Birmingham Leisure

In 1996, Birmingham's Legion Field hosted some of the preliminary Olympic football matches, which drew some of the city's largest sporting crowds in its history. However, the city is rather infamous for its inability to draw and maintain professional sports franchises. As a result, most of Birmingham's sports interest is centred around collegiate sport teams.

College sports

The University of Alabama and Auburn University both have American football teams that play and draw large crowds. The season begins in August and ends in the early winter. The city had previously held a bowl game every year in late December, though this event ceased in 1990. Plans to reinstate this game are scheduled for December 2006.

Local universities have NCAA basketball teams that usually draw a sizeable crowd. The University of Alabama Blazers are the most popular local team. There is a minor-league baseball team, the Birmingham Barons, which play at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

Motor sports

Motor sports are very popular in Birmingham and in the entire state of Alabama. Some of the most popular events are the NASCAR Nextel Cup, Aaron's 499 and the UAW Ford 500, all of which are held in Talladega, at the Talledega Superspeedway.