Sports in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
include one men's
major professional sports team, several teams from other highest-level professional leagues,
minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
teams,
semi-pro
''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tier ...
and
club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
teams, and
college athletics
College athletics encompasses non-professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games.
World University Games
The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the ''Union Nationale des ...
. The most popular team in San Diego is the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
of
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), ...
(MLB). Also popular locally are the college teams of the
San Diego State Aztecs
The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level.
The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I ( FBS for foo ...
, which play in
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
(
FBS).
![Petco Park Padres Game](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Petco_Park_Padres_Game.jpg)
The city is also home to the
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...
(NWSL)'s
San Diego Wave FC
San Diego Wave FC is a National Women's Soccer League expansion team that began play in 2022. The team is based in San Diego, San Diego, California. The team is owned by Ron Burkle.
The team is the San Diego area's first women's professional soc ...
, the
National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...
(NLL)'s
San Diego Seals
The San Diego Seals are a box lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League. They play their home games at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located ...
,
Major League Rugby
Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...
(MLR)'s
San Diego Legion
The San Diego Legion is an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby.
Home field
The team plays at Snapdragon Stadium, which is located on the campus o ...
, the
Major Arena Soccer League
The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico.
MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...
(MASL)'s
San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to:
*San Diego Sockers (1978–1996), a soccer team in the North American Soccer League
*San Diego Sockers (2001–2004), a soccer team in the World Indoor Soccer League and second Major Indoor Soccer League
*San Diego S ...
, the
Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...
(IFL)'s
San Diego Strike Force
The San Diego Strike Force is a professional indoor football team based in San Diego, California. It is a member of the Indoor Football League and began play in 2019 at Pechanga Arena in the city's Midway district. It is the second professional ...
, and
World TeamTennis
World TeamTennis (WTT) is a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973.
The league's season normally takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a ...
(WTT)'s
San Diego Aviators
The San Diego Aviators are a World TeamTennis (WTT) team that plays at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California in the United States. The team is the successor to two WTT franchises. The first was created in 1995, as the New York O ...
, all teams in highest-level professional leagues.
![An aerial view of Snapdragon Stadium (2022-08-26)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/An_aerial_view_of_Snapdragon_Stadium_%282022-08-26%29.jpg)
San Diego is the largest American city not to have won a
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL),
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
of
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), ...
(MLB),
NBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...
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 ...
(NBA), or
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL). Currently, there is no NFL, NBA, or NHL team in the metropolitan San Diego area. The city does have one major league title to its name: the
1963 American Football League (AFL) Championship won by the former
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
, when the AFL was an independent entity prior to the
AFL–NFL merger
The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, w ...
in 1970. Due to its lackluster record on winning professional championships, and in some cases, retaining professional teams, some San Diego sports fans believe there is a
curse
A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...
on professional sports in the city. San Diego teams at the top professional levels of "non-major" sports have conversely seen much more success. San Diego teams have claimed titles at the highest level in sports such as
indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...
,
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
,
sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...
, and
Australian football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modifie ...
. The
San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to:
*San Diego Sockers (1978–1996), a soccer team in the North American Soccer League
*San Diego Sockers (2001–2004), a soccer team in the World Indoor Soccer League and second Major Indoor Soccer League
*San Diego S ...
, for example, have won 16 titles at the highest level of indoor soccer.
Professional teams
Of the four major professional sports leagues in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
(the
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
, the
NBA
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 St ...
,
MLB
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), ...
, and the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
) San Diego has one professional team, the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
of MLB. The city hosted the NFL's
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
from 1962 to 2017, but the team moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and is now the
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
. Although the city does not have a major professional team in American football, it does have a team at the highest level of
indoor football with the
San Diego Strike Force
The San Diego Strike Force is a professional indoor football team based in San Diego, California. It is a member of the Indoor Football League and began play in 2019 at Pechanga Arena in the city's Midway district. It is the second professional ...
of the
Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...
(IFL). The city also previously hosted three professional basketball teams (all between 1967 and 1984), although all were limited to short stints of existence due to arena complications and other issues: the NBA's
San Diego Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and pl ...
from 1967 to 1971 (now the
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...
) and
San Diego Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
from 1978 to 1984 (now the
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
), and the now-defunct
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...
(ABA)'s
San Diego Conquistadors/Sails from 1972 to 1975. The region has never had an NHL franchise, but has hosted multiple
minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
teams, including the current
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
(AHL) franchise, the
San Diego Gulls
The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...
. In addition, San Diego has never hosted a
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
(MLS) team, but is home to the second division
USL Championship
The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...
(USLC)'s
San Diego Loyal SC
San Diego Loyal Soccer Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded by Warren Smith and Landon Donovan. San Diego Loyal made its debut in 2020 as an expansion team in the USL Championship.
...
and the third division
National Independent Soccer Association
The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...
(NISA)'s
Albion San Diego
Albion San Diego, formerly Albion SC Pros, is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California that currently plays in the National Independent Soccer Association, on the third tier of the United States soccer league system.
...
, as well as
Major Arena Soccer League
The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico.
MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...
(MASL)'s
San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to:
*San Diego Sockers (1978–1996), a soccer team in the North American Soccer League
*San Diego Sockers (2001–2004), a soccer team in the World Indoor Soccer League and second Major Indoor Soccer League
*San Diego S ...
, who represent San Diego at the top professional level of
indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...
. The
San Diego Wave FC
San Diego Wave FC is a National Women's Soccer League expansion team that began play in 2022. The team is based in San Diego, San Diego, California. The team is owned by Ron Burkle.
The team is the San Diego area's first women's professional soc ...
, representing the city at the highest level of women's professional soccer in the
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...
(NWSL), began play in 2022.
Highest-level professional teams
The following teams compete at their sport's highest level of domestic competition
Bold indicates
major professional league team
''Italic'' indicates
semi-pro
''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tier ...
or professional-level
club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
team (highest competitive level leagues of sports with no fully-professional domestic competition)
Minor league professional teams
The following teams compete below their sport's highest level of domestic competition
Semi-pro and amateur club teams
College athletics
The
San Diego State Aztecs
The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level.
The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I ( FBS for foo ...
(
MW), the
San Diego Toreros
The San Diego Toreros are the 17 teams representing the University of San Diego of San Diego, California in intercollegiate athletics. The Toreros compete in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the National Collegiate At ...
(
WCC), and the
UC San Diego Tritons
The UC San Diego Tritons are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, San Diego. UC San Diego has 23 varsity sports teams and offers student participation in a wide range of sports. As of July 1, 2020, all UC San Diego tea ...
(
BWC) are
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
teams. The
Cal State San Marcos Cougars
The Cal State San Marcos Cougars are the athletic teams that represent California State University, San Marcos, located in San Marcos, California, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic ...
(
CCAA) and
Point Loma Sea Lions (
PacWest PacWest can refer to:
*Pacific West Conference, an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division II
*Pacific Western Athletic Association, an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with the CCAA
*PacWest ...
) are members of
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...
, while the
San Diego Christian Hawks (
GSAC) and
Saint Katherine Firebirds (
CalPac) are members of the
NAIA.
Teams sponsored by sport
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division II
NAIA
Events
Annual events
The annual
Farmers Insurance Open
The Farmers Insurance Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played in the San Diego, California, area in the early part of the season known as the "West Coast Swing".
The tournament was noted for having singer-actor Andy William ...
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 ...
tournament (originally the San Diego Open and later the Buick Invitational) 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 ...
occurs annually at San Diego's municipally-owned
Torrey Pines Golf Course
Torrey Pines Golf Course is a 36-hole municipal golf facility on the west coast of the United States, owned by the city of San Diego, California. It sits on the coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the community of La Jolla, just south ...
, where it has taken place since 1968. The tournament was founded in 1952 and was played at a variety of venues in the San Diego area in its early years, beginning with
San Diego Country Club in
Chula Vista
Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popul ...
for its first two years. The tournament was also played in
Rancho Santa Fe
Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States, within the San Diego metropolitan area. The population was 3,156 at the 2020 census. The CDP is primarily residential with a few shopping block ...
and
El Cajon
El Cajon ( , ; Spanish: El Cajón, meaning "the box") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States, east of downtown San Diego. The city takes its name from Rancho El Cajón, which was in turn named for the box-like shape of the va ...
, as well as locally in
Mission Valley
Mission Valley is a wide river valley trending east–west in San Diego, California, United States, through which the San Diego River flows to the Pacific Ocean. For planning purposes the city of San Diego divides it into two neighborhoods: Missi ...
and
Rancho Bernardo
Rancho Bernardo is a master-planned community in the northern hills of the city of San Diego, California.
Geography
The topography of Rancho Bernardo consists of canyons and rolling hills that have large bedrock outcroppings. The major floral bio ...
during these years. This course was also the site of the
2008 U.S. Open Golf Championship
The 2008 United States Open Championship was the 108th U.S. Open, played June 12–16 at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California. Tiger Woods won his third U.S. Open and 14th major title, defeating Rocco Mediate on the first hole of sudden-deat ...
.
![Blacks surfer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Blacks_surfer.jpg)
![2010 Thorpe Cup 39](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/2010_Thorpe_Cup_39.jpg)
The
Holiday Bowl
The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has b ...
has been an annual college football
bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...
locally since its founding in 1978. The game was played at
San Diego Stadium
San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 199 ...
from its implementation until the stadium's closure in 2020. The game is now played at
Petco Park
Petco Park is a baseball stadium in Downtown San Diego, California. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, and has also been used as a venue for concerts, soccer, golf, and rugby.
The ballpark is located between Se ...
. In the past, San Diego has also played host to the
Harbor Bowl from 1947 to 1949 at
Balboa Stadium
Balboa Stadium is an American football and soccer stadium on the west coast of the United States, located in San Diego, California. Just east of San Diego High School, the original stadium was built in 1914 as part of the 1915 Panama–California ...
, and the
Poinsettia Bowl
The Poinsettia Bowl was a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played in San Diego, California, United States from 2005 to 2016. The game was originally played from 1952 to 1955 between military service ...
from 2005 to 2016 at
San Diego Stadium
San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 199 ...
. The original Poinsettia Bowl was played from 1952 to 1955 at Balboa Stadium between military services teams, not colleges and universities.
There have been two international
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
competitions at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista called the Thorpe Cup, which is an annual
decathlon
The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...
and
heptathlon
A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...
meeting between the United States and Germany.
There are several road races including the
Rock 'n' Roll Marathon
The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series is a collection of road running events owned and operated by the IRONMAN Group's Competitor Group, part of Advance Publications. The series is known for lining race routes with live bands, cheerleaders and themed ...
in June, the
America's Finest City Half Marathon
America's Finest City Half Marathon is an annual road running event over the half marathon distance which is held in mid-August on the streets of San Diego, California. ("America's Finest City" is the official nickname of the city of San Diego.) ...
in August, the La Jolla Half Marathon in April, and several
triathlons
A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the d ...
.
The San Diego Crew Classic, held in
Mission Bay every spring, features 100 or more college and amateur
crews.
The amateur beach sport
Over-the-line
Over-the-line is a bat-and-ball sport, a game related to baseball and softball. Like those games, it involves a batter, pitcher, and fielders. Because a game requires only three people per team, it is considerably easier to get a good informal gam ...
was invented in San Diego, and the annual world Over-the-line championships are held at Mission Bay every year.
San Diego is also host to the
Bayfair Cup, a
hydroplane boat race in the
H1 Unlimited
H1 Unlimited is an American Unlimited Hydroplane racing league that is sanctioned by the American Power Boat Association (APBA). Until 2009, the series was known as ABRA Unlimited Hydroplane, in turn renamed from APBA Unlimited Hydroplane in 2004. ...
season. The race is typically held during the Bayfair Festival on
Mission Bay in San Diego.
Historic events
* 1968
NASL Final 1968
Soccer Bowl, NASL Final 1968 was the North American Soccer League (1968–84), North American Soccer League's postseason championship final of the 1968 North American Soccer League season, 1968 season, and the first championship final for the NASL. ...
first leg
* 1971
NBA All-Star Game (21st)
* 1973
Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton
Muhammad Ali fought three professional boxing matches against Ken Norton between 1973 and 1976. Ali won the series 2–1, though the final fight (judged a unanimous decision in Ali's favor) was highly controversial.
First match
Still rebuildin ...
first match
* 1975
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four
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 ...
* 1978
MLB All-Star Game (49th)
* 1982
Soccer Bowl '82
Soccer Bowl '82 was the championship final of the 1982 NASL season. The New York Cosmos advanced to the Soccer Bowl for the third consecutive year and took on the Seattle Sounders in a rematch of Soccer Bowl '77. The match was played on Septemb ...
* 1984
**
NLCS
The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National ...
games 3, 4 & 5
**
World Series (81st) games 1 & 2
* 1988
**
Super Bowl XXII
Super Bowl XXII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for th ...
**
America's Cup (27th)
* 1992
**
America's Cup (28th)
**
MLB All-Star Game (63rd)
* 1995
**
America's Cup (29th)
*1997
**
Summer X Games III
* 1998
**
Super Bowl XXXII
Super Bowl XXXII was an American football game played between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers (who were defending their Super Bowl XXXI championship) and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver B ...
**
Summer X Games IV
**
NLCS
The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National ...
games 3, 4 & 5
**
World Series (94th) games 3 & 4
* 1999
MLS All-Star Game
The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a traditional all-star ga ...
* 2002
NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament
The NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament is an annual event that leads to the championship in women's volleyball from teams in Division I contested by the NCAA each winter since 1981. Texas won the most recent tournament, defeating Louis ...
* 2003
Super Bowl XXXVII
Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) cham ...
* 2006
World Baseball Classic (inaugural) championship
* 2008
U.S. Open (108th)
* 2009
World Baseball Classic (2nd) second round
* 2016
MLB All-Star Game (87th)
* 2017
**
World Baseball Classic (4th) second round
**
Tournament of Nations
The Tournament of Nations was a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's soccer in non-World Cup and non-Olympic years hosted by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in several American cities. The inaugural tournament ...
* 2020
**
USA Cross Country Championships (130th)
**
ALDS
In Major League Baseball, the American League Division Series (ALDS) determines which two teams from the American League will advance to the American League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring ea ...
&
ALCS
The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...
of
2020 MLB playoffs
The 2020 Major League Baseball season began on July 23 and ended on September 27 with only 60 games amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The full 162-game regular season was planned to begin on March 26, but the pandemic caused Major League Baseball (ML ...
(neutral site games, no fans due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
)
* 2021
**
U.S. Open (121st)
**
X Games Southern California 2021
**
San Diego Open (ATP Tour)
* 2022
**
USA Cross Country Championships (131st)
**
NLCS
The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National ...
games 1 & 2
Anticipated event
*
2023 World Lacrosse Championship
The 2023 World Lacrosse Championship will be the 14th edition of the international men's field lacrosse tournament for national teams organized by World Lacrosse. Initially scheduled for 2022, it was postponed to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic ...
Venues
San Diego has several sports venues.
Petco Park
Petco Park is a baseball stadium in Downtown San Diego, California. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, and has also been used as a venue for concerts, soccer, golf, and rugby.
The ballpark is located between Se ...
is home to the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
of
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), ...
.
Snapdragon Stadium
Snapdragon Stadium, known during its planning and early construction phases as Aztec Stadium, is an outdoor college football stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. It is loc ...
, which opened shortly before the 2022 college football season, is home to the
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
San Diego State Aztecs
The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level.
The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I ( FBS for foo ...
,
San Diego Wave FC
San Diego Wave FC is a National Women's Soccer League expansion team that began play in 2022. The team is based in San Diego, San Diego, California. The team is owned by Ron Burkle.
The team is the San Diego area's first women's professional soc ...
of the
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...
, and (from 2023) the
San Diego Legion
The San Diego Legion is an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby.
Home field
The team plays at Snapdragon Stadium, which is located on the campus o ...
of
Major League Rugby
Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...
, as well as local
high school football
High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...
championships and the
Holiday Bowl
The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has b ...
, which currently features teams from the
Pac-12
The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
and
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
.
Pechanga Arena
Pechanga Arena (historically known as the San Diego Sports Arena) is an indoor arena built in 1966 and located in the Midway area of San Diego, California.
The arena seats 12,000 for indoor football, 12,920 for ice hockey, indoor soccer and ...
is home to the
San Diego Gulls
The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...
of the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
, the
San Diego Seals
The San Diego Seals are a box lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League. They play their home games at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located ...
of the
National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...
,
San Diego Strike Force
The San Diego Strike Force is a professional indoor football team based in San Diego, California. It is a member of the Indoor Football League and began play in 2019 at Pechanga Arena in the city's Midway district. It is the second professional ...
of the
Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...
and the
San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to:
*San Diego Sockers (1978–1996), a soccer team in the North American Soccer League
*San Diego Sockers (2001–2004), a soccer team in the World Indoor Soccer League and second Major Indoor Soccer League
*San Diego S ...
of the
Major Arena Soccer League
The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico.
MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...
.
From 1967 until 2017, the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
's
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
played at
San Diego Stadium
San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 199 ...
(known at various times as Jack Murphy Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, and SDCCU Stadium), which also housed the Aztecs, as well as local
high school football
High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...
championships.
International
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
games and
Supercross
The AMA Supercross Championship (commercially known as Monster Energy AMA Supercross) is an American motorcycle racing series. Founded by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1974, the AMA Supercross Championship races are held from ...
events also took place at Qualcomm where
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), ...
was also once played. Three
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
championships were held there. From along with the Holiday Bowl. from 2005 through 2016, the stadium hosted a second bowl game, the
Poinsettia Bowl
The Poinsettia Bowl was a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played in San Diego, California, United States from 2005 to 2016. The game was originally played from 1952 to 1955 between military service ...
, but the organizer of both bowl games scrapped that game after its 2016 edition. The stadium was demolished in 2021.
Balboa Stadium
Balboa Stadium is an American football and soccer stadium on the west coast of the United States, located in San Diego, California. Just east of San Diego High School, the original stadium was built in 1914 as part of the 1915 Panama–California ...
was the city's first stadium, constructed in 1914, where the San Diego Chargers once played. Currently
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
,
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 ...
, and
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
are played in Balboa Stadium.
Sports
Baseball
The
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
of
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), ...
(MLB) play at
Petco Park
Petco Park is a baseball stadium in Downtown San Diego, California. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, and has also been used as a venue for concerts, soccer, golf, and rugby.
The ballpark is located between Se ...
, the team's home since it opened in 2004 in
Downtown San Diego
Downtown San Diego is the city center of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. In 2010, the Centre City area had a population of more than 28,000. Downtown San Diego serves as the cultural and financial center and ...
's
East Village. Prior to the opening of Petco Park in 2004, the Padres played their home games at
San Diego Stadium
San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 199 ...
(also known as Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium) in
Mission Valley
Mission Valley is a wide river valley trending east–west in San Diego, California, United States, through which the San Diego River flows to the Pacific Ocean. For planning purposes the city of San Diego divides it into two neighborhoods: Missi ...
.
The Padres joined MLB in 1969 as an
expansion team
An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...
. The team originated as a
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team in the
Pacific Coast League (PCL), where they played from 1936 through 1968 before joining Major League Baseball. As a PCL team, the Padres were based at
Lane Field (now the site of the
InterContinental
Intercontinental is an adjective to describe something which relates to more than one continent.
Intercontinental may also refer to:
* Intercontinental ballistic missile, a long-range guided ballistic missile
* InterContinental Hotels Group (IH ...
Hotel San Diego) in Downtown's
Columbia neighborhood from 1936 through 1957, and
Westgate Park Westgate Park was a baseball stadium located in San Diego, California. The ballpark was home to the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League from 1958 to 1967.
The ballpark was located in the largely undeveloped Mission Valley region of San Die ...
in Mission Valley (now the site of
Fashion Valley Mall
Fashion Valley (also referred to Fashion Valley Mall) is an upscale, open-air shopping mall in Mission Valley in San Diego, California. The shopping center has of leasable floor area, making it the largest mall in San Diego and one of the larges ...
) from 1958 through 1967. Their final season as a minor league team, 1968, was also their first at San Diego Stadium.
San Diego has hosted the
MLB All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...
three times:
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
and
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
at San Diego Stadium, and
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
at Petco Park. The 2016 edition was the final All-Star game to determine
home field advantage
In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to gai ...
in the World Series.
Petco Park has additionally hosted the
World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...
three times:
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
, the inaugural tournament (for which San Diego hosted the championship),
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, and
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
.
Additionally popular are the local college baseball teams, particularly
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
's
San Diego State Aztecs
The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level.
The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I ( FBS for foo ...
,
San Diego Toreros
The San Diego Toreros are the 17 teams representing the University of San Diego of San Diego, California in intercollegiate athletics. The Toreros compete in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the National Collegiate At ...
, and
UC San Diego Tritons
The UC San Diego Tritons are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, San Diego. UC San Diego has 23 varsity sports teams and offers student participation in a wide range of sports. As of July 1, 2020, all UC San Diego tea ...
. The Aztecs, Toreros, and Tritons each play home games at their own on-campus venues,
Tony Gwynn Stadium
Tony Gwynn Stadium is the home field of the San Diego State University Aztecs college baseball team. In addition, the San Diego Surf Dawgs of the independent Golden Baseball League used the park as their home field.
Stadium history
The original s ...
,
Fowler Park
Fowler Park and Cunningham Field is a baseball venue located on the campus of the University of San Diego in San Diego, California, United States. It is home to the San Diego Toreros baseball team, a member of the Division I West Coast Conferen ...
, and
Triton Ballpark
Triton Ballpark is the home field of the University of California San Diego Tritons college baseball team.
Stadium history
Triton Ballpark is a 500-seat baseball park located on the eastern half of the UC San Diego campus in the San Diego neigh ...
, respectively.
MLB
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), ...
All-Star Games
Football
The most popular
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
team in San Diego currently is the
San Diego State Aztecs football
: ''For information on all San Diego State University sports, see San Diego State Aztecs''
The San Diego State Aztecs football team represents San Diego State University in the sport of American football. The Aztecs compete in the NCAA Division ...
team of
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
FBS. The Aztecs moved into their new
Snapdragon Stadium
Snapdragon Stadium, known during its planning and early construction phases as Aztec Stadium, is an outdoor college football stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. It is loc ...
upon its completion in August 2022. The
San Diego Toreros football
: ''For information on all University of San Diego sports, see San Diego Toreros''
The San Diego Toreros football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of San Diego located in the U.S. state of California. The t ...
team of NCAA Division I
FCS also garners a local following. The Toreros are based at their on-campus stadium,
Torero Stadium
Torero Stadium is a 6,000-seat multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of the University of San Diego in San Diego, California. Opened in 1961, it serves as the home of the school's football and soccer ...
.
San Diego is also home to the
San Diego Strike Force
The San Diego Strike Force is a professional indoor football team based in San Diego, California. It is a member of the Indoor Football League and began play in 2019 at Pechanga Arena in the city's Midway district. It is the second professional ...
of the
Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...
(IFL), the highest level of professional
Indoor American football
Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller a ...
. The Strike Force began play in 2019.
The city does not currently host a
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL) team, though it previously hosted the
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
, who were based in San Diego from 1961 through the 2016 season. The Chargers began play in 1960 as a charter member of the
American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
(AFL), and spent its first season in Los Angeles where it struggled to garner a following before moving to San Diego in 1961.
The Chargers joined the NFL as result of the
AFL–NFL merger
The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, w ...
in 1970, and played their home games initially at
Balboa Stadium
Balboa Stadium is an American football and soccer stadium on the west coast of the United States, located in San Diego, California. Just east of San Diego High School, the original stadium was built in 1914 as part of the 1915 Panama–California ...
, then at
San Diego Stadium
San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 199 ...
from 1967 until relocating to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in 2017. The team moved to Los Angeles following a request by owner
Dean Spanos
Dean Alexander Spanos (born May 26, 1950) is the chairman and owner of the National Football League (NFL)'s San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers franchise. He is the son of Alex Spanos, who purchased majority interest in the team in 1984. Spanos to ...
to relocate the team to
SoFi Stadium
SoFi Stadium () is a 70,240-seat sports and entertainment indoor stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California, United States. SoFi occupies the former site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack, from Los Angeles International Airport an ...
, a new stadium constructed by
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
owner
Stan Kroenke
Enos Stanley Kroenke (; born July 29, 1947) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the owner of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which is the holding company of Arsenal F.C. of the Premier League and Arsenal W.F.C. of the WSL, the Los ...
, where the Chargers would be a tenant and share the new stadium with the Rams. They are now known as the
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
. The Chargers' relocation left San Diego without a professional football team for the first time since 1961.
San Diego hosted the
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
three times at
San Diego Stadium
San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 199 ...
during the Chargers' tenure in the city.
On May 29, 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 ...
(AAF) announced they would start a franchise in San Diego, the
San Diego Fleet
The San Diego Fleet was a professional American football franchise based in San Diego, California, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019, with the team playing its home game ...
. The team played their home games at SDCCU Stadium, while San Diego native and former
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994.
The arri ...
head coach
Mike Martz
Michael Martz (born May 13, 1951) is an American football coach. Best known for his coaching tenure with the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL), he served as the offensive coordinator for the Rams' Greatest Show on Turf offens ...
was the head coach. The league suspended operations before it could complete its inaugural season.
Super Bowls (
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
)
Basketball
The most popular
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
team in San Diego currently is the
San Diego State Aztecs
The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level.
The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I ( FBS for foo ...
of
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
, who play at their on-campus
Viejas Arena
Viejas Arena (formerly Cox Arena) is the home stadium of the San Diego State Aztecs men's and women's basketball teams. It is located on the San Diego State University (SDSU) campus in San Diego, California. Viejas Arena opened in July 1997 an ...
. The
San Diego Toreros
The San Diego Toreros are the 17 teams representing the University of San Diego of San Diego, California in intercollegiate athletics. The Toreros compete in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the National Collegiate At ...
and
UC San Diego Tritons
The UC San Diego Tritons are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, San Diego. UC San Diego has 23 varsity sports teams and offers student participation in a wide range of sports. As of July 1, 2020, all UC San Diego tea ...
, also of NCAA Division I, likewise call the city home. The Toreros and Tritons teams play home games at their own on-campus arenas, the
Jenny Craig Pavilion
Jenny Craig Pavilion (JCP) is a 5,100 seat, multi-purpose arena, built in 2000 in San Diego, California, on the campus of the University of San Diego. It was named for weight-loss entrepreneur Jenny Craig. The Pavilion is sometimes affectionatel ...
and
RIMAC Arena
The Recreation, Intramural, and Athletic Complex (RIMAC, ) is a sports complex at the University of California San Diego comprising an arena, a weight room and various other event and athletic facilities. It is one of the largest college athleti ...
, respectively.
San Diego has no current professional basketball representation, but the city has a significant history hosting professional basketball, nearly all encompassed within an 18-year period from 1967 to 1984.
The
San Diego Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and pl ...
, a
National Basketball Association (NBA) expansion team
An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...
, played from 1967 to 1971. The franchise was founded and owned by local sports booster
Robert Breitbard, who also founded and owned the original
San Diego Gulls
The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...
hockey franchise of the
Western Hockey League
The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...
and developed the
San Diego Sports Arena
Pechanga Arena (historically known as the San Diego Sports Arena) is an indoor arena built in 1966 and located in the Midway area of San Diego, California.
The arena seats 12,000 for indoor football, 12,920 for ice hockey, indoor soccer and ...
(initially known as the San Diego International Sports Center), where the Rockets played. In 1971, the Rockets were sold and relocated to
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
after Breitbard encountered financial distress due to tax-assessment issues surrounding the sports arena, which ultimately prevented sale of the team to another local owner. The tax issues also led to Breitbard relinquishing control of the arena to Canadian millionaire Peter Graham, whose alleged mismanagement of the arena hampered future sports tenants. The franchise is now known as the
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...
.
The
1971 NBA All-Star Game
The 1971 NBA All-Star Game was played at the San Diego Sports Arena, in San Diego, on January 12, 1971.
The coach for the East team was Red Holzman and the West team was coached by Larry Costello. Officials for the game were Mendy Rudolph and Ed ...
was held at the San Diego Sports Arena, hosted by the Rockets just months prior to the team's sale and relocation.
During the
1971–72 NBA season
The 1971–72 NBA season was the 26th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.
As the 25th anniversary o ...
, San Diego was the part-time home of the
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...
for six home games (one each month of the season). The Warriors notably changed their name from "
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
" to "Golden State" prior to the season as the team was searching for a new home arena and looked to make a play for the San Diego market (as well as
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
) following the departure of the Rockets to Houston. The team ultimately stayed in the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
, settling full time in Oakland at
Oakland Arena
Oakland Arena is an indoor arena located in Oakland, California, United States. From its opening in 1966 until 1996, it was known as the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. After a major renovation completed in 1997, the arena was renamed T ...
the following season.
From 1972 to 1975, San Diego was home to the
San Diego Conquistadors
The San Diego Conquistadors (known as the San Diego Sails in their final, partial season), were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in San Diego. The "Q's", as they were popularly known, played from 1972 to 1975. As the Sails, the ...
of the
American Basketball Association (ABA), the league's first (and ultimately only) expansion team. Known as the Conquistadors ( "The Q's") for its first three seasons, the team name was changed to the San Diego Sails following a change in ownership for the
1975–76 season. The franchise was folded 11 games into that season after ownership learned that the team was to be shut out of the upcoming
ABA–NBA merger
The ABA-NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered ...
, reportedly at the insistence of then-
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...
owner
Jack Kent Cooke
Jack Kent Cooke (October 25, 1912 – April 6, 1997) was a Canadian-American businessman in broadcasting and professional sports. Starting in sales, Cooke was very successful, eventually becoming a partner in a network of radio stations and news ...
. Cooke was upset that the San Diego franchise had signed former Lakers star
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a Center (basketball), center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 yea ...
away from his franchise two years prior (Lakers ownership successfully sued Chamberlain over the contract, ultimately preventing Chamberlain from playing with the Conquistadors, relegating him to coaching duties) and also expressed unwillingness of allowing another team in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
. The Conquistadors/Sails played at
Peterson Gymnasium
Peterson Gymnasium (or Peterson Gym) is a 3,668 seat multi-purpose arena in San Diego, California on the campus of San Diego State University (SDSU). The gym opened in 1961 and currently serves as the home of the San Diego State Aztecs women's vo ...
for the
1972–73 season and
Golden Hall
The Golden Hall (''Jindian'' or ''Jinding''), situated at the top of Tianzhu Peak (1612m), is one of the most distinctive landmarks in Wudangshan. It was built in 1416 during the Ming dynasty. According to local histories, the hall was forged in ...
for the
1973–74 season before ownership was permitted to base the team at the San Diego Sports Arena, where it played the remainder of its games.
Professional basketball returned from 1978 to 1984, in the form of the NBA's
San Diego Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
, the relocated successor to the
Buffalo Braves
The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball franchise based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division from 1970 ...
franchise. The team was based at the San Diego Sports Arena. In 1981, the Clippers were bought by Los Angeles-area real estate developer
Donald Sterling
Donald T. Sterling (born Donald Samuel Tokowitz; April 26, 1934) is an American attorney and businessman who was the owner of the San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers professional basketball franchise of the National Basketball Association (NBA) fro ...
. Sterling attempted to move the team the following year in 1982 to his home of Los Angeles, but his request was denied by the NBA, which investigated Sterling's alleged widespread mismanagement of the franchise the same year. The investigation report recommended the termination of Sterling's ownership of the Clippers on the basis that he had failed to pay creditors and players on time. Days before a scheduled vote to terminate his ownership, he announced he would sell the team, prompting the league to cancel the scheduled vote. Sterling ultimately remained owner, satisfying league officials by instead relinquishing operational duties of the franchise. In 1984, Sterling again applied to relocate the team to Los Angeles, and despite again being denied permission to do so from the NBA, moved the team to
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was a multi-purpose arena at Exposition Park (Los Angeles), Exposition Park, in the University Park, Los Angeles, University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was located next to the Los Angeles Memorial ...
. Lawsuits followed, but Sterling ultimately prevailed and was able to keep the team in Los Angeles, also in part due to his close personal friendship with then-Lakers owner
Jerry Buss
Gerald Hatten Buss (January 27, 1933 – February 18, 2013) was an American businessman, investor, chemist, and philanthropist. He was the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning 10 l ...
, who welcomed sharing the Los Angeles market with Sterling's franchise. The franchise is now known as the
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
. San Diego has not hosted major professional basketball since.
NBA
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 St ...
All-Star Game
Ice hockey
Though San Diego has never hosted a
National Hockey League (NHL)
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
team, the city is represented by the
San Diego Gulls
The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...
of the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
, the highest level of
minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
ice hockey. The current version of the Gulls, which began play in 2015 after relocating from
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
, plays at
Pechanga Arena
Pechanga Arena (historically known as the San Diego Sports Arena) is an indoor arena built in 1966 and located in the Midway area of San Diego, California.
The arena seats 12,000 for indoor football, 12,920 for ice hockey, indoor soccer and ...
and following a long lineage of professional ice hockey teams which have used the San Diego Gulls name. The
original San Diego Gulls, which played from 1966 until 1974, were the first tenants at the
San Diego Sports Arena
Pechanga Arena (historically known as the San Diego Sports Arena) is an indoor arena built in 1966 and located in the Midway area of San Diego, California.
The arena seats 12,000 for indoor football, 12,920 for ice hockey, indoor soccer and ...
.
San Diego has a long history of
minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
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 ...
teams, beginning with the
San Diego Skyhawks that played in the
Pacific Coast Hockey League
The Pacific Coast Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed in several incarnations: from 1928 to 1931, from 1936 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1952.
PCHL 1928–1931
The firs ...
from 1948 to 1950. Hockey returned in 1966 with the
original San Diego Gulls of the
Western Hockey League
The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...
, which were created by
Robert Breitbard to have a tenant for his upcoming arena, the
San Diego Sports Arena
Pechanga Arena (historically known as the San Diego Sports Arena) is an indoor arena built in 1966 and located in the Midway area of San Diego, California.
The arena seats 12,000 for indoor football, 12,920 for ice hockey, indoor soccer and ...
.
The Gulls soon grew a fanbase in San Diego, with averages of over 9,000 spectators. By 1971, the year Breitbard's
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 ...
franchise relocated to Texas to become the
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...
, the Gulls had attendances larger than both the Rockets and the Californian
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL) teams, the
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...
and
Oakland Seals
The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 to 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The S ...
.
The Gulls ceased operations in 1974 to give way for the relocated
San Diego Mariners
The San Diego Mariners were an ice hockey team based in San Diego that played in the World Hockey Association from 1974 to 1977 at the San Diego Sports Arena. Previous to being in San Diego, the team was known as the New York Raiders, New York ...
of the upstart
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...
(WHA), which at the time was the NHL's rival league. The WHA's financial instability caused the Mariners to fold in 1977, shortly before the
NHL-WHA merger
The 1979 NHL expansion was the culmination of several years of negotiations between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the World Hockey Association (WHA) that resulted in the WHA and its six surviving franchises folding in return for the owners ...
of 1979 ended the league.
Another Mariners team was one of the charter teams of the short-lived
Pacific Hockey League : ''For the 1990s semi-professional ice hockey league, see Pacific Hockey League (1994).''
The Pacific Hockey League was a low-level minor professional hockey league that existed for two seasons in 1977–78, and 1978–79. Its member teams from Ca ...
that began play the same year the previous Mariners team folded, being renamed
Hawks
Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica.
* The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...
in the following and last PHL season. The arena remained without hockey until 1990, when another
San Diego Gulls
The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...
team was founded in the
International Hockey League (1990–95). After the IHL team
moved to Los Angeles, another
Gulls
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...
team played for over a decade in both the
West Coast Hockey League
The West Coast Hockey League was a professional minor ice hockey league active in the western United States from 1995 to 2003. The number of teams ranged from six to nine. The teams were located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nev ...
(1995–03) and
ECHL
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL).
The E ...
(2003–06). The current
San Diego Gulls
The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...
, of the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
, started playing in 2015, and are the top minor league affiliate of the NHL's
Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center.
...
.
Soccer
San Diego has never hosted a
Major League Soccer (MLS) team, though it is currently represented by
San Diego Loyal SC
San Diego Loyal Soccer Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded by Warren Smith and Landon Donovan. San Diego Loyal made its debut in 2020 as an expansion team in the USL Championship.
...
of the
USL Championship
The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...
(the highest level of minor league soccer) as well as
Albion San Diego SC of the
National Independent Soccer Association
The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...
(one of three leagues occupying the second-highest level of minor league soccer). Despite not hosting an MLS team, San Diego did host the
1999 MLS All-Star Game.
In 2022, the city became the home to the
San Diego Wave FC
San Diego Wave FC is a National Women's Soccer League expansion team that began play in 2022. The team is based in San Diego, San Diego, California. The team is owned by Ron Burkle.
The team is the San Diego area's first women's professional soc ...
, a new
expansion team
An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...
of the
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...
(NWSL), slated to play its home games at
Torero Stadium
Torero Stadium is a 6,000-seat multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of the University of San Diego in San Diego, California. Opened in 1961, it serves as the home of the school's football and soccer ...
before moving to its permanent home of
Snapdragon Stadium
Snapdragon Stadium, known during its planning and early construction phases as Aztec Stadium, is an outdoor college football stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. It is loc ...
upon that venue's completion in September 2022. Wave FC's first home game at Snapdragon Stadium, against regional rival and fellow 2022 NWSL entry
Angel City FC
Angel City Football Club is a National Women's Soccer League expansion team that began play in 2022. The team is based in Los Angeles, California, and was announced on July 21, 2020. The team has many high-profile owners, including Becky G, Natal ...
, drew a league-record sellout crowd of 32,000.
The city also hosts the
San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to:
*San Diego Sockers (1978–1996), a soccer team in the North American Soccer League
*San Diego Sockers (2001–2004), a soccer team in the World Indoor Soccer League and second Major Indoor Soccer League
*San Diego S ...
of the
Major Arena Soccer League
The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico.
MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...
(MASL), the highest level of professional
indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...
. The current version of the Sockers follows a lineage of other professional soccer teams which have used the San Diego Sockers name.
The original
North American Soccer League (NASL) included a San Diego franchise known as the
original San Diego Sockers. The original
Sockers indoor franchise also played in the NASL indoor league,
Major Indoor Soccer League,
Continental Indoor Soccer League
The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997.
History
In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice Pre ...
,
World Indoor Soccer League
The World Indoor Soccer League (WISL) was a United States-based indoor soccer league that existed from 1998 to 2001 and consisted of nine teams.
History
After the demise of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, four of its teams decided to create ...
and second
Major Indoor Soccer League.
At the collegiate level, the city boasts both men's and women's varsity teams at each of the three
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
schools in the city. The
San Diego State Aztecs men's and
women's soccer
Women's association football, more commonly known simply as women's football or women's soccer, is a team sport of association football when played by women only. It is played at the women's professional sports, professional level in multiple c ...
teams play at the on-campus
SDSU Sports Deck
The San Diego State Aztecs are the sport, athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level.
The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I (NCAA D ...
, the
San Diego Toreros men's and women's teams play at
Torero Stadium
Torero Stadium is a 6,000-seat multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of the University of San Diego in San Diego, California. Opened in 1961, it serves as the home of the school's football and soccer ...
, and the
UC San Diego Tritons
The UC San Diego Tritons are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, San Diego. UC San Diego has 23 varsity sports teams and offers student participation in a wide range of sports. As of July 1, 2020, all UC San Diego tea ...
men's and women's teams play at Triton Soccer Stadium.
With the expansion of the minor professional league
National Premier Soccer League
The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...
, the
San Diego Flash
San Diego Flash was an American soccer team based in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1998, the team returned to competitive play in 2011 and most recently played in the Southern Conference of the West Division of the National P ...
saw the addition of the
North County Battalion and
Albion SC Pros. The
San Diego SeaLions play in the
Women's Premier Soccer League
The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is the top amateur league for women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, below only National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). T ...
, and the
San Diego Zest
San Diego Zest FC is an American soccer team in San Diego, California, United States. The club was founded in 2016 and is owned and operated by San Diego Sports Authority, a Japanese-owned sports management company. They compete as LA Galaxy SD Ze ...
play in the USL
Premier Development League
USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...
with the
SoCal Surf
SoCal Surf was an American soccer team from Carlsbad, California, that played in the Premier Development League.
History
North County Battalion was founded in 2015 and began their first season in the 2016 NPSL season at Del Norte High School St ...
. San Diego Internacional FC began playing in the
UPSL
The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The league was foun ...
in 2019.
On June 25, 2017, it was announced that
San Diego 1904 FC
San Diego 1904 FC was an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, United States. In December 2021, the team was absorbed by Albion San Diego, which effectively took over 1904's membership in the National Independent Socce ...
would join the
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to:
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league
*North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
in 2018. The club's founders include professional soccer players
Demba Ba
Demba Ba (born 25 May 1985) is a former professional footballer. He serves as the chairman of National Independent Soccer Association side ASC San Diego.
He made his first-team debut with French team Rouen in 2005 before moving to Mouscron an ...
,
Eden Hazard
Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered o ...
,
Yohan Cabaye
Yohan Cabaye (; born 14 January 1986) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Cabaye began his football career playing for hometown club US Tourcoing at the age of six. After seven years developing in the club's ...
and
Moussa Sow
Moussa Sow (born 19 January 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward. Born in France, he represented Senegal at international level, scoring 18 goals in 50 appearances. He was known for his bicycle kick goals and emotional reac ...
. In 2021 the club was purchased and became
Albion San Diego SC.
On June 19, 2019, it was announced that
Landon Donovan
Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. Donovan is also the co-founder and vice-president of soccer operations for USL Championship side San Diego Loyal SC, and serves as strategic advisor fo ...
would be bringing a new
USL Championship
The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...
team to San Diego. The club,
San Diego Loyal SC
San Diego Loyal Soccer Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded by Warren Smith and Landon Donovan. San Diego Loyal made its debut in 2020 as an expansion team in the USL Championship.
...
, began play during the 2020 USL Championship season.
Golf
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 ...
's annual
Farmers Insurance Open
The Farmers Insurance Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played in the San Diego, California, area in the early part of the season known as the "West Coast Swing".
The tournament was noted for having singer-actor Andy William ...
(originally the San Diego Open and later the Buick Invitational) golf tournament occurs at
Torrey Pines Golf Course
Torrey Pines Golf Course is a 36-hole municipal golf facility on the west coast of the United States, owned by the city of San Diego, California. It sits on the coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the community of La Jolla, just south ...
, which has hosted the tournament since 1968. The event was founded in 1952 at
San Diego Country Club in
Chula Vista
Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popul ...
. The tournament was founded in 1952 and was played at a variety of venues in the San Diego area in its early years, beginning with
San Diego Country Club in
Chula Vista
Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popul ...
for its first two years. The tournament was also played in
Rancho Santa Fe
Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States, within the San Diego metropolitan area. The population was 3,156 at the 2020 census. The CDP is primarily residential with a few shopping block ...
and
El Cajon
El Cajon ( , ; Spanish: El Cajón, meaning "the box") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States, east of downtown San Diego. The city takes its name from Rancho El Cajón, which was in turn named for the box-like shape of the va ...
, as well as locally in
Mission Valley
Mission Valley is a wide river valley trending east–west in San Diego, California, United States, through which the San Diego River flows to the Pacific Ocean. For planning purposes the city of San Diego divides it into two neighborhoods: Missi ...
and
Rancho Bernardo
Rancho Bernardo is a master-planned community in the northern hills of the city of San Diego, California.
Geography
The topography of Rancho Bernardo consists of canyons and rolling hills that have large bedrock outcroppings. The major floral bio ...
during these years.
The
LPGA Tour
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...
's
JTBC Classic
The JTBC Classic Presented by Barbasol, formerly the Kia Classic, is a women's professional golf tournament in Southern California on the LPGA Tour. It debuted in 2010 at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, then moved north for a year in ...
is held annually at the Aviara Golf Club in nearby
Carlsbad, which has hosted the event since 2012 after the event's relocation from
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
.
At the college level, the city is home to the
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
San Diego State Aztecs men's and
women's golf
Women's golf has a set of major championships which parallels that in men's golf, with the women's system newer and less stable than the men's. As of 2013, five tournaments are designated as majors in women's golf by the LPGA Tour.
LPGA majors ...
teams, the
San Diego Toreros
The San Diego Toreros are the 17 teams representing the University of San Diego of San Diego, California in intercollegiate athletics. The Toreros compete in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the National Collegiate At ...
men's golf team, and the
UC San Diego Tritons
The UC San Diego Tritons are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, San Diego. UC San Diego has 23 varsity sports teams and offers student participation in a wide range of sports. As of July 1, 2020, all UC San Diego tea ...
men's and women's teams.
The San Diego region is home to 72 golf courses in total.
Lacrosse
On August 30, 2017, the
National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...
(NLL), the world's top
box lacrosse
Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's official ...
league, awarded an expansion franchise to the city of San Diego and owner
Joseph Tsai
Joseph Tsai (; born January 1964) is a Hong Kong-Canadian billionaire businessman, lawyer, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder and executive vice chairman of the Chinese multinational technology company Alibaba Group and owns the Brooklyn Net ...
. On October 24, the NLL and San Diego owners unveiled the
San Diego Seals
The San Diego Seals are a box lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League. They play their home games at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located ...
identity. Also revealed were the colors, purple, gold, gray, and black, and the team logo. The team began play in December 2018 at
Pechanga Arena
Pechanga Arena (historically known as the San Diego Sports Arena) is an indoor arena built in 1966 and located in the Midway area of San Diego, California.
The arena seats 12,000 for indoor football, 12,920 for ice hockey, indoor soccer and ...
and earned the second overall playoff seed in the West Division after a successful 10–8 regular season. Home game attendance during the inaugural season averaged 7,769 fans per contest.
In January 2022, it was announced San Diego would host the
2023 World Lacrosse Championship
The 2023 World Lacrosse Championship will be the 14th edition of the international men's field lacrosse tournament for national teams organized by World Lacrosse. Initially scheduled for 2022, it was postponed to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic ...
. The newly-constructed
Snapdragon Stadium
Snapdragon Stadium, known during its planning and early construction phases as Aztec Stadium, is an outdoor college football stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. It is loc ...
is slated to be the event's primary venue, with
Torero Stadium
Torero Stadium is a 6,000-seat multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of the University of San Diego in San Diego, California. Opened in 1961, it serves as the home of the school's football and soccer ...
and other fields at both
San Diego State University
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
and the
University of San Diego
The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...
to also be used for tournament play.
The city is also currently home to the
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
San Diego State Aztecs women's lacrosse
The San Diego State Aztecs women's lacrosse team is an NCAA Division I college lacrosse team representing San Diego State University as an independent. They team began play in 2012 and has been coached by Kylee White since its inception. The team ...
team.
Rugby Union
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 ...
is played at professional and amateur level in San Diego.
The
San Diego Legion
The San Diego Legion is an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby.
Home field
The team plays at Snapdragon Stadium, which is located on the campus o ...
of
Major League Rugby
Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...
(MLR), the highest level of
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 ...
in the United States, is based in the city at
Torero Stadium
Torero Stadium is a 6,000-seat multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of the University of San Diego in San Diego, California. Opened in 1961, it serves as the home of the school's football and soccer ...
and plans to move to the new
Snapdragon Stadium
Snapdragon Stadium, known during its planning and early construction phases as Aztec Stadium, is an outdoor college football stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. It is loc ...
in 2023. The Legion began play in 2018 as one of the league's seven founding franchises.
On the women's side, the
San Diego Surfers
The San Diego Surfers Women's Rugby Club is a women's rugby union club based in San Diego, California. They were founded in 1975 as an amateur club and have been members of the Women's Premier League Rugby
The USA Rugby Women's Premier League (W ...
have competed in the 10-team
Women's Premier League (WPL), the highest level of domestic women's rugby union, since 2011. Initially founded in 1975 as an amateur team, the club has won the WPL national title twice, in 2016 and 2018, in addition to four national championships in
USA Rugby Club 7s
The USA Rugby Club 7s National Championship is the top annual American rugby sevens competition organized by USA Rugby
USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the spor ...
.
An array of clubs, ranging from
men's and women's clubs to
collegiate and
high school clubs, are part of the
Southern California Rugby Football Union
The Southern California Rugby Football Union (SCRFU) is the Geographical Union (GU) governing body within USA Rugby that governs adult rugby union teams in Southern California, the Las Vegas metropolitan area, Arizona, and New Mexico. The SCRFU in ...
. The
United States national rugby sevens team
The United States national rugby sevens team competes in international rugby sevens competitions. The national sevens team is organized by USA Rugby, and the team has been led by Head Coach Mike Friday since 2014.
The main competition the team ...
train at the
United States Olympic Training Center
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located in Colorado Sprin ...
in
Chula Vista
Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popul ...
,
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
. Additionally, the
USA Sevens
The USA Sevens is a rugby sevens tournament held annually during March in the United States. The USA Sevens is the largest annual rugby competition in North America, drawing over 60,000 fans, and is broadcast live in the United States by ESPN. ...
, an event in the annual
World Rugby Sevens Series
The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...
for international teams in
rugby sevens, was held in
Petco Park
Petco Park is a baseball stadium in Downtown San Diego, California. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, and has also been used as a venue for concerts, soccer, golf, and rugby.
The ballpark is located between Se ...
from 2007 through 2009 before moving to Las Vegas for 2010 and back to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
more recently.
The
San Diego Breakers
The San Diego Breakers were an United States, American professional rugby union team that played in the short lived PRO Rugby competition. They were based in San Diego, California, and played their home games at Torero Stadium.
History
PRO Rugb ...
, who played in the only season of
PRO Rugby
Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional".
Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to:
People
* Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest
* Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter
* Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired ...
(
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
) before the league folded, likewise played at Torero Stadium. The
USA Sevens
The USA Sevens is a rugby sevens tournament held annually during March in the United States. The USA Sevens is the largest annual rugby competition in North America, drawing over 60,000 fans, and is broadcast live in the United States by ESPN. ...
, a major international rugby event, was also held at the same stadium from 2007 through 2009. San Diego is also represented by
Old Mission Beach Athletic Club RFC
Old Mission Beach Athletic Club Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in San Diego, California. OMBAC RFC is directly affiliated with the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club. The rugby team plays at The Little Q Rugby Field, adjacent to Qual ...
, the former home club of
USA Rugby
USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugb ...
's former Captain
Todd Clever
Todd Stanger Clever (born January 16, 1983) is an American retired rugby union player. He became the first American to play Super Rugby. At the international level, he was a member of the United States national team, served as captain, and is t ...
. San Diego participated in the
Western American National Rugby League between 2011 and 2013.
The following is a list of current rugby teams in San Diego;
Professional clubs
*
San Diego Legion
The San Diego Legion is an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby.
Home field
The team plays at Snapdragon Stadium, which is located on the campus o ...
of
Major League Rugby
Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...
.
*
San Diego Surfers
The San Diego Surfers Women's Rugby Club is a women's rugby union club based in San Diego, California. They were founded in 1975 as an amateur club and have been members of the Women's Premier League Rugby
The USA Rugby Women's Premier League (W ...
of the
Women's Premier League
Amateur clubs
*
Old Mission Beach Athletic Club RFC
Old Mission Beach Athletic Club Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in San Diego, California. OMBAC RFC is directly affiliated with the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club. The rugby team plays at The Little Q Rugby Field, adjacent to Qual ...
(OMBAC) - Pacific Rugby Premiership (PRP)
* San Diego Old Aztecs - D2
* Oceanside Chiefs - D2 & D3 (
Oceanside)
* North County Gurkhas - D3 (
Escondido)
* San Diego Armada - D4
Collegiate clubs
*
San Diego State University
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
Aztec rugby – women's and men's teams
*
University of San Diego
The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...
rugby team – women's and men's teams
*
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
Tritons rugby club – women's and men's teams
Tennis
The
San Diego Aviators
The San Diego Aviators are a World TeamTennis (WTT) team that plays at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California in the United States. The team is the successor to two WTT franchises. The first was created in 1995, as the New York O ...
of
World TeamTennis
World TeamTennis (WTT) is a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973.
The league's season normally takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a ...
(WTT) moved to San Diego from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
prior to the start of the
2014 season. They were founded in 1995 and formerly known as the
New York Sportimes
The New York Sportimes were a professional tennis team competing in World TeamTennis (WTT). The team was originally based in eastern Long Island from 2000 to 2002, before moving to Westchester County, New York in 2003, and then to New York City in ...
. The Aviators played their
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
home matches at the indoor
Valley View Casino Center
Pechanga Arena (historically known as the San Diego Sports Arena) is an indoor arena built in 1966 and located in the Midway area of San Diego, California.
The arena seats 12,000 for indoor football, 12,920 for ice hockey, indoor soccer a ...
. In
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
, they moved to
Omni La Costa Resort and Spa
The Omni La Costa Resort & Spa is a luxury destination resort hotel opened in 1965, located in Carlsbad, California, and is owned by Omni Hotels & Resorts, based out of Dallas, Texas. The resort is located in the San Diego area hills and is known ...
in
Carlsbad. In their first three seasons in San Diego, they finished with the league's top regular-season record twice (2014 and
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
), and won the King Trophy as
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
WTT champions.
San Diego has had two previous WTT franchises. The
San Diego Friars were a WTT expansion franchise that began play in 1975. They used the San Diego Sports Arena (now Valley View Casino Center) as their primary home venue but played some home matches at the
Anaheim Convention Center
The Anaheim Convention Center is a major convention center in Anaheim, California and is the largest exhibition facility on the West Coast of the United States. It is located across from the Disneyland Resort on Katella Avenue. The original comp ...
between 1975 and 1977, before
Anaheim
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
got its own team in 1978. After missing the playoffs their first two seasons, the Friars qualified in 1977 and 1978, and were the 1978 Western Division champions, but lost in the quarterfinals. The team folded after the 1978 season.
International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...
rs
Rod Laver
Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former tennis player. Laver was the world number 1 ranked professional in some sources in 1964, in all sources from 1965 to 1969 and in some sources in 1970, spanning four years befor ...
and
Dennis Ralston
Richard Dennis Ralston (July 27, 1942 – December 6, 2020) was an American professional tennis player whose active career spanned the 1960s and 1970s.
As a young player, he was coached by tennis pro Pancho Gonzales. He attended the University o ...
played for the Friars.
In 1981, the Friars returned as an expansion franchise as WTT resumed operations rebranded as TeamTennis after a hiatus. After three seasons as the Friars, the team was renamed the
San Diego Buds before the 1984 season. The Buds won both the 1984 and 1985 TeamTennis championships but folded following the 1985 season. Hall of Famer
Rosie Casals
Rosemary "Rosie" Casals (born September 16, 1948) is an American former professional tennis player.
Casals earned her reputation as a rebel in the tennis world when she began competing in the early 1960s. During a tennis career that spanned mor ...
was the Friars player-coach in 1983.
At the collegiate level,
San Diego State
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
,
University of San Diego
The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...
, and
UC San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
each support both men's and women's
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
tennis teams.
Ultimate
Ultimate
Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums
* ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album)
* ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album)
*''Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds
*''The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilatio ...
(also known as ultimate frisbee and ultimate disk) is a newer but quickly-growing sport in San Diego like many other US cities. San Diego is represented at the highest professional level of men's ultimate in the
American Ultimate Disc League
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
(AUDL) by the
San Diego Growlers
The San Diego Growlers are a professional Ultimate team that plays in the West Division of the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL). They played their first season in 2015.
History
When the American Ultimate Disc League showed interest in expandin ...
, who began play in 2015. A women's highest-level team in the
Western Ultimate League (WUL), the
San Diego Super Bloom, was launched in 2020 as one of the league's founding franchises and initially known as the San Diego Wolfpack.
Former teams
Major professional former teams
Other former teams
See also
*
San Diego#Sports
*
San Diego Hall of Champions
The San Diego Hall of Champions was an American multi-sport museum in San Diego, California until its closure in June 2017. The Hall of Champions housed the Breitbard Hall of Fame - San Diego's sports hall of fame - which is now located at Petco P ...
*
San Diego sports curse
*
Breitbard Hall of Fame
The San Diego Hall of Champions was an American multi-sport museum in San Diego, California until its closure in June 2017. The Hall of Champions housed the Breitbard Hall of Fame - San Diego's sports hall of fame - which is now located at Petco P ...
*
Sports in California
California has 21 major professional sports franchises, far more than any other US state. The San Francisco Bay Area has six major league teams spread amongst three cities: San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. The Greater Los Angeles Area has ...
References
{{California sports
History of San Diego