Sports in Texas

Texas is a big and busy state in the United States, and it loves sports! It is the second most populated U.S. state, which means many people live there and enjoy watching and playing sports. Because Texas is in the South Central United States, most of its sports teams belong to either the Central, South, or West league divisions.

One of the most famous teams in Texas is the Dallas Cowboys. They play football and are part of the NFC East division, which is a little different from the other Texas teams. Texas has several teams in big national leagues, making it a fun place for sports fans. Whether you like football, baseball, basketball, or hockey, there is probably a team in Texas for you to cheer for!

Major league professional teams

Texas has many famous sports teams. It is home to 12 major league sports teams and three major women's teams.

American football

Main article: American football in Texas

Many people in Texas love American football and follow high school and college football teams closely. Professional football is also very popular in Texas. The state has two teams in the National Football League (NFL): the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans.

The Dallas Cowboys are one of the most popular teams in the NFL, known as "America's Team". They have played in eight Super Bowls and won five. The Cowboys play their home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The Houston Texans joined the NFL in 2002 and play at NRG Stadium, which has a special roof that can be opened or closed.

Baseball

Texas has a strong tradition of baseball. The state is home to two Major League Baseball teams. The Houston Astros began playing in 1962, and the Texas Rangers joined in 1972 after moving from Washington, D.C. Both teams have reached the World Series, with the Astros winning in 2017 and the Rangers winning in 2023.

Minor League Baseball is also popular in Texas, with teams playing in smaller cities. Texas A&M University, Rice University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Houston, Baylor University, Texas Tech University, and Texas Christian University have all participated in the Men's College World Series.

Basketball

Texas is a great place for basketball fans. The state has three NBA teams: the San Antonio Spurs, the Houston Rockets, and the Dallas Mavericks. All three teams have won big championships. The Rockets won two in a row in 1994 and 1995 thanks to star player Hakeem Olajuwon. The Spurs had lots of success too, winning five championships between 1999 and 2014 with players like Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginóbili. The Dallas Mavericks also did very well, especially after getting Dirk Nowitzki from the Milwaukee Bucks, and they won a championship in 2011.

Texas has one women's professional basketball team, the Dallas Wings, which moved from Tulsa, Oklahoma after 2015. The state had two other women's teams in the past: the Houston Comets and the San Antonio Stars. The Comets were one of the first teams in the league and won the first four championships but stopped playing after 2008. The Stars started in Salt Lake City as the Utah Starzz before moving to San Antonio. They were later sold and moved to Las Vegas.

At the college level, Texas has teams that have won big games too, like the UTEP Miners and the Baylor Bears for men, and several teams for women, including the Texas Tech Lady Raiders, Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M Aggies, and Baylor Bears. The state also has a fun recreational basketball league called the Shamrock Basketball Association.

Horse racing

From 1905 to 1915, many people in Dallas and Fort Worth enjoyed watching horse racing, often during the state fair. Dallas started a Jockey Club, and Fort Worth had a Driving Club for horse owners with 101 members in 1905. Both cities drew large crowds for different types of horse races.

Today, Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie near Dallas and Fort Worth has hosted big racing events, including the Breeders' Cup in 2004.

Lonestar Park, Breeders' Cup

Ice hockey

Ice hockey has become more popular in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1993, when the Minnesota North Stars of the National Hockey League moved and became the Dallas Stars. The Stars played in the Stanley Cup playoffs right away and worked hard to stay competitive. They even won the Stanley Cup in 1999! The team went to the Stanley Cup Final again the next year but lost to the New Jersey Devils. Besides the 1999 Stanley Cup, they’ve also won two Presidents' Trophies and seven division titles.

Before the Dallas Stars, there was another team called the Houston Aeros that played in a different league called the World Hockey Association from 1973 to 1978. They won two championships in 1974 and 1975. Later, Houston got a new team also called the Aeros, which won championships in 1999 and 2003. Today, there are more hockey teams in Texas, like the San Antonio Rampage and the Texas Stars.

Soccer

Texas has been home to many soccer teams over the years. Some older teams include the Dallas Tornado, Houston Stars, and San Antonio Thunder. More recently, Texas has three major league teams: FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo FC, and Austin FC. These teams play in special stadiums built just for soccer.

The Cotton Bowl in Dallas hosted matches during the 1994 FIFA World Cup, and Texas will host matches again in the 2026 FIFA World Cup at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and NRG Stadium in Houston.

Collegiate

Texas has many top college football teams. Thirteen schools in Texas play in the highest level of college football, called Division I FBS. These schools are spread across different conferences. For example, the Baylor Bears, Houston Cougars, TCU Horned Frogs, and Texas Tech Red Raiders play in the Big 12 Conference. The Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies are in the Southeastern Conference. SMU Mustangs play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while several others compete in the American Conference.

Texas is known for its strong college football rivalries. One famous rivalry is between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas at Austin, called the Red River Shootout. Another big rivalry is the Lone Star Showdown between Texas A&M and the University of Texas. Texas is also a key place for finding future professional football players, with many top high school players coming from the state.

High school

Most sports, music, and academic contests for public schools in Texas are organized by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). The UIL mainly handles public schools. Private schools have their own group called the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS). Both groups manage similar activities, but they use slightly different names for some events. TAPPS includes competitions for spirit squads like cheerleading and dance teams, which the UIL does not organize.

Rodeo

Texans love going to the rodeo. The biggest rodeo in the world is the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which happens every year. People from all over Texas ride in on horses and gather at Reliant Park to celebrate. The very first rodeo ever took place in Pecos, Texas on July 4, 1883. There are many other fun rodeos, like the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show in Fort Worth, Texas, and the State Fair of Texas held in Dallas.

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is very popular in Texas and the state is one of the biggest for this sport in the country. Many great gymnasts have come from Texas, including Nastia Liukin, who won the 2008 Olympic all-around title, Carly Patterson, who won the 2004 Olympic all-around title, Simone Biles, who has won many World and Olympic titles, and Madison Kocian, the 2015 world uneven bars champion.

There are many gymnastics clubs in Texas. Some of the top facilities are the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in Plano and Frisco, Texas Dreams Gymnastics in Coppell, and Metroplex Gymnastics in Allen.

The Women's U.S. National Gymnastics Training Center was located just outside Houston at the Karolyi Ranch in Huntsville, Texas from 2001 to 2018 before it closed.

Plano, Texas is known as the "gymnastics capital of the world" because of the gymnastics academy, WOGA.

Golf

Texas is a great place for golf! The state hosts five big tournaments on the PGA Tour, including the WGC Match Play, Houston Open, Texas Open, Byron Nelson Classic, and Colonial National Invitational. There are also other professional tournaments like the North Texas LPGA Shootout and the Insperity Invitational.

Some famous golfers from Texas are Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jimmy Demaret, Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Scottie Scheffler (who was born in New Jersey but moved to Texas when he was young), Jordan Spieth, Lee Trevino, and Kathy Whitworth.

Motorsport

Texas has many exciting places for car racing! The Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth hosts races for NASCAR and IndyCar. Near Austin, the Circuit of the Americas holds the United States Grand Prix for Formula One, plus NASCAR and MotoGP motorcycle races.

There are also places like the Texas Motorplex and Houston Raceway Park where people watch fast drag races. Cities like Dallas and Houston sometimes have special street races too.

Auto racing is very popular on TV in Texas, just behind American football. Many people in Texas enjoy watching NASCAR races more than NBA basketball games.

Esports

Texas is home to some big teams in the world of esports. These teams compete in video game tournaments and are popular in the state.

Other sports

In Texas, people love to fish all year long. Another sport that is becoming more popular is lacrosse, which was first played by some of the local tribes a long time ago.

Notable professional league and amateur teams

Texas is a big state with many sports teams, both professional and amateur. It is the second most populated state in the United States, so it has lots of fans to support its teams. Most of these teams belong to leagues in the Central, South, or West parts of the country, but there is one famous exception: the Dallas Cowboys, who play in the NFC East division of the NFL.

Stadiums and arenas

Notes