The city of Austin, Texas, and its metropolitan area has only one major professional sports league team. The city's professional soccer team, Austin FC, competes in Major League Soccer. Austin is also home to the University of Texas Longhorns and to several minor-league sports teams.

Teams

+ Austin area prominent sports teams (Pro, Semi-Pro, Minor and Amateur) Club Sport Founded League Venue (capacity) ChampionshipsAustin AcousticArena football 2015-2019Legends Football LeagueH-E-B Center (6,700) 0Austin AztexSoccer 2011-2017USL ChampionshipHouse Park (6,500) 1 (2013)Austin BatsBasketball 2014American Basketball AssociationTravis Early College High School1 (2026)Austin BoldSoccer 2017-2021USL ChampionshipBold Stadium (5,000) 0Austin BlacksRugby1967Texas Rugby UnionBurr Field4 (last in 2023)Austin CrowsAustralian rules football 2002United States Australian Football LeagueOnion Creek Soccer Complex 9 (Last in 2024)Austin FCSoccer 2018Major League SoccerQ2 Stadium (20,500) 0Austin FC IISoccer 2022MLS Next ProParmer Field (1,100) 1 (2023)Austin GamblersBull riding 2022Professional Bull RidersMoody Center (16,000) 1 (2024)Austin GilgronisRugby union 2017-2022Major League RugbyBold Stadium (5,000) 0Austin HunsRugby 1972Texas Rugby Union4107 Nixon Lane (2,000)Austin OutlawsFootball 2001Women's Football AllianceHouse Park (6,500) 1 (2001)Austin OutlawsQuadball 2016-2025Major League QuadballRound Rock Multipurpose Complex 5 (Last in 2023)Austin Rise FCSoccer 2022WPSL PROHouse Park (6,500) 0Austin SolUltimate 2016Ultimate Frisbee Association Parmer Field (1,100) 0 Austin Sound (Now Dallas Sound)Arena football 2020-2022X League (women's football)H-E-B Center (6,700) 0Austin SpursBasketball 2005NBA G LeagueH-E-B Center (8,700) 2 (Last in 2018)Austin TorchUltimate 2019Premier Ultimate League Rudolph Gamblin Field (1,000) 0Austin TurfcatsArena football 2008-2010Indoor Football LeagueLuedecke Arena (6,400) 0Austin WeirdosBaseball 2022-2024Pecos LeagueParque Zaragoza (1500) 0Lonestar SCSoccer 2004USL W League Parmer Field (1,100) 0LOVB AustinIndoor volleyball 2024LOVB ProH-E-B Center (8,700) 2 (Last in 2026)Round Rock ExpressBaseball 2000Pacific Coast League (AAA)Dell Diamond (11,600) 1 (2000)Texas StarsIce hockey 2009American Hockey LeagueH-E-B Center (6,700) 1 (2014)

University of Texas Longhorns Many Austinites support the athletic programs of the University of Texas at Austin known as the Texas Longhorns. During the 2005–06 academic term, the Longhorns football team was named the NCAA Division I FBS National Football Champion and the Longhorns baseball team won the College World Series. The Texas Longhorns football team plays its home games in the state's second-largest sports stadium, Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium, seating over 101,000 fans. Baseball games are played at UFCU Disch–Falk Field which underwent renovation in 1996 with an increased capacity to 6,756 seats plus 11 stadium suites.

+ Texas Longhorns Teams Club Sport Founded League Venue (capacity) Championships Texas Longhorns Baseball 1894 NCAA – Southeastern Conference UFCU Disch–Falk Field (7,373) 6 (Last in 2005) Texas Longhorns Basketball 1906 NCAA – Southeastern Conference Moody Center (16,000) 0 Texas Longhorns Basketball 1967 NCAA – Southeastern Conference Moody Center (16,000) 1 (1986) Texas Longhorns Football 1893 NCAA (FBS) – Southeastern Conference Texas Memorial Stadium (100,120) 4 (Last in 2005) Texas LonghornsSoccer 1994 NCAA – Southeastern Conference Mike A. Myers Stadium (20,000) 0 Texas LonghornsSoftball 1997 NCAA – Southeastern Conference Red and Charline McCombs Field (1,250) 1 (2025) Texas LonghornsIndoor Volleyball 1974 NCAA – Southeastern Conference Gregory Gymnasium (4,000) 5 (Last in 2023)

Professional sports Before Austin FC's arrival in 2021, Austin was the largest city in the United States without a club in a major professional sports league. Minor-league professional sports came to Austin in 1996, when the Austin Ice Bats began playing at the Travis County Expo Center. Since then, the Austin Ice Bats have been replaced by the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League. Other teams have come to Austin including the Austin Spurs of the NBA Development League (later rebranded as the NBA G League), as well as their major league affiliate San Antonio Spurs starting to play regular season games at Moody Center since 2023. The Austin Huns Rugby Football ClubAustin Huns Rugby Football Club entered into their first year as a professional sports entity in 2016. The Round Rock Express Baseball ClubRound Rock Express Baseball Club the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, play at Dell Diamond. The Express are owned and operated by Ryan Sanders Sports and Entertainment, which is led by Baseball Hall-of-Famer, Nolan Ryan.Ryan Sanders Sports and Entertainment

In October 2017, Precourt Sports Ventures announced a plan to move the Columbus Crew SC soccer franchise from Columbus, Ohio to Austin. Precourt reached an arrangement with the City of Austin to construct a new courthouse $200 million stadium on public land at 10414 McKalla Place. However, in October 2018, Jimmy Haslam, owner of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League, along with Columbus businessman Pete Edwards Jr., announced plans to acquire the Crew to keep the club in central Ohio and Precourt was instead granted an expansion club to operate in Austin. Austin FC was then announced as planning to start play in the 2021 season.

Biking, swimming, and running Natural features like the bicycle-friendly Texas Hill Country, limestone rock formations, and generally mild climate work with the centrally located Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail, and local pools like Barton Springs to make Austin the home of several endurance and multi-sport races and communities. The Capitol 10,000 is the largest race in Texas, and approximately fifth largest in the United States. The Austin Marathon has been run in the city every year since 1992. The Austin-founded American Swimming Association hosts an open water swimming event, the Cap 2 K, and other closed-course, open water, and cable swim races around town.

Austin is also the hometown of several cycling groups and the former seven-time Tour de France champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, as well as environmentally and economically minded bicycle commuters. Combining these three disciplines is a growing crop of triathlons, including the Capital of Texas Triathlon held every Memorial Day on and around Lady Bird Lake, Auditorium Shores, and Downtown Austin. Local cyclists also compete in the Driveway Series, a weekly bicycle criterium held at Driveway Austin.

Auto racing

In June 2010 it was announced by the Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone that the Austin area would host the Formula One, United States Grand Prix, from 2012 until 2021. The effort was aided by State Comptroller Susan Combs. The State has pledged to put up $25 million in public funds annually for 10 years to pay the sanctioning fees for the race. The event was last held in 2007 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A Formula One circuit will need to be built at an estimated cost of $250 to $300 million, paid for by private investors, and is expected to be located just east of the Austin Bergstrom International Airport. The Austin investor group is headed by Tavo Hellmund, President of Full Throttle Productions, LP. Hellmund, of Austin, is himself a former race car owner and driver. Circuit of the Americas has also played host to MotoGP World Championships from 2013. Lewis Hamilton won the inaugural 2012 United States Grand Prix at Austin on November 18.

Driveway Austin was a motorsports track and racing school within the city, although not hosting sanctioned races and closing in 2021 to be annexed into a city park. Harris Hill Raceway in San Marcos hosts several racing series.

Other sports In July 2013 ESPN announced the X Games would relocate from Los Angeles to Austin, where the city served as one of six stops on the Global X Games circuit from 2014 to 2018 at the Circuit of the Americas.

Austin is also considered the birthplace of all-women's flat track roller derby.Mabe, Catherine. Roller Derby: The History and All-Girl Revival of the Greatest Sport on Wheels. Speck Press: Denver. 2007:61. In 2003, the Texas Rollergirls formed as the first league to play modern flat-track roller derbyMabe, Catherine. Roller Derby: The History and All-Girl Revival of the Greatest Sport on Wheels. Speck Press: Denver. 2007. and, in 2005, were instrumental in the rule-setting and track design used by the Women's Flat Track Derby Association.

In March 2022, Austin was awarded a 250 level women's tennis event, the ATX Open. It started in February 2023.

References