Sports in Atlanta
The Atlanta Gladiators are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Duluth, Georgia.
They play their home games at Gas South Arena, approximately 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Atlanta.
In Atlanta, the Braves won the 1995 World Series, and had an unprecedented run of 14 straight divisional championships from 1991 to 2005.
[3] They have won the division title six times in two different divisions (NFC West and current NFC South), and two conference championships, going on to lose to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII (following the 1998 season) and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI (following the 2016 season).
Super Bowl XXVIII, XXXIV, LIII, and LXII were hosted in Atlanta with the first two taking place in the now-demolished Georgia Dome.
They played at Georgia State Stadium, but the league's football operations were reportedly suspended and the team folded.
[citation needed] The Atlanta Dream are a 2008 expansion team in the Women's National Basketball Association.
[citation needed] Atlanta was selected in April 2014 for an expansion team to join Major League Soccer (MLS) and begin play in 2017.
Founded in 1967 as a charter member of the NPSL, the club was the brainchild of Dick Cecil, then Vice President of the Atlanta Braves baseball franchise who was the Chiefs' owners.
The Chiefs capped off the 1968 season by defeating the San Diego Toros in the NASL Final 1968 at Atlanta Stadium in front of approximately 15,000 spectators.
The original Atlanta Beat of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA, 2001–2003) was the only team to reach the playoffs in each of the league's three seasons.
The new training center is located in Fayette County and is named after Arthur Blank to honor his help in moving their headquarters.
Since the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg, their former ECHL affiliate in Duluth, Georgia, the Atlanta Gladiators, became the area's only professional hockey team.
In 2015, Atlanta became the furthest south major league box lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) when John Arlotta moved the Minnesota Swarm franchise from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Duluth, Georgia, and renamed the team to the Georgia Swarm.
[8] In the four (full) seasons in the Atlanta market, they have made the playoffs each year, including winning the National Lacrosse League Cup in 2017.
Atlanta was named as the third PVF franchise on February 16, 2023,[13] and later signed the first athlete to the league in Kentucky Wildcats' standout Leah Edmond.
[15] The team, owned by Rally Volleyball's Colleen Craig - the league's only current female majority owner - played its inaugural season in 2024 at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Ga.[16] In 2016, Atlanta fielded its first professional field Lacrosse team in Major League Lacrosse.
The expansion franchise, Atlanta Blaze, took to the field at Kennesaw State University's Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
The Atlanta Kookaburras are a successful Australian rules football club that compete in men's and women's divisions in the MAAFL and SEAFL and USAFL National Championships.
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets participate in 17 intercollegiate sports, including football and basketball.
GSU, like Georgia Tech located within Atlanta proper, is currently in its second stint as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
[23] Atlanta is also home to the Emory University Eagles, an NCAA Division 3 athletic powerhouse nestled in the Druid Hills neighborhood.
Notable alumni include Andrew Wilson, a 2021 Olympian for Team USA, and gold medalist in the 4x100-meter medley relay.
Atlanta also was the home to the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling hosted two Starcade events, held each Thanksgiving night, by WCW.
The company would then return for another event, this time in 2024, where State Farm Arena would host Bad Blood.
