There are a plethora of opportunities to see a professional sports team in action. The city boasts the highest number of professional teams in the country, with eight. In addition to the local professional teams, three Division I schools occupy most of the college sports landscape in Colorado.

• Denver Broncos - Quite possibly Denver's most prevalent and well known sports franchise. The Broncos, members of the National Football League, won back to back Super Bowls in 1998 and 1999, after four failed attempts over the previous two decades. The team broke in its new digs in 2001 with the opening of Invesco Field at Mile High. The team regularly sells out home games, packing the stadium with over 76,000 screaming fans.
• Colorado Rockies - This Major League Baseball team began play in Denver as an expansion team in 1993. The franchise set a Major League record in the opening game that year with 80,227 fans - a record that still stands today. Coors Field, which opened in 1995, is in the heart of LoDo (Lower Downtown), full of hip restaurants, bars & lofts/condos.
• Colorado Avalanche - This National Hockey League team started play here recently as well, moving from Quebec in 1995. The Avs proceeded to win the coveted Stanley Cup, hockey's championship, in the first year of existence in Denver. The team went on to win its second Stanley Cup in 2001.
• Denver Nuggets - Members of the National Basketball Association, the Nuggets are an exciting, up-tempo team that have made the playoffs for five consecutive years dating to 2004. However, the team has failed to make it out of the first round each year. The Nuggets have a long history in Denver, dating back to 1967, when the team was a member of the American Basketball Association.
• Colorado Rapids - This is the city's resident professional soccer team as a member of Major League Soccer. Known as football to the rest of the world, the Rapids club plays at the newly constructed Dick's Sporting Goods Park just northeast of Denver. Sitting on 360 acres of land, the complex is the largest in the world. Hundreds of recreation and competitive teams of all ages play on the fields surrounding the main stadium.
• Colorado Mammoth - The Mammoth are one of two professional lacrosse teams in Denver, playing in the National Lacrosse League. The team, along with the Avs & Nuggets, play at the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver. In 2006, the Mammoth took home the Champion's Cup, winning the NLL title.
• Colorado Crush - This indoor football team is a member of the Arena Football League. The action is fast-paced and high-scoring, due in large part because it is played on a 50 yard field, half the size of a normal football field. An expansion team in 2003, the Crush won the league's championship, the ArenaBowl, in 2005. Former Bronco great John Elway is part owner of the team.
• Colorado Outlaws - The Outlaws are the second professional lacrosse team to begin play in Denver, starting as an expansion team in 2006 with Major League Lacrosse. Unlike the Mammoth, the Outlaws play outdoors at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium.

In addition to the professional teams playing in the Denver area there are several major universities in Colorado where you can see student-athletes competing in a variety of sports.

• University of Colorado - Home of the Buffaloes, the University of Colorado is located about 40 minutes northwest of Denver in the city of Boulder. The Buffs play in the North Division of the Big 12 Conference. There are 16 varsity sports at CU, the most notable being football, women's and men's basketball and downhill skiing. The University of Colorado is the only Big 12 school that does not have a baseball team. The school mascot, Ralphie the Buffalo, is considered one of the most recognizable in the country.
• Colorado State University - Home of the Rams, CSU is situated in the beautiful city of Fort Collins about an hour north of Denver. The Rams compete in the Mountain West Conference formed in 1999 after the Western Athletic Conference split. Here, there are also 16 varsity sports combined between men and women. Cam the Ram is the school mascot.
• University of Denver - A private univeristy, this school is now a full Division 1 participant in varsity sports, playing in the Sun Belt Conference. The university is located in the southern part of the city of Denver, visible from around Denver by the gold spire of the Ritchie Center. Hockey is the flagship spectator sport at DU, with skiing and golf also very successful. The DU Pioneers hockey team has won seven national championships, including back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005.
• Air Force Academy - The Air Force Falcons contend in the Mountain West Conference along with the CSU Rams. This prestigous university is found just north of Colorado Springs, about 1.5 hours south of Denver. Most notable is the battle for the Commander in Chief's Trophy, a yearly tradition between the AFA, Army & Navy (the country's three service academies). The Air Force Academy has had the most success winning 16 of the 34 trophies.