Sports in Birmingham, Alabama, include several minor league professional teams and college sports. The

City of Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and the Birmingham metro area have no major professional sport franchises. The Birmingham area is home to the

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The Baron ...

, the AA minor league affiliate of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

, which plays at

Regions Field Regions Field is a minor league baseball park in the Southside community of Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. It is the home field for the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League, and it replaced Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in the Birmingham suburb ...

in the Southside adjacent to Railroad Park. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (

UAB Blazers The UAB Blazers are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The school is one of the fourteen member institutions of the American Athletic Conference and participates in Divisi ...

) and Samford University in Homewood have popular collegiate sports teams, including college basketball and football. The Hoover Metropolitan Stadium is home to the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

Baseball Tournament, which drew more than 108,000 spectators in 2006 and continues to draw large crowds today. The city also hosts a USL team: the Birmingham Legion FC. The Birmingham area also hosts the Alabama Youth Sports Alliance basketball league and Tragic City Rollers women's roller derby team. Birmingham's

Legion Field Legion Field is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States in Birmingham, Alabama, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but occasionally used for other large outdoor events. Opened in 1927, it is named in ...

has hosted several college football postseason bowl games, including the

Dixie Bowl The Dixie Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game held New Year's Day at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama.Foldesy, Jody. "Bowls burgeon as big business", ''The Washington Times''. December 21, 1997. Page A1. The game was only held tw ...

(1948–49), the Hall of Fame Classic (1977–85), the

All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977 to 1990. The game was known as the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985. In 1986, the National Football Foundatio ...

(1986–90), the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. For its first 32 seasons, the championship game pitted the Eastern Division regular season champion again ...

(1992–93), the

SWAC Championship Game The SWAC Championship Game, officially the Cricket Wireless SWAC Championship Game, is an American college football game that is held annually on the first Saturday in December by the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) to determine its foot ...

(1999–2012), the

Magic City Classic The Magic City Classic is an annual American football "classic" that features Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University, the two largest historically black universities in the state. It is played at Legion Field in Birmingham (nick ...

(1946–present) and, currently, the

Birmingham Bowl The Birmingham Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game played annually in Birmingham, Alabama. First held in 2006, the game is owned and operated by ESPN Events. The University of Alabama at Birmingham ...

(formerly the BBVA Compass Bowl, 2006–present). The

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United St ...

, and

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the ...

are also headquartered in Birmingham. In 1996, Legion Field hosted early rounds of Olympic soccer where it drew record crowds. The field has also hosted men's and women's World Cup qualifiers and friendlies. The field has switched from natural grass to artificial turf, a controversial move that has people questioning the stadium's role as a professional soccer venue. In 2019, Legion Field was also the home of the Birmingham Iron of 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 area ...

. The U.S.

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

Training Facility is located in Birmingham and was a primary filming location for the 2005 documentary film '' Murderball'', about

wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for Disabled sport, athletes with a disability. It is practiced in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic spor ...

players.

Current teams

Recreation

Since 1998, Birmingham is a highlight for the sport of

Fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

in the Southeast through th
Birmingham Fencing Club
The local club hosts weekly classes for all skill levels and regional tournaments inviting competitors from across several nearby states. Notable competitors native to Birmingham include Luona Wang, 2010 Junior World Fencing Championships Bronze Medalist in Foil and Andrew Chen, 2016 North American Cup Gold Medalist in Foil Y10. Recreational fishing is also immensely popular in the Birmingham area. Fish have been caught in 14 separate Alabama lakes which would be state records in 35 other states. Recently, Birmingham was named "Bass Capital of the World" by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and ''Bassmaster'' magazine. Over the last several years, Birmingham has been home to numerous major fishing tournaments, including the Bass Masters Classic. Some of the more popular recreational lakes around Birmingham include: Smith Lake,

Lay Lake Lay Dam is a hydroelectric power dam on the Coosa River in Chilton County, Alabama, Chilton County and Coosa County, Alabama, Coosa County, near Clanton, Alabama.Tharpe, Bill"Lay Dam and Lake" encyclopediaofalabama.org, January 7, 2009, updated Oc ...

, Lake Neely Henry, Lake Logan Martin, Lake Purdy, and Bankhead Reservoir.

Defunct teams

Birmingham was home to the Black Barons, a very successful

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

team. The Black Barons played home games at

Rickwood Field Rickwood Field, located in Birmingham, Alabama, is the oldest existing professional baseball park in the United States. It was built for the Birmingham Barons in 1910 by industrialist and team-owner Rick Woodward and has served as the home park ...

, which is still standing in the Rising-West Princeton neighborhood, and is verified as being the oldest baseball field in America. The city has had several professional football franchises. The only pro football team currently in Birmingham is the

Alabama Outlawz The Alabama Outlawz were a professional indoor football team that resumed play in Arena Pro Football. They last played in the 2017 season at the Shelby County Exhibition Center in Columbiana, Alabama. They previously played in X-League Indoo ...

X-League Indoor Football X-League Indoor Football (X-League) was a professional indoor American football minor league that began play in 2014 in the United States. The league was co-chaired by Michael Mink and Kacee Smith. On September 19, 2015, the league announced a mer ...

. Other teams included the two-time champion WFL franchise, the

Birmingham Americans The Birmingham Americans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the four-team Central Division of the World Football League (WFL). The Americans, founded in late December 1973, played in t ...

Birmingham Vulcans The Birmingham Vulcans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the five-team Eastern Division of the World Football League (WFL). The Vulcans, founded in March 1975, played in the upstart le ...

—before the league folded. A

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

franchise, the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their ...

–once again the league folded. A WLAF franchise, the

Birmingham Fire The Birmingham Fire were a professional American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama. They were a member of the North American West division of the World League of American Football (WLAF) and played their home games at Legion Field. The c ...

–the WLAF was renamed

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally founded ...

and the franchise became the

Rhein Fire Rhein Fire may refer to either of two American football franchises: * Rhein Fire (NFL Europe) The Rhein Fire were a professional football team in the NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Düsseldorf, Germany ...

before the league folded altogether in 2007. A

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

franchise, the

Birmingham Barracudas The Birmingham Barracudas were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Barracudas were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States. History In the beginning Insurance ty ...

— would play one season and then fold as the league ended its American franchise experiment. An XFL franchise, the

Birmingham Thunderbolts The Birmingham Thunderbolts were a short-lived springtime American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in ...

–another instance where the league folded. In 2019, the Birmingham Iron of the

played part of one season before that league also folded. Birmingham was also a home of professional ice hockey teams. The Birmingham Bulls were a professional ice hockey team that played in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

from 1976 to 1979 and the

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

from 1979 to 1981. The Bulls played their home games at the

Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex The Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex (formerly known as Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center) is an entertainment, sports, and convention complex located in the heart of Birmingham, Alabama's Uptown Entertainment District. The Sheraton Birm ...

. From 1992 to 2001, another Birmingham Bulls team that was a member of the

East Coast Hockey League The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

played at the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex until it was relocated to

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

Recurring events

Motorsports are very popular in the Birmingham area and across the state, and the area is home to numerous annual motorsport races. The

Aaron's 499 The Jack Link's 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The race is usually held in April or May. The 1997 event stands as the fastest NASCAR race to date ever run with an average s ...

AMP Energy 500 The YellaWood 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, hosting an event in the NASCAR playoffs. The race is one of four NASCAR Cup Series races currently run with restrictor plates, the o ...

are

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Sprint Cup races that occur in April and October at the

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway (Alabama International Motor Speedway from 1969 to 1989) is a tri-oval superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Built in 1969, the track has hosted a variety of racing events, primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The track is ...

. The

Indy Grand Prix of Alabama The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix is an IndyCar Series race held at Barber Motorsports Park, a 17-turn road course, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Officially announced on July 27, 2009, the inaugural event was on the weekend o ...

shares the

Barber Motorsports Park Barber Motorsports Park is an racing facility in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built by George W. Barber, and includes the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum. It has been the site of the IndyCar Series' Grand Prix of Alabama since 2010 IndyCar Ser ...

road course with

Superbike A sports motorcycle, sports bike, or sport bike is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfor ...

and sports car GrandAm races. The PGA

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, f ...

has had a regular stop in the Birmingham area since 1992, with the founding of the

Bruno's Memorial Classic The Regions Charity Classic, formerly known as the Bruno's Memorial Classic, was an American golf tournament on the Champions Tour. It was originally held at Greystone Golf & Country Club and moved to Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa, one of ten c ...

, later renamed the Regions Charity Classic. In 2011 the tournament will be replaced by

The Tradition The Tradition (known as the Regions Tradition for sponsorship reasons) is an event on the PGA Tour Champions. First staged in 1989 Senior PGA Tour, 1989, the PGA Tour recognizes the event as one of the five senior major golf championships. Unlik ...

, one of the Champions Tour's five "major" tour events. Road running events such as the Vulcan 10K Run and Mercedes Marathon/Half Marathon are popular for both locals and out-of-state runners. Cycling (both mountain biking and road) is popular in the area. Nearby Oak Mountain State Park annually hosts the Bump N' Grind mountain bike (1995–present) race and the Xterra Southeast Championship triathlon as well as other endurance competitions.

One-time events

On March 6–8, 2009, Birmingham hosted the U.S.A vs. Switzerland first round tie of the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

. In which, U.S. won 4–1. Birmingham has served as the host of the

2022 World Games The 2022 World Games, commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event held from July 7 to 17, 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. They were the 11th World Games, a multi-sport event featuring disciplines ...

. The city was selected to host the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

in 2021 but it was postponed, because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. It was the first time that an American city has hosted the event since the inaugural games were held in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

Venues

Bartow Arena Bartow Arena is an 8,508-seat multi-purpose arena in Birmingham, in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is home to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers men's and women's basketball teams as well as the women's volleyball team. The a ...

Boutwell Auditorium Boutwell Memorial Auditorium is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena located in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built in 1924 as Birmingham's Municipal Auditorium, on a site near City Hall, facing Capitol Park (now Linn Park). The building was designed ...

Fair Park Arena The W. F. "Bill" Harris State Fair Arena (called Bill Harris Arena or Fair Park Arena) is a 5,000-seat multipurpose indoor arena located at the Birmingham CrossPlex (formerly Alabama State Fairgrounds). The arena is used primarily for basketba ...

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, also known as The Hoover Met, is a baseball stadium located in Hoover, Alabama, United States, a suburb of Birmingham. It was home of the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League from 1988 to 2012, replacing histor ...

Legacy Arena Legacy Arena (formerly known as the BJCC Coliseum and the BJCC Arena) is an arena located at the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex in Birmingham, Alabama. The arena seats 17,654 for sporting events, up to 16,250 for concerts and 6,000 i ...

Pelham Civic Center Pelham Civic Complex is a 4,100-seat multi-purpose arena in Pelham, Alabama. It features two NHL size ice skating rinks with a holding capacity of 500 skaters, a skating school, ice skating birthday party rooms, and a multi-purpose banquet area. It ...

Protective Stadium Protective Stadium is an outdoor multi-purpose stadium owned and operated by the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Authority in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. Since its opening in 2021, the stadium ...

References

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