Spokane, Washington has a rich sporting culture and the area residents are active in many spectator and participant sports. Although Spokane lacks any major, nationally recognized professional sports team, Spokane has a sports friendly atmosphere, and was recognized and rated #99 in the Sporting News 2006 "99 Best Sporting Cities" list. In 2009, Sports Business Journal rated Spokane as the fifth best minor league sports market in America out of 239 markets.

Spectators may attend sporting events around the Spokane area, including professional and collegiate sporting events. Participants enjoy activities from running the annual Lilac Bloomsday Run and playing in the annual Hoopfest. Spokane is associated as being home to some sports teams that have gained recognition in their respective arenas. Spokane's notable sports teams include the Spokane Zephyr FC (USL Super League), Spokane Velocity FC (USL League One), Spokane Chiefs (Western Hockey League), the Spokane Indians (Northwest League) who play their home games in nearby Spokane Valley, and the Spokane Shadow (Evergreen Premier League).

Current professional or semi-professional teams

Club Sport League Stadium (or Arena) Spokane Indians Baseball Northwest League (Eastern Division) Avista Stadium Lilac City Legends Basketball United States Basketball League Numerica Veterans Arena Spokane Chiefs Ice hockey Western Hockey League (U.S. Division) Numerica Veterans Arena Spokane Velocity FC Soccer USL League One ONE Spokane Stadium Spokane Zephyr FC Soccer USL Super League ONE Spokane Stadium Spokane Shadow Soccer Evergreen Premier LeagueNational Premier Soccer League Spokane Falls Community College Stadium Spokane SC Shadow Soccer Women's Premier Soccer League Spokane Falls Community College Stadium

The Spokane Chiefs are a junior ice hockey team that play in the Canadian Hockey League's Western Hockey League. They play their home games in the Spokane Arena and have a regional rivalry with the Tri-City Americans. They have won the CHL's top prize, the Memorial Cup, two times in club history, first in 1991 and again in 2008.

Spokane's involvement in minor league baseball dates back to 1892 when it fielded a team in the Pacific Northwest League, the Spokane Bunchgrassers, and the Indians nickname dates to 1903. The Spokane Indians have their home ground in the suburb of Spokane Valley, and are a High Single-A baseball team in the Northwest League (NWL) and have been a farm team of the Colorado Rockies since 2021. The Indians play their home games at the 6,803-seat Avista Stadium and have won seven NWL titles since their Short-Season-A debut in 1982. Prior to 1982, the Indians played at the Triple-A level. The team achieved considerable success in the early 1970s, winning the Pacific Coast League championship in 1970, and having a 94–52 record. In the 1920s and 1930s the Spokane City League, a semiprofessional baseball league of teams of the Inland Empire, reached its peak.Popejoy (2010), p.127

Spokane Zephyr FC is an American professional women's soccer club based in Spokane, Washington, that competes in the USL Super League (USLS). Zephyr FC is owned by Aequus Sports, which also operates Spokane Velocity FC of USL League One (USL1).

Spokane Velocity FC is an American professional soccer club based in Spokane, Washington. The Velocity compete in USL League One, the third tier of the U.S. soccer pyramid, and play home matches at One Spokane Stadium. The team was founded in 2022 and began play in the 2024 season, where they finished as runners-up in the playoffs. The Velocity shares its ownership and stadium with Spokane Zephyr FC, a women's team in the first-division USL Super League.

The club's current head coach is Leigh Veidman.

Defunct teams

Spokane Bunchgrassers (1890-1892), a minor league baseball team in the Pacific Northwest League which won the first Pacific Northwest League Championship. Spokane Canaries (1916), a major league professional hockey team officially called the Spokane Hockey Club, and formerly the Victoria Aristocrats, was a relocated team from Victoria, British Columbia that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association for only the 1916–17 season. They were nicknamed the "Canaries" by a local boy after seeing their yellow and purple uniforms. The team was Spokane's first and only major league professional sports franchise and it was folded after only one season due to poor game attendance. The team was reactivated as the Aristocrats in Victoria two years later. Spokane Flyers (senior) (1948-1980), a senior amateur ice hockey team in the Western International Hockey League who were the 1949-50 National Senior Champions. Spokane Flyers (junior) (1980-1982), a junior ice hockey team that competed for one and a half seasons in the Western Hockey League. Spokane Comets (1958-1963), were a minor league ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League . Spokane Jets (1963-1974), was a minor league hockey team that was created to compete in the Western International Hockey League after the purchase and relocation of the Spokane Flyers in 1963; they would be renamed the Flyers in 1974 and were the first United States-based team to win the Allan Cup. Spokane Spiders (2006-2010), was a soccer team that played in the USL Premier Development League in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Spokane Black Widows (2010) was a soccer team that played in the Women's Premier Soccer League for one season. Spokane Shine (2010-?), was a soccer team that played in the Women's Premier Soccer League; they won the 2012 Northwest Division regular-season title. Spokane Shock (2006-2017, 2020-2021), an indoor football team that competed first in the AF2 and Arena Football League and then the Indoor Football League. The Shock were AFL champions in their inaugural season, winning in ArenaBowl XXIII.

College sports Collegiate sports in the area focus on the Gonzaga Bulldogs who compete in the NCAA's Division I West Coast Conference and Eastern Washington Eagles who play in the Big Sky Conference and the Whitworth Pirates who play in the Division III Northwest Conference. Gonzaga sponsors baseball, basketball, cross Country, golf, rowing, soccer, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track and field for men and basketball, cross country, golf, rowing, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, and volleyball for women.

Gonzaga Basketball In sports media, Spokane is arguably most notable for being the home of the Gonzaga Bulldogs and their NCAA Division I men's basketball program that competes in the West Coast Conference (WCC) through the 2025–26 season, after which Gonzaga will join the Pac-12 Conference. Although the WCC is often considered a "mid-major" conference, the Gonzaga basketball program is often considered a major program. Gonzaga regularly makes it to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament which includes an appearance and runner-up finish in the 2017 and 2021 championship games. They have made it to the tournament every time since Gonzaga's rise to national prominence in their Cinderella run to the Elite 8 in the 1999 tournament. Gonzaga has produced many NBA players, including John Stockton, Frank Burgess, Dan Dickau, Richie Frahm, Ronny Turiaf, Austin Daye, Jeremy Pargo, Adam Morrison, Corey Kispert, Rui Hachimura, Chet Holmgren, and Andrew Nembhard. When the college basketball season begins, the Bulldogs regularly sell out their home games in the McCarthey Athletic Center on the Gonzaga University campus, just north of downtown.

High school and youth sports

High school sports in Spokane focus on the Greater Spokane League (GSL) in District 8 of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, where schools in the state compete in a variety of sports across the 4A, 3A, and 2A divisions. The Greater Spokane League was formed in 1925 as the Spokane City League and became the GSL in 1976. All of the Spokane area public schools in the Spokane Public Schools District, Mead School District, and the Spokane Valley school districts as well as Gonzaga Preparatory School and Cheney High School, Pullman High School, and Clarkston High School compete in the GSL in a variety of sports.

Venues

Most of Spokane's sports facilities are located on the north bank of the Spokane River. In 1995, the Spokane Public Facilities District opened Spokane's premier sports venue, the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, which has a maximum seating capacity of 12,638 and is the home venue for the Spokane Chiefs and the Spokane Shock. Constructed in 2021, The Podium, is a multi-use sportsplex with a seating capacity of 3,000. A new 5,000-seat stadium for Spokane Public Schools athletics is planned for a lot next to The Podium, and is expected to also be the home ground of a USL League One soccer team. The Spokane Indians home venue, Avista Stadium in Spokane Valley, is just outside city limits and has a seating capacity of 6,803.

Former facilities Playfair Race Course (1901-2001), was a horse racing venue that hosted events such as the Playfair Mile, Spokane Derby, and the two-mile (3.2 km) Inland Empire Marathon Spokane Coliseum (1954-1995), nicknamed "The Boone Street Barn", was an indoor arena with seating capacity of 5,400 Joe Albi Stadium (1950-2021), a 28,646-seat stadium in northwest Spokane Gonzaga Stadium (1922-1947), was a 2,000-seat stadium that was the home ground of Gonzaga Bulldogs football until 1941 when the university stopped sponsoring the football program due to the financial woes Spokane Arena (original) (1916-?), later known as the Elm Street Arena was an open air arena reportedly with a possible capacity of 4,000. It was among the first venues to utilize artificial ice

Hosting major events

In 1995, the Spokane Public Facilities District opened Spokane's premier sports venue, the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena to replace the aging Spokane Coliseum. In the years since the Spokane Arena opened, it along with the city of Spokane have played host to several major sporting events. The first major event the 1998 Memorial Cup, the championship game of the Canadian Hockey League. Four years later in 2002, Spokane hosted the 2002 Skate America figure skating competition, as well as the first two rounds of NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament. In 2003 and 2007 the NCAA returned to Spokane with the Division I Men's Tournament, and again in 2008 with the Women's tournament. The Spokane Arena is the perennial host to the State 'B' Basketball Tournament, which brings athletes and fans from across Washington to Spokane. With the split of the 'B' classification in 2006, beginning in 2007 the city was host to the State 2B (the state's second smallest class) Basketball Championships.

With the addition of The Podium, the city hopes to attract bigger sporting events; the venue has already booked the 2022 National Track Championships.

2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championship The biggest sports event hosted in Spokane history was the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The event set an attendance record, selling nearly 155,000 tickets and passing the previous mark of 125,000 set by the 2002 United States Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles and was later named the Sports Event of the Year by Sports Travel Magazine, beating out notable events, including Super Bowl XLI, among others. Fans, analysts and athletes, including Ice Dancing champion Tanith Belbin, spoke highly of the city's performance as host, which included large, supportive crowds. Spokane was also a candidate city for the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships, losing its bid to Los Angeles. On May 5, 2008, it was announced that Spokane would once again host the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 2010—ending eighteen days before the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics games in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Summer sports

Basketball

Hoopfest