Florida Sports Vacations
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Florida Spectator Sports

Floridians love their sport and any vacation in Florida provides ample opportunity to join the cheering spectators as they support their local teams competing in the professional leagues.

Florida Baseball

Fans of major-league baseball can see the Florida Marlins at the 36,000 seat Dolphin Stadium in Miami and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at the 44,000 seat Tropicana Stadium in St. Petersburg throughout the NBL season which extends from April through September.

Florida is the traditional home for the spring training camps and baseball fever starts from late February when the pro teams tune up with exhibition games in the "Grapefruit League". The spring-training stadiums often provide an opportunity for fans can see their favorite players up close and maybe get an autograph.

The training camps can change location from year to year, so its advisable to use the Florida Sports Foundation site which usually posts the Grapefruit League schedules in late January. The 2005 scheduled spring training camps can be confirmed at the following website links.

Atlanta Braves, Lake Buena Vista, near Orlando
Baltimore Orioles, Fort Lauderdale
Boston Red Sox, Fort Myers
Cincinnati Reds, Sarasota
Cleveland Indians, Winter Haven
Detroit Tigers, Lakeland
Florida Marlins, Jupiter
Houston Astros, Kissimmee, near Orlando
Kansas City Royals, Davenport
Los Angeles Dodgers, Vero Beach

Minnesota Twins, Fort Myers
Montreal Expos, Jupiter
New York Mets, Port St. Lucie
New York Yankees, Tampa
Philadelphia Phillies, Clearwater
Pittsburgh Pirates, Bradenton
St. Louis Cardinals, Jupiter
Tampa Bay Devil Rays, St. Petersburg
Texas Rangers, Port Charlotte
Toronto Blue Jays, Dunedin

Florida Basketball

There are two NBA franchises based in Florida. The Miami Heat can be seen at the American Airline Arena, Miami's waterfront showcase for sports and entertainment which seats 19,600 for basketball games. The Orlando Magic are based in Orlando and their home matches are held at TD Waterhouse Center in downtown Orlando which seats 17,300 persons.

Florida Football

Florida supports three franchises in the NFL.  The Miami Dolphins play their home games at Dolphin Stadium which is located at North Miami Beach and has a seating capacity of over 75,000 spectators.  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers play their home games at the 66,000 seat Raymond James Stadium located in north Tampa.

The Jacksonville Jaguars host their visitors at the 77,000 seat ALLTEL Stadium in the heart of downtown Jacksonville, one of the newest, state-of-the-art sports facilities in the world and an experience in its own right.

Florida Ice Hockey

The NHL has two teams based in Florida. The Florida Panthers are based in Sunrise, a short distance inland from Fort Lauderdale. Their home games are held in the 19,200 seat Office Depot Center.  On the other side of the Florida peninsula, the Tampa Bay Lightning are based at Tampa's leading sports and entertainment center, being the 23,000 seat St Pete Times Forum. 
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