St. Louis

==Sports==
{{main|Sports in St. Louis}}
{{see also|Soccer in St. Louis}}

St. Louis is home to the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] of [[Major League Baseball]] and the [[St. Louis Blues]] of the [[National Hockey League]]. In 2019, it became the eighth North American city to have won titles in all four major leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL) when the Blues won the Stanley Cup championship. It also has notable and collegiate-level soccer teams and is one of three American cities to have hosted the [[1904 Summer Olympics|Summer Olympic Games]]. A third major team, the [[St. Louis City SC]] of [[Major League Soccer]], began play in 2023.

===Professional sports===
Pro teams in the St. Louis area include:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Club !! Sport !! First season !! League !! Venue
|-
|[[St. Louis Cardinals]]
|[[Baseball]]
|1882
|[[Major League Baseball]]
|[[Busch Stadium]]
|-
|[[St. Louis Blues]]
|[[Ice hockey]]
|1967
|[[National Hockey League]]
|[[Enterprise Center]]
|-
|[[St. Louis City SC]]
|[[Association football|Soccer]]
|2023
|[[Major League Soccer]]
|[[Citypark (St. Louis)|CityPark]]
|-
|[[St. Louis BattleHawks]]
|[[American football]]
|2020
|[[United Football League (2024)|United Football League]]
|[[The Dome at America's Center]]
|-
|[[St. Louis City SC 2]]
|[[Association football|Soccer]]
|2022
|[[MLS Next Pro]]
|[[Citypark (St. Louis)|CityPark]]
|-
|[[Gateway Grizzlies]]
|[[Baseball]]
|2001
|[[Frontier League]]
|[[Grizzlies Ballpark]]
|-
|[[St. Louis Ambush (2013–)|St. Louis Ambush]]
|[[Indoor Soccer]]
|2013
|[[Major Arena Soccer League]]
|[[Family Arena]]
|}
[[File:Busch Stadium 2022.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Busch Stadium]] in downtown St. Louis]]
The [[St. Louis Cardinals]] are one of the most successful franchises in [[Major League Baseball]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/history/timeline|title=St Louis Cardinals Franchise Timeline|website=[[St Louis Cardinals]]|access-date=March 1, 2022|archive-date=March 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302013549/https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/history/timeline|url-status=live}}</ref> The Cardinals have won 19 [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (NL) titles (the [[List of National League pennant winners|most pennants for the league franchise in one city]]) and 11 [[World Series]] titles (second to the [[New York Yankees]] and the most by any NL franchise), recently in [[2011 World Series|2011]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/history/postseason-results|title=St Louis Cardinals Postseason results|website=[[St Louis Cardinals]]|access-date=March 1, 2022|archive-date=March 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302013911/https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/history/postseason-results|url-status=live}}</ref> They play at [[Busch Stadium]]. Previously, the [[History of the St. Louis Browns|St. Louis Browns]] played in the [[American League]] (AL) from 1902 to 1953, before moving to [[Baltimore|Baltimore, Maryland]] to become the current incarnation of the [[Baltimore Orioles|Orioles]]. The [[1944 World Series]] was an all-St. Louis World Series, matching up the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns at [[Sportsman's Park]], won by the Cardinals in six games. It was the third and final time that the teams shared a home field. St. Louis also was home to the [[St. Louis Stars (baseball)]], also known as the St. Louis Giants from 1906 to 1921, who played in the [[Negro league baseball]] from 1920 to 1931 and won championships in 1928, 1930, and 1931, and the [[St. Louis Maroons/Indianapolis Hoosiers|St. Louis Maroons]] who played in both the [[Union Association]] in 1884 and the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] from 1885 to 1889. In 1884, The St. Louis Maroons won the Union Association pennant and started the season with 20 straight wins, a feat that was not surpassed by any major professional sports team in the United States until the [[2015-16 Golden State Warriors season]] when they started their NBA season with 24 straight wins.
[[File:St. Louis blues home enterprise center.jpg|thumb|The [[Enterprise Center]] in downtown St. Louis]]
The [[St. Louis Blues]] of the [[National Hockey League]] (NHL) play at the [[Enterprise Center]]. They were one of the six teams added to the NHL in the [[1967 NHL expansion|1967 expansion]]. The Blues went to the Stanley Cup finals in their first three years, but got swept every time. Although they were the first 1967 expansion team to make the Stanley Cup Finals, they were also the last of the 1967 expansion teams to win the Stanley Cup. They finally won their first [[Stanley Cup]] in [[2019 Stanley Cup Finals|2019]] after beating the [[Boston Bruins]] in the final. This championship made St. Louis the eighth city to win a championship in each of the four major U.S. sports. Prior to the Blues, the city was home to the [[St. Louis Eagles]]. The team played in the 1934–35 season.

St. Louis has been home to four [[National Football League]] (NFL) teams. The [[St. Louis All-Stars]] played in the city in 1923, the [[St. Louis Gunners]] in 1934, the [[History of the St. Louis Cardinals (NFL)|St. Louis Cardinals]] from 1960 to 1987, and the [[History of the St. Louis Rams|St. Louis Rams]] from 1995 to 2015. The football [[Arizona Cardinals|Cardinals]] advanced to the [[National Football League playoffs|NFL playoffs]] four times (1964, 1974, 1975 and 1982), never hosting in any appearance. They did, however, win the [[Playoff Bowl|1964 Playoff Bowl]] for third place against the Green Bay Packers by a score of 24–17. The Cardinals moved to [[Phoenix, Arizona]], in 1988. The [[Los Angeles Rams|Rams]] played at the [[The Dome at America's Center|Edward Jones Dome]] from 1995 to 2015 and won [[Super Bowl XXXIV]] in 2000. They also went to [[Super Bowl XXXVI]] but lost to the [[New England Patriots]]. The Rams then returned to [[Los Angeles]] in 2016.

The [[Atlanta Hawks|St. Louis Hawks]] of the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA) played at [[Kiel Auditorium]] from 1955 to 1968. They won the [[List of NBA champions|NBA championship]] in [[1958 NBA Finals|1958]] and played in three other [[NBA Finals]]: [[1957 NBA Finals|1957]], [[1960 NBA Finals|1960]], and [[1961 NBA Finals|1961]]. In 1968 the Hawks moved to [[Atlanta]]. St. Louis was also the home to the [[St. Louis Bombers]] of the [[Basketball Association of America]] from 1946 to 1949 and the [[National Basketball Association]] from 1949 to 1950 and the [[Spirits of St. Louis]] of the [[American Basketball Association]] from 1974 to 1976 when the ABA and NBA merged.
[[File:City Park, Saint Louis.jpg|alt=CityPark - St. Louis CITY SC|thumb|[[CityPark]] in downtown St. Louis]]
[[Major League Soccer]]'s [[St. Louis City SC]] began play in 2023 at [[Citypark (St. Louis)|CityPark]]. Their [[MLS Next Pro]] affiliate is [[St. Louis City SC 2]], which began play in 2022 and also plays at CityPark. Formerly, [[USL Championship]]'s [[Saint Louis FC]] played in the area from 2015 to 2020 at [[World Wide Technology Soccer Park]].

The [[St. Louis BattleHawks]] of the [[XFL (2020)|XFL]] began play in 2020, using [[The Dome at America's Center]] as their home field. After a two-year hiatus of the league, the Battlehawks returned in 2023, when the XFL resumed play.

St. Louis hosts several minor league sports teams. The [[Gateway Grizzlies]] of the independent [[Frontier League]] play in the area in [[Grizzlies Ballpark|Sauget, IL]]. The [[St. Louis Trotters]] of the [[Independent Basketball Association]] play at Matthews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club. The [[St. Louis Ambush (2013)|St. Louis Ambush]] indoor soccer team plays in nearby [[St. Charles, Missouri|St. Charles]] at the [[Family Arena]] as a part of the [[Major Arena Soccer League]]. The [[St. Louis Slam]] play in the [[Women's Football Alliance]] at [[Harlen C. Hunter Stadium]].

The region hosts [[INDYCAR]], [[NHRA]] [[drag racing]], and [[NASCAR]] events at [[World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway]] in [[Madison, Illinois]]. [[Thoroughbred]] [[flat racing]] events are hosted at [[Fairmount Park Racetrack]] near [[Collinsville, Illinois]].

===Amateur sports===
St. Louis has hosted the [[Final Four]] of both the women's and men's [[college basketball]] [[NCAA Division I]] championship tournaments, and the [[Frozen Four]] collegiate ice hockey tournament. [[Saint Louis University]]<!-- DO NOT CHANGE; the university ALWAYS is referred to as "Saint Louis University" and is never abbreviated --> has won 10 [[NCAA men's soccer championship]]s, and the city has hosted the [[NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship|College Cup]] several times. In addition to collegiate soccer, many St. Louisans have played for the [[United States men's national soccer team]], and 20 St. Louisans have been elected into the [[National Soccer Hall of Fame]]. St. Louis also is the origin of the sport of [[corkball]], a type of baseball in which there is no base running.

Although the area does not have a [[National Basketball Association]] team, it hosts the St. Louis Phoenix, an [[American Basketball Association (2000–present)|American Basketball Association]] team.

[[Club Atletico Saint Louis]], a semi-professional soccer team, competes within the [[National Premier Soccer League]] and plays out of [[St. Louis University High School|St. Louis University High School Soccer Stadium]].

===Chess===
[[File:SinquefieldCup2015.jpg|thumb|The [[Sinquefield Cup]] chess tournament is hosted annually in St. Louis]]

St. Louis is home to the [[Saint Louis Chess Club]] where the [[U.S. Chess Championship]] is held. St. Louisan [[Rex Sinquefield]] founded the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis (which was renamed as St. Louis Chess Club later)  and moved the [[World Chess Hall of Fame]] to St. Louis in 2011. The [[Sinquefield Cup]] Tournament started at St. Louis in 2013. In 2014 the Sinquefield Cup was the highest-rated chess tournament of all time. Former U.S. Chess Champions [[Fabiano Caruana]] and [[Hikaru Nakamura]] have lived in St. Louis. Former women's chess champion [[Susan Polgar]] also resides in St. Louis.