While the NFL’s Dolphins, the NBA’s Heat, the NHL’s Panthers and Major League Baseball’s Marlins play their home games to the south in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Palm Beach County residents have plenty of spectator sports available in their backyard.
Golf fans annually are treated to two top-tier professional tournaments — the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens and the Senior Tour’s Allianz Championship in Boca Raton. Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter is the Spring Training home of two Major League Baseball teams, the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals, who daily play games throughout the month of March. The New York Mets’ Spring Training home is in Port St. Lucie, about an hour drive north up I-95. Two more MLB teams, the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals, have broken ground on a new shared Spring Training complex in West Palm Beach, where they will relocate to in 2017.
The Marlins and Cardinals also have minor league teams in Jupiter, as do the Mets in Port St. Lucie, that compete in the Class A Florida State League season that extends from early April to early September.
Tennis fans annually are treated to a top-notch ATP World Tour event with the Delray Beach Open, which is held each February at the Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center. It’s the only professional tennis tournament in the world that combines the ATP Champions Tour and ATP World Tour events at the same venue in the same week.
Miami Marlins / Jupiter Hammerheads
Major League Baseball
Roger Dean Stadium
4751 Main St., Jupiter
561-630-1828; miami.marlins.mlb.com
The Marlins, who won World Series championships in 1997 and 2003, have held their Spring Training workouts and games at the Roger Dean Stadium complex since 2003. The stadium seats 6,806 for games. The Marlins have partnered with the St. Louis Cardinals, who share the $28 million complex during Spring Training, assuring that there is a game every day during the month of March. The stadium also is home of the Jupiter Hammerheads, the Marlins’ Class A minor league affiliate in the Florida State League.
St. Louis Cardinals /Palm Beach Cardinals
Major League Baseball
Roger Dean Stadium
4751 Main St., Jupiter
561-775-1818; stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com
The Cardinals, one of the storied franchises in Major League Baseball, proudly display their 11 World Series Championship banners beyond the right-center field wall at Roger Dean Stadium, which they have called their Spring Training home for 19 years. Avid Cardinals fans consistently pack the stadium for Spring Training games in March. The stadium features sky-box seating in addition to field box, loge box and bleacher seating. There’s also a grassy berm area just beyond right field located in front of the Party Deck. Roger Dean Stadium is also the home of the Palm Beach Cardinals, the St. Louis Class A minor league affiliate in the Florida State League.
New York Mets / St. Lucie Mets
Major League Baseball
Tradition Field, St. Lucie County Sports Complex
525 NW Peacock Blvd., Port St. Lucie
772-871-2115; newyork.mets.mlb.com
Transplanted New York fans in Palm Beach County need only drive about an hour north on I-95 to catch Mets games at their Spring Training facility in Port St. Lucie, where the Mets, who won World Series titles in 1969 and 1986, have held their spring camp since it opened in 1988. The stadium seats 7,160 and includes an elevated grassy berm beyond the outfield fence. Tradition Field also is the home stadium of the St. Lucie Mets, New York’s Class A minor league affiliate in the Florida State League.
Florida Atlantic University Owls
Conference USA (Division I)
777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
866-328-6957; fausports.com
FAU has a combined 18 men’s and women’s sports teams – including baseball, basketball and football — that compete in the NCAA Division I Conference USA. The Owls’ on-campus football stadium, which was completed in 2011, seats 29,419 and hosts the Boca Raton Bowl in December. A view of the Atlantic Ocean can be seen from the skybox and press box.
Florida Launch
Major League Lacrosse
777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
561-923-9067; floridalaunchlacrosse.com
The Florida Launch is a Major League Lacrosse team based in Boca Raton that competes from late spring through the summer months. The Launch is the only MLL team in Florida and plays its home games at Florida Atlantic University Stadium. The team will play a 14-game schedule in 2016, beginning in late April and extending into early August. Launch Club season-ticket holders are treated to a 90-minute all-you-can-eat-and-drink pre-game gathering at all seven home games.
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