510 youth and 269 adult teams, 130 basketball courts (101 outdoor and 29 indoor), 7 tennis centers and a soccer complex.

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

is also home to professional sports teams in basketball, baseball and other sports. Golf, basketball, baseball and tennis are popular recreational sports in Memphis.

Overview of professional teams

Major league teams

Minor league teams

Basketball

The

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

is the only one of the " big four" major sports leagues in the city. The team played at the

Pyramid Arena The Memphis Pyramid, formerly known as the Great American Pyramid and the Pyramid Arena, is a building located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, United States, at the banks of the Mississippi River. Built in 1991 as a 20,142-seat arena, the facili ...

from 2001–2004 and then moved to the

FedExForum FedExForum is a multi-purpose arena located in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee. It is the home of the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA and the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of the University of Memphis, both of whom previously played home ga ...

in downtown Memphis. The Grizzlies'

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

affiliate, the

Memphis Hustle The Memphis Hustle are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in the Greater Memphis suburb of Southaven, Mississippi, and are affiliated with the Memphis Grizzlies. The team plays their home games at the Landers Ce ...

, plays its home games at the

Landers Center The Landers Center is an 8,400-seat multi-purpose arena in Southaven, Mississippi. It is home to the Memphis Hustle of the NBA G League, a minor league basketball team affiliated with the Memphis Grizzlies. History The center was built in 2000 ...

in the suburb of

Southaven, Mississippi Southaven is a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. It is a principal city in Greater Memphis. The 2020 census reported a population of 54,648, making Southaven the third-largest city in Mississippi and the second most populous ...

. The Memphis Tigers men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

teams represent the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

. The Tigers compete in the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

; the men share FedExForum with the Grizzlies and the women play home games on campus at Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The

Memphis Houn'Dawgs Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memphis ...

was an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The team began play in the fall of 2000. The team played in the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi, and only played the 2000-2001 ABA season before disbanding. The name was an apparent nod to the proposed NFL franchise team, the

Memphis Hound Dogs The Memphis Hound Dogs were a proposed NFL team in the early-1990s. Former Memphis Showboats owner William Dunavant, Paul Tudor Jones, Fred Smith and Elvis Presley Enterprises were the members of the potential ownership group. In 1993, the NFL ...

(in turn, a nod to the song of the same name by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

) which never got off the ground.

Baseball

Memphis has been home to several

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

teams since as early as 1877. The city's first Minor League Baseball team was the Memphis Reds of the

League Alliance The League Alliance was the first semi-affiliated minor league baseball league. Proposed by Al Spalding on January 15, 1877. Independent baseball teams were to affiliate with National League teams, which would honor their respective contracts. The ...

. In 1885, another team nicknamed the

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

joined the original Southern League. They were followed by the Southern League's Grays (1886), Browns (1887), Grays (1888), and an unnamed team in 1889. Later entries in the league were the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

(1892), Fever Germs (1893), and Giants/Lambs (1894–95). Memphis fielded teams in the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cl ...

from 1901 to 1960. They were known as the

Memphis Egyptians The Memphis Chicks were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Southern Association from 1901 to 1960. They were located in Memphis, Tennessee, and played their home games at Russwood Park. Known originally as the Memphis Egyptians and M ...

(1901–1908),

Turtles Turtles are an order (biology), order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) an ...

(1909–1911), and Chicks (1912–1960). The Memphis Eclipses and Memphis Eurekas played in the

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

Southern League of Colored Base Ballists The Southern League of Colored Base Ballists was the first organized Negro baseball league. The league's only year of operation was . Ten teams competed in the league which stretched from Jacksonville, Florida to Memphis, Tennessee with several o ...

in 1886. The

Memphis Red Sox The Memphis Red Sox were an American Negro league baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. Originally named the Barber College Baseball Club, the team was initially owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin, a local Memphis barber. In the la ...

played in various Negro leagues in 1920 and from 1923 to 1950. The

Memphis Blues The Memphis blues is a style of blues music created from the 1910s to the 1930s by musicians in the Memphis area, such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie. The style was popular in vaudeville and medicine shows a ...

competed in the Negro Southern League in 1947. From 1968 to 1976, the

played in the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

(1968–1973) and the Triple-A

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

(1974–1976). The

Memphis Chicks Memphis Chicks may refer to: *Memphis Chicks (Southern Association), a Minor League Baseball team that played from 1901 to 1960 *Memphis Chicks (Southern League) The Memphis Chicks were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Southern Lea ...

played in the Double-A Southern League from 1978 to 1997. The city has been home to the Triple-A

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbir ...

, the top

farm club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

of the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, since 1998. They were members of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

from 1998 to 2020. In conjunction with

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's reorganization of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Redbirds were placed in the Triple-A East, which became the International League in 2022. The Redbirds play their home games at

AutoZone Park AutoZone Park is a Minor League Baseball stadium located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, and is home to the Memphis Redbirds of the International League and Memphis 901 FC of the USL Championship. The Redbirds are the Triple-A affiliate of Ma ...

in downtown Memphis.

Football

The

Tigers football team plays their home games in

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (originally named Memphis Memorial Stadium, and later Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium) is a football stadium located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds in the Midtown area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The st ...

. The Memphis Kings is an amateur

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team that plays in the

North American Football League The North American Football League (NAFL) was a proposed american spring football minor league. In 2014, the league announced it was to begin play for the 2016 season; however, there have been no further announcements that the league has met a ...

. The Panthers play at Robert Halle Stadium. Memphis has hosted several professional football teams for brief periods over the years. The Memphis Tigers played there in the late 1920s and early 1930s,. In more recent years the city has been host to teams from five different professional leagues. Memphis held a franchise, the

Memphis Southmen The Memphis Southmen, also known as the Memphis Grizzlies, were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. They played in the World Football League (WFL), which operated in 1974 and 1975. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl M ...

, in the short-lived professional

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

(1974–1975). The

Memphis Showboats The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the mo ...

played in the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(1984–1985). The

Memphis Mad Dogs The Memphis Mad Dogs were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Mad Dogs were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States. They played at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. ...

were an expansion franchise of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

in 1995. The NFL's

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

, formerly known as the Houston Oilers, relocated to Memphis for one season (as the Tennessee Oilers) in 1997 before moving to Nashville. Most recently the

Memphis Maniax The Memphis Maniax were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The team was part of the XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States. Home games were playe ...

represented the city in the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

(2001). Each of these teams called the Liberty Bowl their home field. Memphis also saw indoor football in the forms of the Memphis Pharaohs in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(1995-1996) who played home games at

, and the

Memphis Xplorers The Memphis Xplorers were a professional arena football team. They were a 2001 expansion member of the af2. They played their home games at DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi (a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee). The team's logo featu ...

AF2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

(2000-2006) who played their home games at

DeSoto Civic Center The Landers Center is an 8,400-seat multi-purpose arena in Southaven, Mississippi. It is home to the Memphis Hustle of the NBA G League, a minor league basketball team affiliated with the Memphis Grizzlies. History The center was built in 2000 ...

in the nearby suburb city of

. In 2018, the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

announced the city's franchise team, the

Memphis Express The Memphis Express was a professional American football franchise based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a member of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) during its single season in 2019. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stad ...

, would begin play in 2019 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

Golf

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

is a very popular form of recreation in Memphis, which has eight municipal courses. The City's first public facility, Galloway Golf Course, was created in 1923. There are now over 30 public and private golf courses in the Memphis Metropolitan Area. Memphis is home to the annual

FedEx St. Jude Classic The FedEx St. Jude Classic was a professional golf tournament held in Memphis, Tennessee as a regular event on the PGA Tour. The tournament was held annually from 1958 through 2018, and was played in June at TPC Southwind (since 1989). In 2019, ...

, a regular part of the

PGA TOUR The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

Ice hockey

The

Mississippi RiverKings The Mississippi RiverKings were a professional minor league ice hockey team. The RiverKings were a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League from 2011 to 2018 after playing their first nineteen seasons (1992–2011) in the Central Ho ...

were a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team in the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

and

Southern Professional Hockey League The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league based in Huntersville, North Carolina, with teams located primarily in the southeastern United States as well as Illinois and Indiana in the mid ...

from 1992 to 2018. The RiverKings played at the

in nearby

Motorsports

Memphis is also home to

Memphis International Raceway Memphis International Raceway (formerly known as Memphis Motorsports Park) was an auto racing park located near the Loosahatchie River in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, just approximately ten miles south of Millington, and a few miles ...

, just north of the city on the outskirts of Memphis and Millington, TN. The venue has a 3/4-mile (1207 m) paved oval track. It also has a 1/4-mile (402 m) drag strip, and road course. The complex is home to NASCAR, IHRA, and SCCA sanctioned events as well as locally sanctioned events that run from February to November. Another racetrack in the Memphis metro area is Riverside International Speedway in

West Memphis, Arkansas West Memphis is the largest city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 26,245 at the 2010 census, ranking it as the state's 18th largest city, behind Bella Vista. It is part of the Memphis metropolitan area, and is ...

. It is a 1/4 mile dirt track that runs 305 winged sprints, late models, modifieds, 600cc mini sprints, and stock-cars. The Track opened June 10th, 1950 making it one of the longest continuously operated tracks in the nation. It is the home track to 6 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Members. Clarence "Hooker" Hood, Rick Hood, Sammy Swindell. Jeff Swindell. Bobby Davis Jr and Greg Hodnett. Memphis area also has a very active Kart racing organization with Kart racing at Atoka Raceway Park and Coyote Run Arena in Mason

Rugby

Memphis is also home to the Memphis Blues, a

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team, which plays at Tobey Field in Midtown, Memphis. Memphis Women's Rugby is a women's senior club team (

) which also plays at Tobey Field in Midtown, Memphis. The team is a member of

USA Rugby South USA Rugby South is an organization that combines a number of unions in the south-east of the USA for competition and representative honours. Their representative team is known as the Panthers. Originally formed as Southern Eastern Rugby Union in ...

, Division II.

Roller derby

Memphis has an active presence in the derby world courtesy of Memphis Roller Derby. The team is a sanctioned member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association and competes in the South Central Region. The Memphis league has four home teams that compete in intra-league bouts, plus one travel team that competes in other cities.

Tennis

Memphis Park Services maintains seven public tennis centers. Memphis is home to the

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup The U.S. National Indoor Championships was a tennis tournament that was last held at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The event was played on indoor hard courts and usually took place in February. For much of ...

. The Regions Morgan Keegan Championships is an ATP event, and the Cellular South Cup is a WTA event. The senior event, the Stanford Championships started in Memphis, but it has since relocated to

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

Wrestling

Memphis also has a fertile history when it comes to

pro wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

. The sport's greatest name to come out of the city is

Jerry "The King" Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since Ap ...

. Other greats who started out in Memphis include

Hulk Hogan Terry Eugene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 19 ...

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority ...

Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...

, The Rock,

Mick Foley Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American actor, author, retired professional wrestler, and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE under the company's Legends program, acting as a company ambassador. Foley worked for m ...

, "Macho Man" Randy Savage", and

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

. Memphis has two pro-wrestling organizations, "Power-Pro Wrestling" which is filmed in the Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis, and

Memphis Wrestling Memphis Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. History Memphis Wrestling evolved from an earlier short-lived promotion called Memphis Championship Wrestling. In 2019, Dustin & Maria Starr with ...

which is filmed in the

Desoto County, Mississippi DeSoto County is a County (United States), county located on the northwestern border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 161,252, making it the third-most populous county in Miss ...

Overview of collegiate teams

Overview of defunct professional teams

Memphis has been represented by several now-defunct professional sports franchises, including the Memphis Pharaohs of Arena Football, the

of the

, the

of the

, the

of the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

, the

of the WFL, the

of the ABA, the

Memphis Sounds The Memphis Sounds were an American professional sports franchise that played in Memphis, Tennessee from 1970 until 1975 as a member of the American Basketball Association. The team was founded as the New Orleans Buccaneers in 1967. Known durin ...

of the original ABA in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the

of the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

References

{{Memphis, Tennessee sports venues