Page 23 - 2024-2025 Travel Guide to Florida

With its wide variety of sporting options, Florida has something to offer all sports enthusiasts. There is a hotbed of talent with high-profile football teams. Lovers of baseball think of the state’s storied history of spring training. In addition, there is competitive basketball and successful NHL hockey teams. For those who want to participate in the action, the opportunities are equally impressive with a variety of biking and hiking trails in urban and wilderness areas, numerous marinas with deep-sea fishing and yacht charters, dozens of top-notch scuba diving sites just offshore and a spectacular inventory of golf courses and tennis courts. Whatever the passion, Florida offers no shortage of athletic endeavors for partici- pants and fans.
FIELDS OF DREAMS
Baseball fans flock to Florida during the month of March when 15 teams train and play exhibition games prior to the season. It’s a great way to see your favorite players when they’re more accessible for autographs and you can be closer to the action. The engaging venues include George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, where the Yankees train and which has a massive Yankees memorabilia store, and JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, a Boston Red Sox training venue featuring a replica of Fenway Park’s Green Monster.
From April to early October, enjoy regular season Major League Baseball in Miami with the Miami Marlins, a National League team, and with the Tampa Bay Rays, an American League team that competes at St. Peters- burg’s domed Tropicana Field.
TEEING UP
You’ll have little difficulty teeing it up in Florida, which boasts over 1,100 golf courses and loads of resorts where golf is the main amenity. Many of Florida’s golf resorts are world-renowned and home to iconic courses like THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, the Blue Monster at Trump National Doral in
Miami and Copperhead at Innisbrook, a Salamander Golf & Spa Resort near Tampa. In addition, there are superb daily fee courses to play with designer tags like Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio and Robert Trent Jones.
The PGA Tour utilizes Florida every year as sites for some of its most prestigious tournaments. You can stroll among the lush fairways and palm trees and watch some of golf’s greatest stars. The tournament lineup includes The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens in late February; Valspar Championship at Innisbrook’s Copperhead course in Palm Harbor in mid-March; Arnold Palmer Invita- tional at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando in early March; and THE PLAYERS Champi- onship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach in mid-March.
HOOPS HEAVEN
You can follow the bouncing ball in Florida from mid-October to mid-April with the NBA’s Orlando Magic and Miami Heat. Both teams play in the hotly contested Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference, which also includes the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards. Check schedules because it’s a great chance to see
the NBA’s brightest stars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant play against the Florida teams. The Magic play their games at the Amway Center in downtown Orlando and the Heat play at the FTX Arena.
For major college basketball, the impres- sive menu is led by the Florida Gators, from Gainesville’s University of Florida. The University of Miami Hurricanes and Tallahassee’s Florida State University Seminoles annually field strong teams.
FOOTBALL FRENZY
Gridiron icons like Dan Marino and Tim Tebow are synonymous with football in the Sunshine State. Pro and college football dominate the sports scene in Florida in fall and early winter.
Home to the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars, Florida gives fans the chance to watch NFL football games in warm, sunny weather even in October and November. In 2021 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the coveted Super Bowl, which made it former MVP Tom Brady’s seventh Super Bowl win.
College football passions run deep in Florida with highly successful programs like Gainesville’s University of Florida Gators,
GAME ON, FLORIDA STYLE
SPORTS
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS, TIAA BANK FIELD, JACKSONVILLE • VISIT JACKSONVILLE/RYAN KETTERMAN
2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO FLORIDA 21