This is a list of sports in Denver, Colorado, United States. Denver is home to many professional sports teams who are based out of Denver and surrounding cities in the metropolitan area. It is also one of the twelve American cities to house a team from each of the U.S. cities with teams from four major league sports. All four of its teams play their home games near downtown with three active sports venues which includes Empower Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos; Ball Arena, home of the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets; and Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. There is also a Major League Soccer (MLS) team based in the Denver metro area (Colorado Rapids), but they do not play their home games in the city of Denver and is located in nearby Commerce City.
Denver, and the wider metropolitan area, is home to six college sports teams with two schools having NCAA Division I programs and four schools with NCAA Division II programs. The Division I Colorado Buffaloes are located in Boulder which is part of the metro area while the Denver Pioneers are located in Denver. Division II Metro State Roadrunners and Regis Rangers are also located in Denver, while Colorado Christian University and the Colorado School of Mines are located in the western Denver suburbs of Lakewood and Golden respectively.
See also: Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. Denver is the least populous of the 13 U.S. cities with teams from four major sports.
The Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) have drawn crowds of over 70,000 since their AFL origins in the early 1960s at Mile High Stadium and continue to draw fans today to their current home Empower Field at Mile High. The Broncos have sold out every home game (except for strike-replacement games) since 1970. The Broncos last championship was in 2016, defeating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. In total, the Broncos have advanced to the Super Bowl eight times and won back-to-back titles in 1998 and 1999, and again in 2015.
In the 1980s and 90s, one of the top priorities of former Mayor Federico Peña was bringing Major League Baseball to the city. In 1993, the MLB awarded an expansion team to Denver and they were named the Colorado Rockies. Mile High Stadium was home to the Rockies from 1993 to 1995 while Coors Field was under construction. They appeared in their first World Series in 2007 after winning their first NL pennant, their only one to this day, where they were swept by the Boston Red Sox of the American League in four games.
The Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) play at Ball Arena. The team was founded as the Denver Larks in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association (ABA) but changed its name to the Denver Rockets before their first season. They changed their name to the Denver Nuggets in 1974. The team joined the NBA in 1976 after the ABA-NBA merger. They made their first NBA finals appearance in May of 2023, after sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. In the 2023 NBA Finals, the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in five games to win their first NBA title in franchise history.
Denver is also home to the Colorado Avalanche, a National Hockey League (NHL) team that relocated from Quebec City in 1995. They have won three Stanley Cups in 1996, 2001 and in 2022 while playing in Denver, and they also play at Ball Arena. The Avalanche played the Detroit Red Wings in the first ever outdoor professional hockey game in Denver on Saturday, February 27, 2016, at Coors Field and again against the Los Angeles Kings at the Air Force Academy on Saturday, February 15, 2020.[1]
The Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer (MLS) play at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, a soccer-specific stadium in the Denver suburb of Commerce City. The Rapids were one of the ten founding teams of Major League Soccer that began play in 1996, and initially played at what was then known as Invesco Field at Mile High before moving into their current home in 2007. The Rapids won the MLS Cup in 2010. The Rapids' main rival is Real Salt Lake, and the two teams play every year for the Rocky Mountain Cup. Dick's Sporting Goods Park has also hosted several international soccer matches, including U.S. national team qualifying matches for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
| Club | Sport | League | Venue | Capacity | Since | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver Broncos | Football | align=center | NFL | align=center | 76,125 | 1960 | The Denver Broncos started in the American Football League (AFL) in 1960 and didn't join the NFL until 1970 after the AFL–NFL Merger | |
| Denver Nuggets | Basketball | align=center | Ball Arena | align=center | 19,502 | 1967 | The Denver Nuggets began playing in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and didn't join the NBA until 1976 after the ABA–NBA merger | |
| Colorado Rockies | Baseball | align=center | align=center | 46,897 | 1993 | The Colorado Rockies are a 1993 MLB expansion team. They began playing at Mile High Stadium until 1995 | ||
| Colorado Avalanche | Ice hockey | align=center | NHL | align=center | 17,809 | 1995 | The Colorado Avalanche began in Quebec City as the Quebec Nordiques in 1972. They began playing in the World Hockey Association (WHA) and didn't join the NHL until 1979 | |
| Colorado Rapids | Soccer | align=center | MLS | align=center | 18,061 | 1996 | The Colorado Rapids are one of the original MLS teams that began playing in 1996. They played at Mile High Stadium until 2001 | |
| Colorado Mammoth | Box Lacrosse | align=center | NLL | align=center | 17,809 | 2003 | The Colorado Mammoth began as the Baltimore Thunder in 1987 and then became the Pittsburgh CrosseFire in 2000, then moved to Washington D.C. in 2001 to become the Washington Power until relocating to Denver in 2003 | |
| Denver Outlaws | Field Lacrosse | PLL | Cross Country Playing- No Specific Field | - | 2024 | Denver Outlaws, former Major League Lacrosse team (2006–2020), ceased operations after the MLL–PLL merger. Then in 2024 the Denver Outlaws took place of the former team Chrome as a part of the home city PLL expansion. |
Denver and the wider metro area is also home to other professional sports teams.
| Team | League | Venue | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Glendale Merlins began as the Colorado Raptors and were the Glendale Raptors until 2017. They include a men's team in the Pacific Rugby Premiership and a women's team in the Women's Premier League. Its top side team played in Major League Rugby from 2018 to 2020. | ||||
| U.S. Australian Football League | Sweetwater Park | The Centennial Tigers are a defunct women's amateur team that are based out of Lone Tree[2] | ||
| USA Rugby | The Denver Barbarians were founded in 1967 and are currently competing in USA Rugby | |||
| USA Rugby | The Denver Highlanders were founded in 1968 and a perennially competitive Rugby Football men’s club | |||
| Veterans Park | The Denver Bulldogs consist of a men's team and a women's team |
| Club | League | Venue | Championships | Since | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Conference | League | |||||
| Centennial Tigers | USAFL | Sweetwater Park | 0 | 2020 | |||
| Colorado Avalanche | NHL | McNichols Sports Arena (1995–1999) Ball Arena (1999–present) | 12 | 3 | Stanley Cups: 3President's Trophies: 3 | 1995 | |
| Colorado Mammoth | NLL | Ball Arena (2003–present) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2003 | |
| Colorado Rapids | MLS | Mile High Stadium (1996–2001) Invesco Field at Mile High (2002–2006) Dick's Sporting Goods Park (2007–present) | 2 | MLS Cups: 1U.S. Open Cups: 0 | 1996 | ||
| Colorado Rockies | MLB (NL) | Mile High Stadium (1993–1994) Coors Field (1995–present) | 0 | Pennants: 1 | 0 | 1993 | |
| Denver Barbarians | Pacific Rugby Premiership Rugby Super League (United States) (1997–2012) | Infinity Park | Division DI: 1 RSL: 1 Division DII: 1 | 1967 | |||
| Denver Broncos | AFL (1960–1969) NFL (1970–present) | Mile High Stadium (1960–2000) Empower Field at Mile High (2001–present) | AFL: 0 NFL: 15 | AFL: 0 NFL: 8 | AFL: 0 NFL: 3 | 1960 | |
| Denver Bulldogs | USAFL | Veterans Park (1999–present) | Men's Team: 8 Women's Team: 6 | 1999 | |||
| Denver Nuggets | ABA (1967–1976) NBA (1976–present) | Denver Coliseum (1967–1975) McNichols Sports Arena (1975–1999) Ball Arena (1999–present) | ABA: 2 NBA: 10 | ABA: 0 NBA: 1 | ABA: 0 NBA: 1 | 1967 | |
| Glendale Merlins (Glendale Raptors, 2007–2017) | Pacific Rugby Premiership | Infinity Park (2007–2017) | Men's Team: 3 Women's Team: 2 | 2007 | |||
| Club | League | Venue | Championship | Played | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Conference | League | |||||
| Colorado Crush | AFL | Pepsi Center | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2003–2008 | |
| Colorado Raptors (2020) Glendale Raptors (2018–2019) | MLR | Infinity Park | 0 | 2018–2020 | |||
| Colorado Rockies | NHL | McNichols Arena | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1976–1982 | |
| Denver Bears (Western League) | Western League | Western League (1885-1899) Pennants: 2 Class titles: 5 | 1885–1954 | ||||
| Denver Cutthroats | CHL | Denver Coliseum | 0 | 2012–2014 | |||
| Denver Dynamite | AFL | McNichols Arena | 1 | 1987–1991 | |||
| Denver Dynamite (soccer) | PASL-Pro (2008–2010) PASL-Premier | Denver Sports Center (2008) Denver Bladium (2009) Westridge Recreation Center (2010–2011) Apex Field House (2012–2014) Parker Fieldhouse (2009, 2014–2015) | 0 | 0 | 2008–2015 | ||
| Denver Grizzlies | IHL | McNichols Arena | 1 | 1 | 1994–1995 | ||
| Denver Nuggets | NBL (1948–1949) NBA (1949–1950) Also played in other leagues | Denver Auditorium Arena | AAU Tournament 3 | 1932–1951 | |||
| Denver Outlaws | MLL | Empower Field at Mile High (2006–2019) Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium (2019) | 2 | 3 | 2006–2020 | ||
| Denver Spurs | WHL (1968–1974) CHL (1974–1975) WHA (1975–1976) | Denver Coliseum (1968–1975) McNichols Arena (1975–1976) | 1 | 1968–1976 | |||
| Denver Stampede | PRO Rugby | CIBER Field | 1 | 2016 | |||
| Denver Zephyrs Denver Bears (1955–1983) | American Association (1955–1962, 1969–1992) PCL (1963–1968) | Mile High Stadium | Class titles: 2 League titles: 7 | 1955–1992 | |||