Arizona Professional Sports Teams

Due to its numerous golf courses, Arizona is home to several stops on the PGA Tour, most notably at the FBR Open, more commonly known as the Phoenix Open.

With three universitites and several community colleges, college sports are also prevalent in Arizona. Arizona is home to the oldelst rivalry in the NCAA[20]. The Territorial Cup is given to the winner of the Duel in the Desert, an annual game between intense rivals the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Arizona Wildcats. Arizona also hosts several bowl games in the Bowl Championship Series. The Fiesta Bowl, originally held at Sun Devil Stadium, will now be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The University of Phoenix Stadium was also home to the 2007 BCS National Championship Game. The Insight Bowl is also held at Sun Devil Stadium.

Besides being home to spring training, Arizona is also home to two other baseball leagues, Arizona Fall League and Arizona Winter League. The Fall League was founded in 1992 and is a minor league baseball league designed for players to refine their skills and perform in game settings in front of major and minor league baseball scouts and team executives, who are in attendance at almost every game. The league got exposure when Michael Jordan started his time in baseball with the Scottsdale Scorpions. The Winter League, founded in 2007, is a professional baseball league for the independent Golden Baseball League. The games are played in Yuma at the Desert Sun Stadium.

Arizona is a popular location for Major League Baseball spring training, as it is the site of the Cactus League. The only other location for spring training is in Florida with the Grapefruit League. Spring training has been somewhat of a tradition in Arizona since 1947 despite the fact that the state did not have its own major league team until the state was awarded the Diamondbacks as an expansion team. The state hosts the following teams:

• Arizona Diamondbacks in Tucson Electric Park
• Chicago Cubs in HoHoKam Park
• Chicago White Sox in Tucson Electric Park
• Colorado Rockies in Hi Corbett Field
• Kansas City Royals in Surprise Stadium
• Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Tempe Diablo Stadium
• Milwaukee Brewers in Maryvale Baseball Park
• Oakland Athletics in Phoenix Municipal Stadium
• San Diego Padres in Peoria Sports Complex
• San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale Stadium
• Seattle Mariners in Peoria Sports Complex
• Texas Rangers in Surprise Stadium

A spring training game between the two Chicago teams, the Cubs and the White Sox, at HoHoKam Park in Mesa