Sports in Orlando, Florida

Orlando is home to the Orlando Magic, an NBA professional basketball franchise that plays at Amway Center in downtown Orlando. The Magic hosted the 1992 NBA All-Star Game at the Amway Arena, and hosted the 2012 NBA All-Star Game at the Amway Center.[1]

Orlando City SC began play in Major League Soccer in 2015 as the league's 20th team. In 2022, Orlando City SC won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, U.S. Soccer’s National Championship, by defeating Sacramento Republic SC 3-0

The effort to bring an MLS expansion team to Orlando had been led by Phil Rawlins, who was working since 2010 to bring MLS to Orlando.[2] MLS officially announced in November 2013 that Orlando would join MLS,[3] after the club had received the necessary approvals from city and county officials to construct a new stadium.[4][5] Orlando City plays in Exploria Stadium in downtown Orlando, completed in 2017. They played their first and second seasons at the venue then known as the Orlando Citrus Bowl. Orlando had been previously considered for a Major League Soccer franchise following its 1994 World Cup success, but no willing investors were identified at the time.

Orlando has hosted the 1998 MLS All-Star Game, where the U.S. All-Stars beat the World All-Stars, 6–1, and the 2019 MLS All-Star Game, where Atlético Madrid defeated the MLS All-Stars, 3–0.

The original iteration of Orlando City SC played in the third division USL Pro from 2011 to 2014. In 2010, Steve Donner formed Orlando Pro Soccer which was awarded a future United Soccer Leagues pro expansion slot for 2011. Later that year, Phil Rawlins moved the Austin Aztex FC to Orlando and formed Orlando City SC, beginning play in USL Pro in 2011. Orlando City won the 2011 USL Pro Championship, and the highest attendance in the league while playing at the Citrus Bowl during its first three seasons. 2014 saw a decline in attendance that resulted from being forced to move to a smaller venue at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World Resort during the renovation of the Citrus Bowl.[8] After Orlando City SC joined Major League Soccer, the organization added Orlando City B to the Tier III United Soccer League (USL), which was eventually given Tier II status in 2017. The B team went on hiatus for the 2018 season and returned for the 2019 season in the new Tier III USL League One. City SC pulled City B out of USL1 after the 2020 season, and City B will resume play in 2022 in a new Tier III league, MLS Next Pro.

The Central Florida Kraze formed in the Premier Development Soccer League (later named Premier Development League), the highest amateur league (4th tier overall) in the United States soccer league system, in 1998. Playing in Orange and Seminole Counties, the team won the PDL championship in 2004. Orlando City eventually took over several youth soccer groups and the Kraze to form a unified soccer development system under their brand. Orlando City has since been represented by teams in several levels of the United Soccer Leagues, including the Super Y-League, Super-20 League and PDL.

Professional baseball has been played in Orlando since 1919, primarily in the Class A Florida State League, until the Orlando Twins joined the AA Southern League in 1973. Tinker Field, named for baseball hall-of-famer Joe Tinker, was a historic baseball stadium next to Camping World Stadium (formerly called the Citrus Bowl), but was demolished in 2015, and was commemorated by a history plaza.[9] It was formerly the spring training home of the Minnesota Twins (and the Washington Senators before they relocated to Minneapolis) and the AA Southern League affiliates of the Twins, Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

The Orlando area was home to spring training for one Major League Baseball team. The Atlanta Braves trained at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. In 2017, the Braves Class A Advanced affiliate, the Florida Fire Frogs of the Florida State League, moved into Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee. The Disney stadium hosted first-round (Pool D) games in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and two three-game series between for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2007 and 2008. As is common with spring training complexes in Florida, the stadium currently hosts the Braves' rookie league affiliate, the Gulf Coast Braves.

There had been a grassroots campaign to attract Major League Baseball permanently to Orlando, with initial speculation pointed to the group building an MLB-class stadium with private financing. However, the group has settled for attracting a Class-A minor-league team with a new stadium on International Drive. They announced they were discussing a possible purchase of the Tampa Yankees in 2010,[10] but those plans fell apart when a potential stadium construction deal was struck down.

In the 1990s, ice hockey became popular in Orlando, perhaps due to large influx of northerners to the city. In the 1993–94 NHL season, the Tampa Bay Lightning played four "home" games at the Orlando Arena, with a 1–2–1 record.

In 2011, an investment group announced that they were approved to lease Amway Center for a new franchise in the mid-level ECHL, which was formally awarded on November 1, 2011.[11] Two weeks later, it was announced that they had received the blessing of previous owner Rich DeVos to revive the Orlando Solar Bears name.[12] The team began play in the 2012–13 ECHL season, with their first game against the Florida Everblades in Estero, Florida, on October 12, 2012. Their home opener was October 20, 2012, also against the Everblades. The DeVos family eventually purchased the ECHL Solar Bears in 2017.[13]

Orlando is home to the Orlando Anarchy, a women's professional football team that plays in the WFA (Women's Football Alliance). The Orlando Anarchy have been playing since 2010, formerly known as the Central Florida Anarchy.

In 2018, the Anarchy won the WFA Division 3 National Championship.[14]

In 2022, the rebooted XFL announced that Orlando had been one of eight cities chosen to host a team. The team is set to begin play during the 2023 XFL season and they will be playing their home games at Camping World Stadium. Former FSU and NFL player Terrell Buckley will serve as the team's head coach. On October 31, 2022, it was announced that the team's name will be the Orlando Guardians.

The 2023 season will technically be the second in team history. The team is the only one in the league to move to another city. The team played in the 2020 XFL season, the league's first season, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa as the Tampa Bay Vipers. The season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was reported that during the season, XFL officials were discussing possibly moving the team to Orlando. The Orlando Rage of the original XFL was one of the most successful and popular teams in the league. Orlando is also one of the biggest football markets that doesn't have an NFL team, so it made sense to move the team. When the XFL's new owners began planning a second season, it was rumored that they would move the Vipers to Orlando.

Professional football in Orlando in goes back to the 1960s, when the Orlando Panthers played in the minor league Continental Football League. The Panthers won two CPFL titles in 1967 and 1968, but folded with the league after the 1969 season. In 1974, the World Football League was formed, and a franchise originally planned for Boston, then moved to the Washington, D.C. area, wound up in Orlando as the Florida Blazers. Despite playing before sparse crowds at the Citrus Bowl and not getting paid for weeks at a time, the Blazers won their division with a 14–6 record and qualified for the first and only WFL championship game, losing to the Birmingham Americans, 22–21. The franchise was relocated to San Antonio for the 1975 season, then quietly expired with the league in October of that year.

Since then, Orlando has hosted several professional teams in short-lived leagues. In 1985, the United States Football League's Washington Federals shifted to the Citrus Bowl and were renamed the Orlando Renegades. Despite a 5–13 record, the Renegades were one of the eight teams that stayed in the USFL for its projected fall season in 1986, but the league folded before any games were played that year. Next came the Orlando Thunder, a charter team in the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992. They lost the World Bowl to the Sacramento Surge in 1992. Like all of the other the American-based teams, the franchise was dropped in the World League reorganization of 1995. Then came the Orlando Rage, a member of the XFL who also played at the Citrus Bowl. The Rage had the XFL's best record at 8–2, but were upset in the playoffs, and the XFL folded after the on season. The Citrus Bowl was once slated to host some of the games for the Florida team in the never launched All American Football League in 2008.

Orlando was one of the launch markets for the United Football League (UFL) in 2009. Orlando's team, the Florida Tuskers, was invested in by Stuart Sternberg, principal owner of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team, and played two of its three home games in the Citrus Bowl, and the third in Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. They compiled a perfect 6–0 record in the inaugural UFL season, before losing to the Las Vegas Locomotives in the championship game. Before the 2010 season, Sternberg sold his stake in the team and the Tuskers announced they would play all home games in Orlando. Its team was then purchased by Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Theismann. Before the start of 2011, the Tuskers moved to Norfolk, Virginia, and became the Virginia Destroyers.

The Lingerie Football League, a women's indoor football league now known as the Legends Football League, expanded to Orlando in 2010 with the Orlando Fantasy. They played their home games at the CFE Arena. The inaugural season had a 0–4 record under coach Kenny McEntyre, a former Orlando Predators' defensive specialist. The team folded after the 2012 season, before the league adopted its current name.

The most recent professional team in Orlando was the Orlando Apollos, which began play in 2019 as one of the eight founding members of the Alliance of American Football. The AAF folded before the end of its first season.

The Orlando Predators first played in 1991 in the Arena Football League. The Predators created a rivalry with the Tampa Bay Storm called the War on I-4. The Predators won the ArenaBowl in 1998 and 2000, and also recorded the only shutout in AFL history in 1992.

After the original AFL folded in 2009, the Predators resumed play in 2010 in the revived Arena Football League reconstituted by a group of AFL and af2 franchises. The Predators played at the city-owned Amway Center until 2013, but in September 2013 the city of Orlando notified the Predators it was canceling their lease, because the low attendance numbers of 5,878 were in default of the lease's minimum provisions and because of the team's financial performance.[15][16] For the 2014 season, the Predators moved to the smaller CFE Arena on the University of Central Florida campus.[17] The team was then purchased by Westgate Resorts owner David Siegel during the 2014 season and the Predators moved back to Amway Center for the 2015 season.[18]

On October 12, 2016, the Orlando Predators announced they had suspended operations due to the reduced number of teams in the AFL and other pending disagreements with the league.[19] In 2019, former Predator Kenny McEntyre launched a new version of the team in the National Arena League.

Minor league soccer has seen varying degrees of success in Orlando. The original Orlando Lions were formed in 1985, and played in the American Soccer League in 1988–90. A second incarnation played in the USISL from 1992 to 1995, winning the regular season title in 1992 and 1993.[20][21] Orlando made another attempt at pro soccer with the Orlando Sundogs, who played in the USISL A-League in 1997. They finished in the middle of the pack, but suffered poor attendance, and folded after one year. In 2008, Orlando hosted the Orlando Sharks of the Major Indoor Soccer League. After poor performance their first year, plans to shift to the new National Indoor Soccer League were eventually shelved.

The Orlando Solar Bears of the International Hockey League were formed in 1995 and were very successful, making the playoffs in each of its six seasons and qualifying for Turner Cup finals twice, losing both times, before finally winning the title in 2001. When the IHL folded after the 2000–01 season, Rich DeVos chose to fold the Solar Bears because his other team, the Grand Rapids Griffins, was moving to the American Hockey League (AHL) along with several other former IHL teams, but the AHL did not permit an individual to own multiple teams. In 2017, the DeVos family eventually purchased the revived Solar Bears that had been playing in the ECHL since 2011.[13]

In 2002, the Atlantic Coast Hockey League was formed with Orlando hosting one of the charter franchises, the Orlando Seals, which won their Commissioner's Cup in 2003; this made Orlando the only Florida city with two hockey championships. The Seals moved to the World Hockey Association 2 in 2003, then the Southern Professional Hockey League in 2004. The City of Orlando revoked their lease for the present Amway Arena, forcing them to sit out the 2004–05 season. They moved to Kissimmee and became the Florida Seals in November 2004. The team resumed play in the 2005–06 season, playing home games at the Silver Spurs Arena, making it to the President's Cup finals before losing to the Knoxville Ice Bears. On January 4, 2007, the Silver Spurs Arena evicted the Seals due to unpaid rent, causing the franchise to fold.