Sports in Toronto

These venues are also utilized by several other sports clubs in Toronto, with notable examples being the Mattamy Athletic Centre and York Lions Stadium, both of which serve as hosts to professional teams.

In 1943, hall of fame hitter Ralph Kiner was assigned to play with the Maple Leafs, but left the team after a few weeks upon being called to duty by the U.S. Navy.

[36][39][40][41] In 1958, Cooke offered to withdraw from Toronto if the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were considering relocating, moved to the city, in exchange for partial ownership of the club.

[68] The following January, San Francisco Giants owner Horace Stoneham agreed to sell the team for $13.25 million to a group headed by Labatt intending to relocate it to Toronto.

[74][77][78][79] A few days later the NL had their own vote on expanding to Toronto and Washington, but while receiving a majority support of 10–2 it failed to pass due to lack of unanimity and was put off for two weeks.

[100][101][102] Richman had a tentative agreement to purchase both the Miami Floridians and Pittsburgh Condors of the ABA with the plan to merge them into a single Toronto-based team, but the deal fell through.

[120] In 1983, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien stated that "the chances are 999-to-1" that his team would be relocated and renamed the Toronto Towers, playing their games in MLG,[121] with Carling O'Keefe thought to be involved financially in the deal,[122] but he ultimately sold it to a local group.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert remarked that the league was "thrilled with the reception" and that Toronto "scored really well" and "is very high on the list" of about 10 cities for potential expansion.

Woodbine hosts two of the three legs of the Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing—the opening Queen's Plate on its Polytrack synthetic dirt course, and the closing Breeders' Stakes on grass.

When Livingstone failed to sell the Shamrocks, the NHA seized the franchise, which was left dormant for the year before being reactivated in 1916–17, awarding it to a Canadian military team, the Toronto 228th Battalion.

Smythe himself invested $10,000 of his own money and his group contributed $75,000 up front and a further $75,000 due 30 days later, with minority partner Jack Bickell retaining his $40,000 share in the team.

[152]: 85–86 When the World Hockey Association, a rival league to the NHL, awarded Doug Michel an Ontario-based franchise in 1971 for $25,000 to play in the WHA's inaugural 1972–73 season,[153] Toronto was one of several cities under consideration as home for the team.

In the early 1970s, Maple Leaf Gardens Limited announced plans to apply for a second Canadian Football League team to be based in Toronto which would play at Varsity Stadium, but the proposal never went anywhere.

The Wildcats lost the regular season game to the New York Yankees (which would join the National Football League (NFL) the following year) 28–0 in front of 10,000 fans at Maple Leaf Stadium on November 8, 1926.

[190][191][192][193] There were plans to establish a United States Football League franchise in Toronto in 1983 being pushed by John F. Bassett, but again the Canadian government warned against it and the idea was dropped.

[223] Stafford Smythe and Harold Ballard, part owners of the NHL Maple Leafs, were two of the five founding partners of the club,[224] but financial difficulties forced MLGL to take over ownership midway through the season.

[235] The Tomahawks were sold following the 1974 season,[236][237] and received league approval to move the team to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, New York.

The Wolfpack finished atop the Championship regular-season table, and easily won both of their playoff matches, securing their promotion to Super League with a 24–6 win over Featherstone Rovers.

In July 2020, Toronto Wolfpack withdrew from the 2020 Super League due to financial difficulties and new logistics needed for international travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 31, 2021, it was announced that a private investor group had purchased the Wolfpack and that they would be resuming play in the newly formed North American Rugby League.

They began playing a series of exhibition games against MLR, American amateur clubs, and other opposition, to prepare for applying to join Major League Rugby.

Toronto also hosts the annual Sporting Life 10K which is a charitable fundraising 10K run held in May from Yonge & Davisville to Lake Shore Boulevard near Ontario Place.

[281] In 1988 the American Indoor Soccer Association (AISA) granted Toronto a franchise which was to play its games at Hamilton, Ontario's Copps Coliseum (now FirstOntario Centre),[282] but the team never launched.

In April 2017 the Major Arena Soccer League announced that it had granted Totonto an expansion franchise, which was later named the Mississauga MetroStars and begin play in 2018 at the Hershey Centre.

Since 2015, the Blue Jays have developed a rivalry with the Texas Rangers that stems from their 2015 American League Division Series matchup where Jose Bautista hit a go-ahead home run in game No.

5 to win the series that sparked controversy due to his subsequent bat flip that upset the Rangers based on what was perceived as a violation of the unwritten rules of baseball, and yielded a beanball and bench-clearing brawl as retaliation in the following season.

When the Toronto Raptors joined the NBA in 1995, the original owners were given a six-month window to reap 100 percent of merchandise profits sold in their region to help cover the cost of the franchise.

[317] To maximize those initial sales the choice was made to break with Toronto traditions and adopt a name and colour that would appeal to kids between the ages of six and ten with a focus on becoming an international brand.

[320][321][322] This status only lasted four seasons until their future rivals Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2011)[323] and the Montreal Impact (2012) joined the league, ironically both in blue uniforms.

13 Stanley Cups 1 NBA title In March 2020, sports leagues throughout North America suspended their operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.