Sports in Florida

The U.S. state of Florida has three National Football League teams, two Major League Baseball teams, two National Basketball Association teams, two National Hockey League teams, two Major League Soccer teams and 13 NCAA Division I college teams.

Florida gained its first permanent major-league professional sports team in 1966 when the American Football League added the Miami Dolphins. The state of Florida has given professional sports franchises some subsidies in the form of tax breaks since 1991.

The sports industry of Florida has a strong economic impact, The Florida Sports Foundation (2022) states that in the fiscal years of 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 professional sports had accounted for $10.2 billion and college athletics contributed $5.5 billion in Florida’s economy. The sports industry provided about $146.5 billion overall. Florida's sports industry represents about 14% of all the tourism towards Florida and there has been a generated $24.9 billion in total economic impact from the 36 sports commissions. This also applies towards the job market, as new jobs become available with almost a million-part time and full-time jobs generating about $13.9 billion in state and local taxes. These statistics visualize the importance of sports in Florida’s economy, and the associated impact must be valued to understand the influence on Florida’s markets and other related factors involved.

Miami's first entry into the American Football League was the Miami Dolphins, which competed in the fourth AFL league from 1966 to 1969. In 1970 the Dolphins joined the National Football League when the AFL–NFL merger, agreed to in 1966, was finalized. The team made its first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl VI, but lost to the Dallas Cowboys. The following year, the Dolphins completed the NFL's only perfect season culminating in a Super Bowl win. The 1972 Dolphins were the third NFL team to accomplish a perfect regular season, and won Super Bowl VIII, Miami also appeared in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX, losing both games. The Dolphins are the oldest major league professional sports team in Florida.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers began in 1976 as an expansion team of the NFL. They struggled at first, losing their first 26 games in a row to set a league record for futility. After a brief taste of success in the late 1970s, the Bucs again returned to their losing ways, and at one point lost 10+ games for 12 seasons in a row. The hiring of Tony Dungy in 1996 started an improving trend that eventually led to the team's victory in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003 under coach Jon Gruden. In Super Bowl LV, the Bucs became the first NFL team to host and play in the Super Bowl, where they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9.

Tom Brady came out of his 40-day retirement from football and joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. Rob Gronkowski, who played alongside Brady for much of his career, also came out of retirement to join him. His first season with the team as quarterback, he brought home the Super Bowl LV win. It was a journey and his legacy will never be forgotten.

The Jacksonville Jaguars joined the NFL as an expansion team in the 1995 season; they play their home games at EverBank Stadium.

The Tampa Bay Vipers began play in the XFL in February 2020; they play their home games at Raymond James Stadium.