Boston Sports

Boston - a huge sports town!

Come sing "We are the Champions!" as you cheer the Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, New England Patriots, and other local sports teams!

Spend 5 minutes in Boston, and you'll discover that Boston sports are an obsession.  Boston sports tickets are prized possessions.  And Boston sports fans are fanatics - and proud of it!

Our big home town sports teams are sometimes winners, and sometimes underdogs.  We love them just the same.  Boston fans display their loyalty by wearing team clothing - Red Sox caps, Celtics jerseys, Bruins uniforms, New England Patriots hoodies.  We celebrate championship wins with Boston duck boat parades through the city.

Other professional Boston sports teams may be new to you - the Breakers, Militia, Revolution, Cannons, and Blazers.  Tickets to their events are usually more reasonably priced than for the big-name teams, but the action is just as exciting and the fans just as crazed. 

If you're visiting Boston and love sports, you'll want to get tickets to at least one event.  StubHub usually has an excellent seat selection at wide range of prices.  Especially when you need tickets to a sold-out game or want to good seats at the last minute, this buyer-seller marketplace is the best place to look. 

Here's the big picture of Boston sports teams, and where you can see them play.  You'll also find information about other popular annual Boston sports events - the Boston Marathon, Head of the Charles Regatta, and the Boston Beanpot Hockey Tournament.

Professional Boston sports teams

Boston Red Sox

Photo courtesy of Kevin Dirksen

League:  Major League Baseball (MLB), American League, Eastern Division 
Home games:  Fenway Park
Season:  April - October

Boston Red Sox Schedule

The Red Sox are hot, after winning the World Series in 2004 and again in 2007.  Boston residents are collectively known as "Red Sox Nation" due to our unswerving and vocal support of the team, and possibly because of all the Red Sox logo clothing in our wardrobes. 

Watch the Sox play at Fenway Park, see the famed ball field close up on a Fenway Park Tour, and hang out before and after games in Boston bars near Fenway.  If you're coming from out of town, stay in a nearby Fenway hotel.

Legendary players:  Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Tris Speaker, Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio

Boston Celtics

League:  National Basketball Association (NBA), Eastern Conference, Atlantic Division 
Home games:  TD Garden
Season:  October - April

Find Boston Celtics tickets

Check Boston Celtics Game Schedule

Winners of 17 NBA championships, with the most recent win being in 2008, the Celtics are on a roll.  Boston sports fans love to watch them beat their long-time rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, and loyally support them even when they don't win.  Wear green and white to games to blend in with the crowd.

Legendary players:  Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tommy Heinsohn, Reggie Lewis

Photo courtesy of Adam Pieniazek

Boston Bruins

Photo courtesy of Amanda

League:  National Hockey League (NHL), Eastern Conference, Northeast Division,
Home games:  TD Garden
Season:  October - April

Find Boston Bruins tickets

Boston Bruins Game Schedule

Winners of 5 Stanley Cups, 2 Conference championships, and 22 Division championships, the Boston Bruins have brought excitement to the ice since their formation in 1924.  The Bruins have been sizzling hot for the past couple of years, as Captain Zdeno Charo made an NHL record-breaking fastest measured show and Blake Wheeler was named Most Valued Player after the NHL's Young Stars game.  

Legendary players:  Bobby Orr, Eddie Shore, Ditt Clapper, Dutch Gainor, Milt Schmidt

New England Patriots

League:  National Football League (NFL), American Football Conference, East Division 
Home games:  Gillette Stadium
Season:  August - January

Find New England Patriots tickets

Winners of 3 Super Bowls in 4 years between 2001 and 2005, and undefeated during the regular 2007 season, the New England Patriots (usually just called "the Pats") are owned by Robert Kraft, who also owns the New England Revolution pro soccer team as well as Gillette Stadium itself.  With Coach Bill Belichick at the helm and star quarterback Tom Brady plus a bunch of other stellar players, the Pats generate a lot of excitement among Boston sports fans. 

Legendary players:  Gino Cappelletti, Babe Parilli, Jim Nance, Steve Grogan

New England Revolution

Photo courtesy of Jarrett Campbell

League:  Major League Soccer (MLS), Eastern Conference 
Home games:  Gillette Stadium
Season:  March - October

Find New England Revolution tickets

Winners of the 2007 US Open Cup, the Revolution (usually called "the Revs") plays south of Boston in Gillette Stadium, and draw fans from all over the Boston area.  Two major fan clubs, the Midnight Riders (in honor of Revolutionary War heroes Paul Revere and William Dawes) and the Rev Army occupy an area nicknamed "The Fort" in the north end of Gillette Stadium during home games and are almost as much fun to watch as the action on the field.

Rev players and staff drew cheers from a different crowd when they subdued an out-of-control fellow passenger attempting to open an emergency exit mid-air on an American Airline flight to LA in 2008.   

Boston Breakers

League:  Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) 
Home games:  Harvard Stadium, Allston
Season:  April - August
Tickets: Breakers tickets are sold by phone (M-F, 9am-5pm) at 781-251-2100, on-line (single game tickets only) through the Breakers website, and at the Harvard Stadium Box Office (single game tickets, box office open on game days only)

Founded in 2000 as part of a different league that dissolved in 2003, the Breakers were revived in 2007 as part of the WPS.  This is an exciting team to watch as they build strength as a team.  They're also involved in many Boston area youth soccer activities and camps, and are generous with their time in encouraging young players.  My younger daughter's prize possession is a soccer ball signed by several Breakers!

Boston Cannons

League:  Major League Lacrosse (MLL) 
Home games:  Harvard Stadium, Allston
Season:  May - August
Tickets: Cannons tickets are sold through Ticketmaster

Winners of 2 division championships, the Cannons formed in 2001 and have raised the profile of lacrosse in among Boston sports fans.  They're strong supporters of community youth teams, and host lacrosse camps and events in the Boston area.   Cannons website

Boston Militia

League:  Independent Women's Football League (IWFL), North Atlantic Division 
Home games:  Dilboy Stadium, 110 Alewife Brook Parkway, Somerville
Season:  April - July
Tickets:  Militia tickets are sold through Militia website

Winners of the 2009 North Atlantic Division championship.   With tickets $10 ($5 Somerville residents, free for children 12 and under, seniors, high school students with ID), the Militia offer exciting action at an affordable price.

Boston Blazers

League:  National Lacrosse League(NLL), East Division 
Home games:  TD Garden
Season:  January - April

Find Boston Blazers tickets

Named after a former but different Boston Blazers team that played from 1992 to 1997, the new Boston Blazers formed in 2007 to play indoor lacrosse but due to league disruptions, 2009 was their first season. 

Where the Boston sports teams play

Fenway Park

Built for the Boston Red Sox in 1912, Fenway Park is famous for its "Green Monster."   The Red Sox play all their home games at Fenway.

Find Fenway Park tickets

When the Sox are away, Fenway sometimes stages big-name concerts, like Paul McCartney.  And in 2010, for the first time ever, Boston hosted the Winter Classic at Fenway, transformed into an ice rink for the occasion.

Even if you can't go to a game or concert, go for a Fenway Park tour.  Fenway's in-town location makes it easy to reach.  If you're coming just for a game, check out hotels near Fenway Park.

TD Garden

TD Garden is Boston's state-of-the-art sports arena / entertainment complex. 

Home to the Celtics, Bruins, and Blazers, TD Garden is where you can also see concerts, performances such as "Disney on Ice," political speeches, wrestling and other sports events, and even the circus.

Get TD Garden tickets

TD Garden replaces the old Boston Garden, and you'll hear both of them referred to as simply "the Garden" - not to be confused with the Public Garden, a park filled with gardens across from Boston Common.

Gillette Stadium

This huge, spectacular sports arena is located in Foxboro, just 22 miles south of Boston.  It is part of Patriot Place, an equally large entertainment and shopping complex complete with its own hotel, many restaurants, and even a brand new hospital. 

The Patriot Place complex is owned by Robert Kraft - who incidentally owns the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution. 

Find Gillette Stadium Tickets

Not surprisingly, Gillette Stadium is home to the Patriots and the Revolution.  It is also the site of occasional mega-star concerts, such as U2 and Bon Jovi.

Don't want to drive?  Check out other options for getting to Gillette Stadium from Boston.  There are also a number of hotels near Gillette Stadium if you opt to stay nearby.

Other famous Boston sports events

Boston Marathon

New England's most widely viewed sporting event, the Boston Marathon is held annually on Patriot's Day, the 3rd Monday in April. 

You can join the hundreds of thousands of spectators along the 26-mile route from Hopkington to Boston's Back Bay neighborhood . . . or you can participate as one of the 25,000 runners if you meet the qualifying times.

Head of the Charles Regatta

7,500 athletics converve from all other the world on the 3rd weekend in October to compete in the world's largest 2-day rowing event, watched by 300,000+ spectators along the banks and bridges of the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge.  

You can find details about dates and times on my Boston Event Calendar for October.

Photo courtesy of Nadia Chaudhury

Boston Beanpot Hockey Tournament

Begun in 1952 to provide some entertainment during a dull stretch in the Boston sports calendar, the annual Boston Beanpot Hockey Tournament pits 4 intensely competitive Boston college hockey teams together to find out who's the best. 

On the first and second Monday night in February, sparks fly on the ice at TD Garden as competition among Boston College, Boston University, Harvard College, and Northeastern University rises to a fever pitch.  Check the Boston Event Calendar for February for schedule and ticket information.