Popular sports played in Nashville
The county seat of Davidson County and the capital of the state of Tennessee is the city of Nashville. After Memphis, Nashville is the most populous city in the state. Nashville also includes seven small municipalities in its government system and is known as a hub for several industries such as banking, music, publishing, healthcare and transportation.
Nashville was named after the American war hero Francis Nash and was a prime railroad centre. Owing t its strategic location as a river port, Nashville continued to grow in its economic strength until the Civil War. However, the city soon recovered its economic position and continued to grow as a shipping and trading area along with developing a strong manufacturing base. It also continued to grow its established publishing industry and encouraged the development of fine arts. Soon, Nashville was nicknamed the ‘Music City’.
Along with its rich culture and economic standing, Nashville has also remained in the news for its sports scene. Nashville is home to several professional sports teams; some of the prominent ones being the Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans. The Nashville Predators are the areas professional ice hockey team and are a part of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League. They were formed in 1962 and were then known as the Dixie Flyers. All the home games that they play are at the Sommet Centre which was formerly known as the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
Their professional football team goes by the name of the Tennessee Titans. They belong to the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National playing in 1960. They were moved from Houston to Tennessee in 1997. They were then known as the Tennessee Oilers but changed their name to Tennessee Titans in 1999. The home field for the Tennessee Titans is the LP field.
Nashville also has a minor league baseball team which is known as the Nashville Sounds. They are a part of the Pacific Coast League and play all their home games at the Herschel Greer Stadium. This stadium was inaugurated in 1978 and can host almost 10,000 baseball fans. This team has been recognized as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams. This league has gone on to winning several titles such as the PCL Championships in 2005, the Southern League title and the Double A of the Cincinnati Reds and the Double A of the New York Yankees.
Previously known as the Nashville Broncs, the Music City Starts is Nashville’s basketball team which is an expansion team of the American Basketball Association. This team began playing in the 2008-09 season and played their home games in the Nashville Municipal Auditorium but shall be moving to the Allen Arena for their games from the 2009-10 seasons. The Nashville Broncs officially changed their name to the Music City Stars in 2009 in keeping with Nashville’s strong association with the music industry.
Nashville also encourages college sports and lends its support to the teams from Vanderbilt University, Belmont University and the Tennessee State University.