Sports in Rochester, New York

Although Rochester is home territory to the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres, Rochester has several professional sports teams of its own.[3]

As recently as 1994, there were only two professional sports franchises in Rochester: the baseball Red Wings and the hockey Americans. Since then, a number of new teams have been instituted (and a smaller number have folded), most of which have been very successful. In 2007, among cities in North America with at least seven (at the time) professional teams, Rochester was determined to be the only one whose teams all had cumulative winning regular season records.[4]

A list of current professional teams in Rochester:

The Rochester Red Wings baseball club, the AAA affiliate of the Washington Nationals, are one of the oldest existing franchises in all of professional sports. They play in the International League and won at least one pennant or championship in each decade of the 20th Century. The Rochester Americans ice hockey team, the AHL affiliate for the NHL Buffalo Sabres, are known as the "Amerks."

Frontier Field, including the Rochester skyline.

Lacrosse has seen some popularity in Rochester. The Rochester Knighthawks play box lacrosse in the National Lacrosse League during winter and spring. The current Knighthawks team replaced the former Rochester Knighthawks that played in Rochester from 1995 until 2018. In outdoor lacrosse, the Rochester Rattlers were a charter member of Major League Lacrosse, but the franchise was transferred away after winning the championship in 2008; the Rattlers were then re-established in 2011 before being relocated a final time in 2017.

Marina Auto Stadium

The Rochester Razorsharks, in The Basketball League, have dominated competition and already have multiple championships. The city also has an independent pro-wrestling league: Pier 6 Wrestling.

The Rochester Americans

Professional soccer, once a popular sport in Rochester has declined over the years. The Rochester Rhinos soccer club played for many years in the A-League, which was the second-highest level American soccer league; the Rhinos even won the U.S. Open Cup against Major League Soccer competition in 1999 and have won league championships in 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2015. Despite the success, the popularity of the club has declined in recent years into dire levels.[5] The Rochester Lancers (2010) started up in indoor soccer in 2011 and folded by 2015.

In women's sports, Rochester is the home of the Western New York Flash, 2011 Women's Professional Soccer champions. In prior years, the Rochester Ravens have competed in the semi-pro W-League under a few different names. The Filarets were a notable women's basketball team that played in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

The absence of a major pro sports team has not always been the case. From 1920 to 1925, Rochester was home to the Rochester Jeffersons, a charter member of the National Football League. From 1948 to 1957, the Rochester Royals played in the National Basketball Association, winning the NBA championship in 1951. In soccer, the Rochester Lancers played from 1970 to 1980 in the top-level North American Soccer League and became NASL champions in the 1970 season.

Since 1877, 29 teams in eight professional sports have represented Rochester, according to The Rochester Sports Project by local sports historian Douglas Brei. In spring 2006, Brei showed that Rochester's professional sports teams were collectively approaching 25,000 games played. That game was played on June 16, 2006, when Red Wings hosted the Indianapolis Indians at Frontier Field. He also reports that only six active franchises in the history of North American professional sports have played in the same city and same league continuously and uninterrupted since the 19th century: Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, and Rochester Red Wings.

The United States Women's Soccer Team has played at Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium, Frontier Field and most recently Rochester Rhinos Stadium (under a number of previous names).

Rochester has a rich history in golf dating back to the 19th Century. The area's oldest club, The Country Club of Rochester was founded in 1896. Oak Hill Country Club, which is often included in America's Top 100 Courses [6] is in the suburb of Pittsford. Oak Hill has hosted all 6 of the men's major championships including the Ryder Cup, Men's U.S Open, and PGA Championship. Locust Hill Country Club hosted the Wegman's LPGA from 1977 to 2009. The LPGA Championship was played at Locust Hill from 2010 to 2013 and at the Monroe Golf Club in 2014. Numerous golf magazines have praised Rochester for its rich passion for the game and its high level of competition.

Rochester is the largest Metropolitan Statistical Area in the U.S. which does not include at least one college or university participating at the NCAA Division I level in all sports. Almost all area college sports are played at the NCAA Division III level. The only exceptions are the RIT men's and women's ice hockey teams, which compete at the Division I level. The men's team made it to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2010 and the women's team won the Division III national championship in 2012, just before switching over to Division I. The Nazareth Golden Flyers men's volleyball team won the 2011 NCAA DIII national championship. Also the Nazareth Lacrosse teams won a pair of national championships in the late 1990s.

Among junior colleges, Monroe Community College has had some success in NJCAA Division II sports, including golf. The school won back-to-back national championships for women's lacrosse in 2010 and 2011.