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Thursday 15 September 2011

Sports in Los Angeles

Sports in Los Angeles and History of the National Football League in Los Angeles
Los Angeles is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, the Los Angeles D-Fenders, an NBA Development team owned by the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. Los Angeles is also home to the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins in the NCAA, both of which are Division I teams in the Pacific-12 Conference. The Los Angeles Galaxy and Club Deportivo Chivas USA of Major League Soccer are based in Carson. The city is the largest in the U.S. without an NFL team.
There was a time when Los Angeles boasted two NFL teams, the Rams and the Raiders. Both left the city in 1995, with the Rams moving to St. Louis and the Raiders heading back to their original home of Oakland. Los Angeles is the second-largest city and television market in the United States, but has no NFL team (see List of television stations in North America by media market). Prior to 1995, the Rams called Memorial Coliseum (1946–1979) and the Raiders played their home games at Memorial Coliseum from 1982 to 1994.


Since the franchise's departures the NFL as an organization, and individual NFL owners, have attempted to relocate a team to the city. Immediately following the 1995 NFL season, Seattle Seahawks owner Ken Behring went as far as packing up moving vans to start play in the Rose Bowl under a new team name and logo for the 1996 season. The State of Washington filed a lawsuit to successfully prevent the move. In 2003, then-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue indicated Los Angeles would get a new expansion team, a thirty-third franchise, after the choice of Houston over Los Angeles in the 2002 league expansion round. When the New Orleans Saints were displaced from the Superdome by Hurricane Katrina media outlets reported the NFL was planning to move the team to Los Angeles permanently. Despite these efforts, and the failure to build a new stadium for an NFL team, Los Angeles is still expected to return to the league through expansion or relocation. On August 9, 2011 the LA City Council approved plans to build Farmers Field which will become home to an NFL team in the future. The stadium is expected to be completed by 2016.
Los Angeles has twice played host to the Summer Olympic Games, in 1932 and in 1984. When the tenth Olympic Games were hosted in 1932, the former 10th Street was renamed Olympic Blvd. Super Bowls I and VII were also held in the city as well as multiple FIFA World Cup games in 1994 including the final. Los Angeles will host the Special Olympics World Summer Games in 2015. 
Los Angeles also boasts a number of sports venues, including Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Coliseum, The Forum, Staples Center, a sports and entertainment complex that also hosts concerts and awards shows such as the Grammys. Staples Center also serves as the home arena for the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA, the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, and the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL. It was also home to the Los Angeles Avengers of the original AFL, a team that did not participate in that league's ongoing revival.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball and the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League are in the Los Angeles media market and are based in Anaheim in Orange County. The Angels began as an expansion franchise team in Los Angeles in 1961 and played at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field and then Dodger Stadium before moving to Anaheim in 1966. The Ducks, who have played in Anaheim since their inception as an expansion team in 1993, were originally owned by Disney and known as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, after the popular Disney film. The team adopted its current name in 2006, a year after Disney sold the franchise.




Professional franchises


aseball


The Los Angeles area is one of four metropolitan areas to host two Major League Baseball teams, namely the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the American League.




Basketball


Los Angeles boasts two NBA teams, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers. Both share the Staples Center. Lakers owner Jerry Buss also owns the city's WNBA franchise, the Los Angeles Sparks; that team also plays at Staples Center. The city is also home to a team in the NBA D-League, the Los Angeles D-Fenders.




Football


The NFL has not had a team in the Los Angeles area since the 1994 season. Immediately after that season, the Los Angeles Rams moved from Anaheim to St. Louis, and the Los Angeles Raiders returned to their historic home of Oakland. Since then, many attempts have been made to return the NFL to Los Angeles, though none have yet succeeded.
Before the AFL collapsed after the 2008 season, the league included the Los Angeles Avengers. The upcoming UFL may schedule a neutral site game of its Las Vegas team in the city during the first season. On August 9, 2011 the LA city Council approved plans to build Farmers Field, a new stadium in Downtown Los Angeles which will be home to an NFL team. 




Gaelic Football


Gaelic football has been played in Los Angeles since the early 20th century. Los Angeles were national champions in 1959.
The Wild Geese Gaelic Football Club, Inc. founded in 1978  currently administers Gaelic football activities in Los Angeles and Orange Counties and hosts its own version of the Freeway Series between teams from Orange County and Los Angeles. It also competes as one team in the Southern California championship and in the National Playoffs organized by the North American GAA.




Hockey


The region has two NHL teams—the Los Angeles Kings, which entered the league when it doubled in size in 1967, and the Anaheim Ducks, which joined in 1993 as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.




Lacrosse


Major League Lacrosse was represented with the Los Angeles Riptide.


Rugby League


Los Angeles's rugby league team the Los Angeles Raiders RLFC are a developing team in the USA Rugby League, formed in 2011. They will aim to compete as a full team in 2012.




Rugby Union


Competing continuously for over 50 years, The Los Angeles Rugby Club is the second oldest club in the Southern California Rugby Football Union (SCRFU). The Club was founded in 1958 as the Universities Rugby Club. Founding members included Al Williams and Dick Hyland, members of the Gold Medal winning 1924 USA Olympic Rugby Team.




Soccer


The Los Angeles area hosts two top-level professional teams, the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA, that compete in Major League Soccer.
The Los Angeles area also has multiple clubs in the USL Premier Development League scattered throughout the region:
Los Angeles Legends
Southern California Seahorses
Ventura County Fusion
Hollywood United Hitmen
Orange County Blue Star
Lancaster Rattlers
In addition, the Legends, Santa Clarita Blue Heat, and Pali Blues play in the USL W-League.




College


The metropolitan area boasts nine NCAA Division I athletic programs. The best-known are the two whose football teams compete in the top-level Football Bowl Subdivision, both of which are in the city of Los Angeles proper:
UCLA Bruins — Winners of more national team championships than any other college program (105), and 259 individual national championships (364 total national championships).
USC Trojans — Winners of 91 national team championships, and 357 individual national championships (448 total national championships).
USC has 11 national championships in football and, together with Notre Dame, has more Heisman Trophy winners than any other school. In men's basketball, UCLA has won more titles than any other school.
The area's other Division I programs are:
Also in Los Angeles proper:
Cal State Northridge Matadors, in the San Fernando Valley
Loyola Marymount Lions, on the Westside
In Malibu:
Pepperdine Waves
In Long Beach:
Long Beach State 49ers
In Orange County:
Cal State Fullerton Titans
UC Irvine Anteaters
In the Inland Empire:
UC Riverside Highlanders




Sports venues


Club League Venue Established Championships
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim MLB Baseball Angel Stadium of Anaheim 1961 1
Los Angeles Dodgers MLB Baseball Dodger Stadium 1958 6
Los Angeles Clippers NBA Basketball Staples Center 1984 0
Los Angeles Lakers NBA Basketball Staples Center 1949 17
Anaheim Ducks NHL Hockey Honda Center 1993 1
Los Angeles Kings NHL Hockey Staples Center 1967 0
Chivas USA MLS Soccer The Home Depot Center 2004 0
Los Angeles Galaxy MLS Soccer The Home Depot Center 1995 2
Los Angeles Sparks WNBA Basketball Staples Center 1997 2
Los Angeles D-Fenders D-League Basketball Staples Center 2006 0




Former franchises


The NFL had a great presence with the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Raiders being in Los Angeles. The American Football League also had a presence with the Chargers, now part of the NFL. Los Angeles currently is looking for a new stadium to attract the NFL back to the city.




Former sports venues


Club League Last Venue Years in L.A. Championships
Los Angeles Rams NFL Football Anaheim Stadium 1946–1994 1*
Los Angeles Raiders NFL Football Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 1982–1994 1
Los Angeles Avengers AFL Arena Football Staples Center 2000–2009 0
Los Angeles Xtreme XFL Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 2001 1
Anaheim Arsenal D-League Basketball Anaheim Convention Center 2006 0
*NFL Championship (Before the Super Bowl)




Former soccer franchises


The Los Angeles Wolves were a member of the United Soccer Association, starting its first season in 1967. The Los Angeles Toros of the National Professional Soccer League also started its first season in 1967. When both leagues merged to form the North American Soccer League, the Wolves remained in Los Angeles while the Toros relocated and became the San Diego Toros in 1968. When the first season ended, both teams folded. Later, the NASL returned a team in Los Angeles by establishing the Los Angeles Aztecs in 1974. Once more, the Aztecs folded in 1981. In 1990, the A-League was established thus two teams were joined the league in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Heat and California Emperors. By the end of the season, both team folded. Later, the Los Angeles Salsa of the A-League was established in 1993, but folded in 1994. Los Angeles Lazers was owned by Jerry Buss the Lazers played in the MISL from 1982–1988. Buss again own the Los Angeles United in the CISL but after one season (1993) sold the team. The United relocated to Anaheim and became Anaheim Splash. The Los Angeles Sol played one season (2009) of Women's Professional Soccer before folding.



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