page_title: Toronto
section_title: Professional sports
hierarchical_section_title: Toronto / Culture / Sports / Professional sports
caption_attribution_description: Description Tigers play Blue Jays in April 2008 at Rogers Centre. DateSourceOwn workAuthorMike Russell 14:02, 29 April 2008 . . Mikerussell . . 2,576×1,920 (1.24 MB) Tigers play Blue Jays in April 2008 at Rogers Centre.
context_page_description: Toronto is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,731,571 in 2016, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor of the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration of 9,245,438 people surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario, while the Greater Toronto Area proper had a 2016 population of 6,417,516. Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.
  People have travelled through and inhabited the Toronto area, located on a broad sloping plateau interspersed with rivers, deep ravines, and urban forest, for more than 10,000 years. After the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase, when the Mississauga surrendered the area to the British Crown, the British established the town of York in 1793 and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York and suffered heavy damage by American troops. York was renamed and incorporated in 1834 as the city of Toronto.
context_section_description: Toronto is home to the Toronto Maple Leafs, one of the National Hockey League's Original Six clubs, and has also served as home to the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1958. The city had a rich history of ice hockey championships. Along with the Maple Leafs' 13 Stanley Cup titles, the Toronto Marlboros and St. Michael's College School-based Ontario Hockey League teams, combined, have won a record 12 Memorial Cup titles. The Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League also play in Toronto at Coca-Cola Coliseum and are the farm team for the Maple Leafs. The Toronto Six, the first Canadian franchise in the National Women's Hockey League, will begin play with the 2020–21 season.
  The city is home to the Toronto Blue Jays professional baseball team of Major League Baseball (MLB). The team has won two World Series titles (1992, 1993). The Blue Jays play their home games at the Rogers Centre, in the downtown core. Toronto has a long history of minor-league professional baseball dating back to the 1800s, culminating in the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team, whose owner first proposed an MLB team for Toronto.
  The Toronto Raptors entered the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1995, and have since earned eleven playoff spots and five Atlantic Division titles in 24 seasons. They won their first NBA title in 2019. The Raptors are the only NBA team with their own television channel, NBA TV Canada. They and the Maple Leafs play their home games at the Scotiabank Arena. In 2016, Toronto hosted the 65th NBA All-Star game, the first to be held outside the United States.
  The city is represented in the Canadian Football League by the Toronto Argonauts, who have won 17 Grey Cup titles and play in BMO Field.
  Toronto is represented in Major League Soccer by Toronto FC, who have won seven Canadian Championship titles, as well as the MLS Cup in 2017 and the Supporters' Shield for best regular season record, also in 2017. They share BMO Field with the Toronto Argonauts. Toronto has a high level of participation in soccer across the city at several smaller stadiums and fields. Toronto FC had entered the league as an expansion team in 2007.
  The Toronto Rock is the city's National Lacrosse League team. They won five National Lacrosse League Cup titles in seven years in the late 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century, appearing in an NLL record five straight championship games from 1999 to 2003, and are first all-time in the number of Champion's Cups won. The Rock share the Scotiabank Arena with the Maple Leafs and the Raptors.
  Toronto has hosted several National Football League exhibition games at the Rogers Centre. Ted Rogers leased the Buffalo Bills from Ralph Wilson for the purposes of having the Bills play eight home games in the city between 2008 and 2013.
  The Toronto Wolfpack became Canada's first professional rugby league team and the world's first transatlantic professional sports team when they began play in the Rugby Football League's League One competition in 2017.
  Toronto is home to the Toronto Rush, a semi-professional ultimate team that competes in the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL). Ultimate (disc), in Canada, has its beginning roots in Toronto, with 3300 players competing annually in the Toronto Ultimate Club (League).
caption: The Toronto Blue Jays host the Detroit Tigers at the Rogers Centre in April 2008.
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