Sports Teams in Louisville, KY
Louisville, Kentucky, has an exciting sporting scene. The capital of Kentucky is home to some of the most famous teams in the nation, and sporting venues attract fans in their multitudes. When the Derby City Rovers or the Louisville Cardinals are playing the city comes to an electrifying standstill. Don’t miss the chance to indulge in some of the games when you visit Kentucky.
College Sports Teams
Football and basketball are the most popular sports in Louisville, and the city is rated as the best city to live for lovers of college sports. The college teams have broken records and set new ones.
Louisville Cardinals Men's Basketball
This is a men’s basketball team that plays for the University of Louisville in the Atlantic-Coast-Conference (ACC) of NCAA Division 1. The Louisville Cardinals have won two NCAA titles in 1980 and 1986 and have made it to 8 Final Fours.
By the end of the 2015 season, the Louisville Cardinals had set a new record; they ranked tenth in the nation as all-time intercollegiate basketball winners in 102 seasons and seventh as highest winning percentage clockers of all times in the league. The Cardinals also held a record of 46 straight wins between 1944 and 1990.
You can catch the Louisville Cardinals in action at the KFC Yum! Center. The stadium can seat 22,090 spectators and has 71 suites with 62 loge boxes. The KFC Yum! Center is the third largest basketball venue in the nation after Syracuse's Carrier Dome and Rupp Arena. Since the site opened in 2010, Louisville Cardinals has grown to become the most profitable college basketball team in America. In 2012 they were valued at $36.1 million. This stadium is situated downtown Louisville on the banks of Ohio River.
Louisville Cardinals Baseball
This is the baseball team of the University of Louisville. In 2014, the Louisville Cardinals baseball team played in the NCAA Division 1 American Athletic Conference before they joined the Atlantic Coast Conference July the same year. You can catch the Cardinals in action at the Jim Patterson Stadium. Coach Dan McDonnell heads the team.
The Jim Patterson Stadium is within the university's campus. The stadium can seat 4,000 viewers and is named after baseball player Jim Patterson. The stadium has hosted Seven NCAA Regionals between 2009 and 2017 and five Super Regionals between 2007 and 2017.
By the end of 2017 season, the Louisville Cardinals baseball team had made it to eleven NCAA tournaments and were in four College World Series. They have also won two Big-East Conference Tournaments. In its bag of wins, the Louisville Cardinals baseball team also has 2 Metro-Conference titles, 1 American-Athletic Conference title, 4 Big-East Conference titles, and 1 Atlantic-Coast Conference title. The Cardinals college baseball team has also produced superstars that have played in Major League Baseball.
Louisville Cardinals Women's Basketball
This is the ladies’ basketball team at the University of Louisville. The team plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference in Division 1 of the NCAA. The Cardinals play their home games at KFC Yum! Center.
The Cardinal women have made it to the NCAA Tournament 21 times between 1983 and 2018. They were in the Final Four three times between 2009 and 2018. The team has also competed in six conferences: the Kentucky Women's Intercollegiate Conference, the Metro-Conference, Conference-USA, Big-East Conference, the American-Athletic Conference and currently the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Professional Sports Teams
Louisville used to have many professional sports teams in the 90s, most of them are now defunct. But new minor-league professional and semi-professional teams are compelling fans and promising big-league hope.
Louisville City FC
LCFC is a professional American soccer club in Louisville, Kentucky. This team plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL [United Soccer League] a second tier of the US soccer pyramid. LCFC was formed in 2014 by Wayne Estopinal and joined the USL in 2015. That same year the team made it to the finals of the USL playoffs, and a couple years later they won the 2017 USL cup.
Since the first 2015 season, LCFC plays its home games at the Louisville Slugger Field. It is a multipurpose facility that also serves as home to the Louisville Bats, who are the Triple-A partners of the Cincinnati Reds. Slugger Field seats 13,131 people, but 8,000 is an accepted soccer sell-out due to limited viewing stadium formation. Then again, they use a removal jack for the pitcher’s mound at Slugger Field to allow a flat playing surface for soccer games.
The Coopers fans support Louisville City FC. The fans club was formed in 2013 to promote and inspire professional football in Louisville, KY. The name of the supporters is inspired by the coopers that made barrels for storing bourbon in the city’s liquor distilling tradition. The Coopers have a legally designated supporters area in the Slugger Field stadium.
Louisville Bats
The Louisville Bats is a Minor League Baseball professional team in Louisville, KY. They used to be known as Louisville Redbirds before they became associated with the Brewers in 1999. They are the Triple-A partners of the Cincinnati Reds. You can watch the Bats in action at the Louisville Slugger Field.
The Louisville Redbirds broke attendance record in the 1982 season, by attracting 868,418 fans. In 1983, the team was the first in its league to draw more than a million fans in one season. The Redbirds’ success streak nearly brought Major League Baseball to Louisville in the 90s. In 1998 however, the American Association disbanded, and the teams had to join either the International League or the Pacific Coast League. In 1999, Louisville partnered with the Milwaukee Brewers and shifted to the Cincinnati Reds in 2000.
Louisville Slugger Field has a more appropriate baseball configuration compared to the team’s former Cardinal Stadium at the Kentucky Exposition Center. The Bats drew 685,000 fans in their first season at Louisville Slugger Field. In 2011, the Bats were rated the second most-watched team in the minor league with an average attendance of 8,716 fans per game. In 2016, the Bats appeared number 11 on Forbes list of most valuable Minor League Baseball teams, with a net value of $36 million.
Derby City Rovers
Derby City Rovers is a semi-professional USA soccer team in Louisville, KY. Derby City has elite youth teams that play from the local level, state, regional and the national leagues. Derby City Rovers was founded in 2010. The semi-professional team plays in USL League Two.
You can watch the Derby Rovers’ home action at the King Louie's Sports Complex in Louisville. This stadium opened in October 2015 and sits on an area of 46,000 square foot. The stadium features air conditioning, two indoor turfed fields, training areas, and Lacrosse facilities. The KLSC can host lacrosse, soccer, hockey and flag football. The facility can also host events such as business meetings, public functions, and parties.
Derby City Rovers is part of the Premier Development League in Louisville. Muhamed Fazlagic is the head coach doubling up as the technical director while Thabane Sutu is the assistant coach. Derby City Rovers players get to retain their amateur status for eligibility to the NCAA.
There are many things to do in Louisville Kentucky, and plenty of different sporting event throughout the year.
Interesting Things to Do in Louisville, Kentucky
Directions from Louisville Slugger Field to Coulter Reporting