Sports in New England

Three popular American sports were invented in New England. Basketball was invented by James Naismith, a Canadian, in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891.^[1] Volleyball was invented by William G. Morgan in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1895.^[2] Paintball was invented in 1981 in Henniker, New Hampshire.^[3]

It is also widely believed the first organized ice hockey game in the United States was played in Concord, New Hampshire, in 1883.^[4]

The region is famous for its passion for baseball and the Boston Red Sox, as well as for the intense rivalry between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees. The Red Sox were founded in 1901, and won the first-ever World Series in 1903. After five championships in the early 1900s, the team became infamous for the Curse of the Bambino, a period between 1918 and 2004 during which the Red Sox did not win any titles. After breaking the streak, the Red Sox won three more titles in the early 2000s, and currently have nine MLB titles.

On November 1, 1924, the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League became the first NHL franchise to be based in the United States. They are now the second-oldest surviving major professional sports team in Boston, after the Red Sox. The Bruins' historic rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens, a fellow Original Six team, has, at times, reached the level of intensity of the Yankees – Red Sox rivalry in professional baseball in the region.^{[citation needed]}

The Boston Celtics were founded on June 6, 1946, as one of the National Basketball Association's original teams, and are one of two to have remained in the city where they were founded. The team has won 18 NBA Finals, more than any other team, and the team's eight consecutive titles between 1959 and 1966 stand as a record amongst all four major American sports leagues. The Celtics' rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers is generally considered the greatest in professional basketball, and has, at times, reached the level of intensity of the Yankees – Red Sox rivalry.

The New England Patriots football team is based in Foxborough, Massachusetts, halfway between Boston and Providence. In 1999, the Patriots flirted with the idea of moving to Hartford, in what three National Football League (NFL) franchise owners called "the greatest financial deal any NFL owner has ever received".^{[citation needed]} The deal, however, fell through, and the team remained in Foxborough. The team has won six Super Bowls, tied for the most among all NFL teams.

The oldest Major League Baseball (MLB) professional baseball park still in use, Fenway Park, dating from April 1912, is within the Boston city limits. Matthews Arena, in use from 1910 to 2026, was on the property of Northeastern University, also within Boston city limits. At the time of its closure, it was the oldest indoor ice hockey rink still in use worldwide.