Sports in New York City have a long and distinguished history. The city has few historic sports venues: Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1913 to 1957, was demolished in 1960 and the Polo Grounds in northern Harlem was the home of the New York Giants of Major League Baseball 1911 to 1957 (and first home of the New York Mets) before being demolished in 1964. The Mets, who currently play at Shea Stadium will be moving into the new CitiField in 2009. Also the current Madison Square Garden, on top of Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan, is the fourth separate building to use the name, the first two were near Madison Square, hence the name, and the third was the 50 Street and Eighth Avenue. Also, Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees, is considered one of the oldest sites in North America sport.

Immigrants have always influenced sports in New York. Stickball, a street of the basic version, first became popular in the city 's Italian and Irish neighborhoods. The popularity of cricket and football are more and more with immigration from British Commonwealth countries.

The city of New York was also host a party for 1996 of the World Cup of Hockey, and 1998 Goodwill Games. In 2005, he offered to host the 2012 Olympic Games, but lost to London .

The city of New York has teams in the four major North American professional sports leagues, each of which has its headquarters in the city.