Spectator Sports
Let’s face it. When it comes to professional sports, Austin isn’t exactly in the big leagues. While the thousands of Austinites who enjoy major league sports find themselves sitting in left field, so to speak, there is still much to celebrate when it comes to sports in Austin and its environs. What our city lacks in major league teams is more than made up by Austin’s passion for University of Texas athletics and the growing number of minor league sports in the area. While UT didn’t coin the phrase “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” it has lived by that sentiment for more than a century of athletic achievement and has produced national championship teams in a wide range of sports time and time again. UT’s nationally recognized Hook ’em Horns hand signal wasn’t voted the best in the country by Sports Illustrated magazine in 1997 for nothing.
Greater Austin is home to the Texas Stars, a minor league professional ice hockey team that draws die-hard fans from all over the region; an NBA development team, the Austin Toros; and a very popular minor league baseball team, the Round Rock Express.
Sports spectators will discover that Austin boasts an important annual rodeo, a hugely popular marathon, and several spectacular boat races each year. Cyclists and runners will be pleased to note that not only is Austin home to seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, our city also hosts his LIVESTRONG foundation’s annual Ride for the Roses Weekend (bicycle rides from 10 to 90 miles) as well as the LIVESTRONG Austin Marathon and other events supported by the foundation.
Another plus for sports fans is Austin’s unique location between San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston, all within a three-hour drive of our city—and an even shorter flight. San Antonio is 80 miles south on I-35. This quirk of logistical fate affords Austinites incredible choices among major league sports teams in both men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, soccer, ice hockey, and, of course, football—the national pastime of Texas. For information on professional sports outside of Central Texas, check the website of the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, San Antonio Spurs, WNBA Houston Comets and the other Texas teams.
Of course, one of the most popular spectator sports in this part of the world is the weekly high school football game, usually held on Thurs or Fri during the season. The TV show about high school football, Friday Night Lights, isn’t filmed around these parts for nothing! Check the sports pages/website of the Austin American-Statesman for schedules, and take in a game on a cool fall evening.
Whether your competitive spirit is most roused by a whistle, a buzzer, a starter’s pistol, or those simple words, “batter up,” you’re sure to find a Texas sport to call your own.
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
Address: 3400 East Palm Valley Blvd.
2. Austin Toros
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (512) 236-8333
Address: 2100 Avenue of the Stars
Description: Minor-league basketball jumped into Austin in the fall of 2005 with the Austin Toros, one of four Southwest teams added to the young NBA development league, which has since grown to 17 teams. Now owned by the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, the Toros play about 23 home games during their Nov-through-Apr season. The team played 5 years at the Austin Convention Center but moved to the stunning Cedar Park Center for the 2010–11 season. The state-of-the-art venue holds more than 4,600 basketball fans. Cedar Park is only about a 3-point shot north of Austin.
3. Texas stars
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (512) 467-8277
Address: 2100 Avenue of the Stars
Description: A member of the 30-team American Hockey League, the main developmental league for the NHL, the Texas Stars first took the ice for the 2009–10 season at the new $55 million Cedar Park Center. The team, affiliated with the Dallas Stars, made it to the league finals its first season, playing to a more-than-capacity crowd of over 7,000 fans. The Stars play about 40 home games in their Oct-to-Apr regular season.
4. Longhorns Baseball
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (512) 471-4602
Description: UT baseball fans from across Austin share the blissful moment of striding past the turnstile, ticket in hand, through the stadium tunnel, and into the arena that is widely recognized as the best collegiate baseball facility in the country. This team, founded in 1895, has won an impressive 6 national championships, the latest in 2005. Disch-Falk Field, named for two former Longhorn coaches, holds 5,000 baseball fans in the main chairback area and can be expanded to hold more. As many as 8,000 fans have packed this facility for important, hotly contested collegiate games. However, this is one UT sporting event for which tickets can most often be purchased at the gate.
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
Address: 1701 Red River St.
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
7. Longhorns Softball
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (512) 471-4602
Description: McCombs Field is a $4.5 million softball complex that’s arguably one of the best in the country. Of course the team that plays on it is also top notch. A varsity team since the late 1990s, the Longhorns have won several Big 12 Conference titles, most recently in 2010, and have appeared repeatedly in the College World Series. The team has included noted pitchers Christa Williams, a 1996 and 2000 Olympic gold medalist on the US Women’s Softball Team, and Cat Osterman, who won an Olympic gold medal in 2004 as a member of the US team.The Longhorns play about 15 home games, mostly double-headers, during the regular season, which runs Feb through Apr. These games can and do sell out, so get your tickets early. The team also has an exhibition-game schedule in the fall.
8. Runnin’ Horns
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (512) 471-4602
Address: 1701 Red River St.
Description: With crowds averaging 13,000 fans for each home game, UT’s Runnin’ Horns men’s basketball team is one of the biggest draws in town—and in college basketball anywhere. Founded in 1906, the Horns were members of the Southwest Conference (SWC) from 1915 to 1996. During that time the Horns racked up an impressive 22 SWC titles (12 outright) and a 648–449 total record. In 1997 the Horns along with Southwest Conference members Baylor, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech merged with Big Eight teams to form the Big 12. The Runnin’ Horns hold court for regular season games at the Erwin Center Nov through Feb.
9. Thunder Hill Raceway
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (512) 507-1486
Address: 24801 I-35
Description: Located just off I-35 exit 210, about 25 miles south of Austin, Thunder Hill Raceway presents exciting stock car racing on the second and fourth Sat of the month from Mar through Sept. This is not a sport to watch, it’s a sport to experience as the cars speed around a 3⁄8-mile oval asphalt track, sometimes faster than 120 miles per hour. Thunder Hill opened in 1998 and features a 3,600-seat open-air stadium. Events include super stocks, grand stocks, and mini stocks, as well as special features, such as Texas pro sedans, late models, and pro trucks. Thunder Hill also host several special events, including the annual “Crash Fest,” with a demolition derby and chain race among the featured events. Gates open at 4 p.m. and racing starts at 6 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the door.
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
Address: 9100 Decker Lake Rd.
12. Austin Yacht Club
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (512) 266-1336
Address: 5906 Beacon Dr.
Description: Austin wouldn’t be Austin if it didn’t have a spectator sport that took advantage of our great waterways. The Austin Yacht Club sponsors a number of major annual sailboat regattas as well as a number of other races on Lake Travis throughout the year. Sailors may call the Yacht Club for information on how to participate in these events, while those with sailing experience may post information about themselves on the club’s bulletin board if they would like to crew these boats. The Austin Yacht Club, founded in 1952, aims to promote the sport of sailboat racing. The club sponsors a summer sailing class for adults and camps for children.
13. Retama Park
City: Austin, TX
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (210) 651-7000
Address: 1 Retama Pkwy.
Description: This modern 226-acre horse-racing park features a full calendar of thoroughbred and quarter horse racing. Retama also offers simulcast racing year-round from top horse and dog tracks across the country, including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont, and the Breeders Cup. Retama has a spectacular indoor grandstand and clubhouse as well as a sports bar and terrace dining. Selma is about 65 miles south of Austin on I-35. Take the 174-A exit and follow the signs. Retama is just west of the Interstate.