Spectator Sports

Even if many people don’t know much about the city of Cincinnati, most have heard of our sports teams. While the professional teams seem to be “letting” other cities’ franchises enjoy some success right now, the future is full of promise. Both the Cincinnati Reds and Bengals have new facilities downtown, and hope springs eternal.

Of course, many people know that the Cincinnati Reds were the first Major League Baseball team and have won several World Series Championships. The Cincinnati Bengals have played in the Super Bowl twice. Besides those two main sports, we have minor league baseball and horse racing. And each year the area hosts one of the top nine tennis tournaments in the world.

Basketball fans in Greater Cincinnati get to see some great hoops with some of the top college teams in the country right here. Each year several of the area colleges find their way into the top 25 and even into the top 5. All the colleges win more than 20 games and make it to the NCAA tournament most years.

Besides the major sports, there are various sports events in the Queen City each year, including ice-skating and gymnastics. We’ve hosted world and national skating and gymnastic championships and just about every post-Olympic event that skates or tumbles. Our sports scene includes the NCAA hockey tournament, the rodeo, indoor motorcycle racing, monster-truck tractor pulls, and professional WWE big-time wrestling with Texas cage, to-the-death, last-man-in-the-ring, world championship, no-holds-barred, heavyweight title matches—assuming you consider these activities sports.

The Flying Pig Marathon has become a surprise big event on the Cincinnati’s sports scene. Started in 2000, the marathon has quickly become a favorite event for spectators and runners. Held in May, the race route takes the 7,500 runners all over Cincinnati and into Northern Kentucky and ends at Yeatman’s Cove downtown. The race’s Web site, www.flyingpigmarathon.com, gives you information on how to register and the route the race takes; it even offers hints on how to be a good spectator.

The Kentucky Speedway has been another big addition to the sports menu. Opening in 2000, the speedway quickly became one of the hottest tickets in town. The speedway is in Sparta, Kentucky, about a half hour south of the Cincinnati area. It is a 1.5-mile tri-oval with room for about 70,000 spectators.

Not only are sporting events vital to the immediate area’s economy and psyche, they are probably our major regional attraction. Fans regularly travel hundreds of miles from Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, and even Tennessee to watch the Reds and Bengals play.

Regionalism also can be found in the followers of college sports. Although most people in Greater Cincinnati are University of Cincinnati (UC) and Xavier University fans, there also are contingencies of Ohio State, Kentucky, and Indiana fans in the community. Of course, more fans for Kentucky are found in the south, more for Ohio State north of town, and more Indiana fans are obvious once you cross the border to Indiana. But as a whole, many alumni of all major area colleges show their colors in town.

One last reminder before you get into the listing of sport clubs—this chapter is called Spectator Sports. If you’re more into participating in sports, check out the Parks and Recreation chapter.