Louisville, Kentucky

==Sports==
[[File:Louisville slugger field evening 2002.jpg|thumb|right|[[Louisville Slugger Field]], where the [[Louisville Bats]] play]]
[[File:Derby.jpg|thumb|[[Kentucky Derby]] at [[Churchill Downs]]]]
[[File:Louisville Skatepark-night-2002.jpg|thumb|upright|[[David Armstrong Extreme Park]]]]

{{Main|Sports in Louisville, Kentucky}}

[[College sports]] are popular in the Louisville area. The [[Louisville Cardinals]] have competed as members of the [[Atlantic Coast Conference]] (ACC), since joining that league in July 2014.

[[College basketball]] is particularly popular. The [[Louisville Cardinals men's basketball|Louisville Cardinals]]'s [[Freedom Hall]] averaged sellouts for 10 straight years and the Downtown [[KFC Yum! Center]] following suit with regular sellouts. The Cardinals ranked third nationally in attendance in [[2012–13 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team|2012–13]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://static.psbin.com/a/j/rnpftk9inpzjrf/2013_release_men-s_basketball_attendance.pdf|title=2013 NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL ATTENDANCE|publisher=[[NCAA]]|access-date=September 3, 2013|archive-date=June 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630234915/http://static.psbin.com/a/j/rnpftk9inpzjrf/2013_release_men-s_basketball_attendance.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> the most recent of the program's three* national championship seasons (1980, 1986, 2013*). The Cardinals also hold the Big East conference women's basketball paid attendance record with nearly 17,000 attending the game against the [[Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball|Kentucky Wildcats]] in 2008.
The Louisville market has ranked first in ratings for the NCAA men's basketball tournament every year since 1999.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ratings again say we're March mad |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-louisville-at-top-of/138557365/ |work=[[The Courier-Journal]] |page=C3 |via=[[newspapers.com]] |date=April 9, 2008 |access-date=January 11, 2024 |archive-date=January 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112035329/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-louisville-at-top-of/138557365/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball|Kentucky Wildcats]] used to play an annual game in Freedom Hall.

The [[Louisville Cardinals football]] team has produced successful NFL players such as [[Lamar Jackson]], [[Johnny Unitas]], [[Deion Branch]], [[Sam Madison]], [[David Akers]], [[Joe Jacoby]], [[DeVante Parker]] and [[Ray Buchanan]]. The Cardinals won the [[1991 Fiesta Bowl]], the [[2007 Orange Bowl]], and the [[2013 Sugar Bowl]]. In 2016, sophomore quarterback [[Lamar Jackson]] took the football team to new heights. Lamar was the school's first [[Heisman Trophy]] winner, which is awarded to the most outstanding college football player nationwide during that season. He was also one of the youngest players to ever receive the award. The team also matched their highest ranking in school history at No. 3. The University of Louisville [[baseball]] team advanced to the [[College World Series]] in Omaha in [[2007 College World Series|2007]], [[2013 College World Series|2013]], [[2014 College World Series|2014]], [[2017 College World Series|2017]] and [[2019 College World Series|2019]] as one of the final eight teams to compete for the national championship.

Horse racing is also a major attraction. [[Churchill Downs]] is home to the [[Kentucky Derby]], the largest [[sport|sporting event]] in the state, as well as the [[Kentucky Oaks]] which together cap the two-week-long [[Kentucky Derby Festival]]. Churchill Downs has also hosted the renowned [[Breeders' Cup]] on eight occasions, most recently in 2011.

Louisville is also the home of [[Valhalla Golf Club]] which hosted the [[1996 PGA Championship|1996]], [[2000 PGA Championship|2000]] and [[2014 PGA Championship|2014]] [[PGA Championship]]s, the 2004 [[Senior PGA Championship]] and the [[2008 Ryder Cup]]. It is also home to [[David Armstrong Extreme Park]] (formerly Louisville Extreme Park), which skateboarder [[Tony Hawk]] has called one of his top five skate parks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.skateboardermag.com/features/louisville-extreme-park/ |title=Louisville Extreme Park |publisher=Skateboarder Magazine |work=Skateboardermag.com |access-date=July 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211181038/http://www.skateboardermag.com/features/louisville-extreme-park/ |archive-date=February 11, 2011 }}</ref>

Louisville has seven professional and [[semi-professional]] sports teams, The [[Louisville Bats]] are a [[baseball]] team playing in the [[International League]] as the [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] affiliate of the nearby [[Cincinnati Reds]]. The team plays at [[Louisville Slugger Field]] at the edge of the city's downtown.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

[[Louisville City FC]], a professional soccer team in the second-division [[USL Championship]], began play in 2015 at Slugger Field and has since moved into their own [[Soccer-specific stadium]] , [[Lynn Family Stadium]], in 2020.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rimpson |first=Robert |date=August 5, 2019 |title=Louisville City FC announces the name of its new soccer stadium in Butchertown |url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/soccer/louisville-city-fc/2019/08/05/louisville-city-fc-has-named-its-home-field-lynn-family-stadium/1920374001/ |work=The Courier-Journal |access-date=November 17, 2019 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106013407/https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/soccer/louisville-city-fc/2019/08/05/louisville-city-fc-has-named-its-home-field-lynn-family-stadium/1920374001/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The team was originally the reserve side for [[Orlando City SC]] of [[Major League Soccer]], but the two organizations were separated in 2016. [[Racing Louisville FC]], an expansion team in the [[National Women's Soccer League]] began play in 2021 at Lynn Family Stadium.<ref>{{cite press release |date=October 22, 2019 |title=National Women's Soccer League announces expansion to Louisville in 2021 |url=http://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/article/national-womens-soccer-league-announces-expansion-to-louisville-in-2021 |publisher=[[National Women's Soccer League]] |access-date=November 17, 2019 |archive-date=October 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027113957/https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/article/national-womens-soccer-league-announces-expansion-to-louisville-in-2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Louisville had two professional American football teams in the [[National Football League]]: the [[Louisville Breckenridges]] (or Brecks for short) from 1921 to 1924 and the [[Louisville Colonels (NFL)|Louisville Colonels]] in 1926.<ref>{{cite book |last=Biesel |first=David B. |title=Can You Name that Team?: A Guide to Professional Baseball, Football, Soccer, Hockey, and Basketball Teams and Leagues |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |year=1993 |page=38}}</ref>

Between 1967 and 1976, Louisville was home to the [[Kentucky Colonels]] of the [[American Basketball Association]]. The Colonels was one of the ABA's most successful teams during its existence, winning four division titles and the 1975 ABA Championship, but was not invited to join the [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] when the two leagues [[NBA-ABA merger|merged]] in 1976, and subsequently folded.

Louisville has the added distinction of being the only city in the world that is the birthplace of four heavyweight boxing champions: [[Marvin Hart]], [[Muhammad Ali]], [[Jimmy Ellis (boxer)|Jimmy Ellis]] and [[Greg Page (boxer)|Greg Page]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Loverro|first=Thom|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/9/muhammad-ali-louisville-boxing-jimmy-ellis/|title=Muhammad Ali always stood out among Louisville's four kings of boxing|work=[[The Washington Times]]|date=June 9, 2016|access-date=March 15, 2017|archive-date=February 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215123737/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/9/muhammad-ali-louisville-boxing-jimmy-ellis/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Professional teams===

{{See also|Sports in Louisville, Kentucky#Historical teams|l1=Historical professional sports teams in Louisville}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Club !! Sport !! Began Play !! League !! Venue
|-
| [[Louisville Bats]]
| [[Baseball]]
| align=center | 2002
| [[International League]]
| [[Louisville Slugger Field]]
|-
| [[Derby City Dynamite]]
| [[Women's American football|Women's football]]
| align=center | 2013
| [[Women's Football Alliance]]
| [[John Hardin High School]] ([[Radcliff, Kentucky|Radcliff]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.derbycitydynamite.com/|title=Derby City Dynamite|work=derbycitydynamite.com|access-date=April 14, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402100158/http://www.derbycitydynamite.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Louisville City FC]]
| [[Association football|Men's soccer]]
| align=center | 2015
| [[United Soccer League]]
| [[Lynn Family Stadium]]
|-
| [[Racing Louisville FC]]
| [[Women's soccer]]
| align=center | 2021
| [[National Women's Soccer League]]
| [[Lynn Family Stadium]]
|}