Editing Rhode Island (section)

====Professional====
Rhode Island is currently home to two professional minor league teams both of whom are affiliated with major league sports teams in nearby [[Boston]]; the largest city in the [[New England|New England region]], one being the [[Providence Bruins]] [[ice hockey]] team of the [[American Hockey League]], who are a top-level minor league affiliate of the [[Boston Bruins]]. They play in the [[Amica Mutual Pavilion]] in Providence and won the AHL's [[Calder Cup]] during the [[1998–99 AHL season]]. The other is [[Rhode Island FC]], a [[Association football|soccer]] team that began competing in the second tier [[USL Championship]] in 2024 at [[Beirne Stadium]] located within [[Bryant University]], awaiting the completion of the [[Soccer-specific stadium|soccer-specific]] [[Tidewater Landing Stadium]] in Pawtucket in time for the 2025 season.

[[File:McCoy Stadium Pan.jpg|thumb|upright=2|The [[Pawtucket Red Sox]] played at [[McCoy Stadium]]]]
The [[Pawtucket Red Sox]] baseball team was a [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] [[International League]] affiliate of the [[Boston Red Sox]] from 1973 to 2020. They played at [[McCoy Stadium]] in [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island|Pawtucket]] and had won four league titles, the [[Governors' Cup]], in 1973, 1984, 2012, and 2014. McCoy Stadium also has the distinction of being home to the [[longest professional baseball game]] ever played – 33 innings.

The [[Providence Reds]] were a hockey team that played in the [[Canadian–American Hockey League|Canadian-American Hockey League]] (CAHL) from 1926 to 1936, and the [[American Hockey League]] (AHL) from 1936 to 1977, the last season of which they played as the Rhode Island Reds. The team won the Calder Cup in 1938, 1940, 1949, and 1956. The Reds played at the Rhode Island Auditorium, on North Main Street in Providence, Rhode Island from 1926 through 1972, when the team affiliated with the New York Rangers and moved into the newly built Providence Civic Center. The team name came from the state bird, a rooster known as the Rhode Island Red. They moved to New York in 1977, then to [[Connecticut]] in 1997, and are now called the [[Hartford Wolf Pack]].

The Reds are the oldest continuously operating minor-league hockey franchise in North America, having fielded a team in one form or another since 1926 in the CAHL. It is also the only AHL franchise to have never missed a season. The AHL returned to Providence in 1992 in the form of the Providence Bruins.

[[File:1884grays.jpg|thumb|1884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays]]
Before the great expansion of athletic teams all over the country, Providence and Rhode Island in general played a great role in supporting teams. The [[Providence Grays]] won the first World Championship in baseball history in 1884. The team played their home games at the old Messer Street Field in Providence. The Grays played in the National League from 1878 to 1885. They defeated the New York Metropolitans of the American Association in a best of five-game series at the Polo Grounds in New York. Providence won three straight games to become the first champions in major league baseball history. [[Babe Ruth]] played for the minor league Providence Grays of 1914 and hit his only official minor league home run for them before the Grays' parent club, the [[Boston Red Sox|Boston Red Stockings]], recalled him.

Rhode Island has deep history with the sport of soccer where the sport was played as early as 1886 when the state's first organized league would be founded, known as the Rhode Island Football Association (RIFA). One of their teams, the Pawtucket Free Wanderers, would establish themselves as a regional power and win the [[American Cup]] in 1893. The first championship game of the [[U.S. Open Cup]] was also held in 1914 in Pawtucket's Coates Field to a crowd of 10,000. Later, a team known as Pawtucket Rangers F.C. would win the [[1941 National Challenge Cup|1941 edition]] of the U.S. Open Cup (then National Challenge Cup). The [[Rhode Island Oceaneers]] would later be founded, and went on to win the [[1974 American Soccer League]] championship. Other former semiprofessional soccer teams of the modern era include the [[Rhode Island Stingrays]] of the [[USL Premier Development League]], and the [[RI Reds|Rhode Island Reds]] of the [[National Premier Soccer League]], with both leagues regarded as the fourth tier of American soccer.

The now-defunct professional football team known as the [[Providence Steamrollers (NFL)|Providence Steamrollers]] won the 1928 NFL title. They played in a 10,000 person stadium called the Cycledrome.<ref>{{cite web |title=NFL History by Decade |work=Nfl.com |url=http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1921-1930#1928 |access-date=January 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410134638/http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1921-1930 |archive-date=April 10, 2016}}</ref> An unrelated basketball team also known as the [[Providence Steamrollers]] played in the [[Basketball Association of America]], which would become the [[National Basketball Association]].

Rhode Island's only [[rugby league]] team was the [[Rhode Island Rebellion]], a semi-professional team that was a founding member of the [[USA Rugby League]], which was at the time the top competition in the United States for the sport of rugby league.<ref name="Bridge">{{cite web|url= http://league13.info/2011/02/18/inaugural-usarl-line-up-announced/|title= Inaugural USARL Line-up Announced|author= Ian Bridge|date= February 18, 2011|website= league13.info|access-date= March 24, 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110809225237/http://league13.info/2011/02/18/inaugural-usarl-line-up-announced/|archive-date= August 9, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usarugbyleague.com/2011/02/usarl-constitution-teams-entry-qualifications-announced/ |title=USARL Constitution & Teams announced |date=February 18, 2011 |website=usarl.com |publisher=USA Rugby League |access-date=March 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513210426/https://www.usarugbyleague.com/2011/02/usarl-constitution-teams-entry-qualifications-announced/ |archive-date=May 13, 2011}}</ref> The Rebellion played their home games at [[Classical High School]] in Providence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rebellion-rugby.com |title=MAIN |publisher=Rebellion-rugby.com |date=June 6, 2012 |access-date=January 26, 2013 |archive-date=June 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614031629/http://rebellion-rugby.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=====Current professional teams=====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|+<!-- sort by establishment -->
|-
! scope="col" |Professional Team
! scope="col" |League
! scope="col" |Sport
! scope="col" |Venue
! scope="col" |City
! scope="col" |Established
! scope="col" |Championships
|-
| [[Providence Bruins]]
| [[American Hockey League]] (AHL)
| [[Ice hockey]]
| [[Amica Mutual Pavilion]]
| [[Providence, Rhode Island]]
| 1987
| 1
|-
| [[Rhode Island FC]]
| [[USL Championship]] (USLC)
| [[Association football|Soccer]]
| [[Beirne Stadium]]
| [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island]]
| 2024
| 0
|}

=====Current semi-professional teams=====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|+<!-- sort by establishment -->
|-
! scope="col" |Semi-Professional Team
! scope="col" |League
! scope="col" |Sport
! scope="col" |Venue
! scope="col" |City
! scope="col" |Established
! scope="col" |Championships
|-
| Rhode Island Rogues
| [[Women's Premier Soccer League]] (WPSL)
| [[Association football|Soccer]]
| [[Roger Williams University]]
| [[Bristol, Rhode Island]]
| 2018
| 0
|}