Miami is a name that one associates with high living, impressive skylines, buzzing nightlife and amazing beaches. This coastal city is located in Florida, United States and is a major finance, entertainment, commerce, media and international trade centre. Numerous banks, media houses, television studios and banks have their headquarters in this city and have a large concentration of cruise liner companies, international banks and performing arts centers.
The city’s changing skyline, with over fifty 400 feet skyscrapers, ranks it as the third most impressive city in the United States after New York and Chicago. Miami is said to have an estimated population of 4, 24,662 according to the U.S Census report of 2008 and is ranked as Americas Cleanest City by the Forbs Magazine.
Along with its fast paced life, Miami also has been in the news for its active sports scene. Miami is home to five major professional sports teams. Their National Football League team is called the Miami Dolphins. The home games of this team are played in the Land Sharks Stadium which is located in the suburbs of Miami Gardens. They belong to the Eastern Division of the NFL and are one of the oldest major league professional sports franchisee’s in Florida having started playing since 1966.
Miami’s professional basketball team is called the Miami Heat. They are a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference in the NBA and are currently owned by Mickey Arison. They were formed in 1988 and have been making successful play offs since then taking seven division titles. They also won the NBA Finals after having defeated the Dallas Mavericks in 2006 with a score of 4-2. They play all their home games in the American Airlines Arena.
The Florida Marlins are Miami’s professional baseball team. They are a part of the Eastern Division of the National League of the Major Baseball League. They have been in existence since 1993 and play all their home games in the Land Shark Stadium. They have been the two times winners of the baseball World Series and have been the only team to have won all their post season series.
Ice Hockey is another popular sport in Miami and their professional ice hockey team goes by the name of the Florida Panthers. They are a part of the National Hockey League and play their home games in the Bank Atlantic Centre.
Along with these four professional sports teams Miami also boasts of two other premier sports leagues from the sports of soccer and basketball. The professional soccer team from Miami is called the Miami FC. They are a professional American soccer team and play is the USL First Division and also in the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.
The Miami Topics are one of the teams in the Premier Basketball League and are owned by the Imperiali Organization. They originally were a part of the American Basketball Association but moved to the PBL in 2007. They have been the winners of the United States Basketball League champions and have represented United States in the FIBA Americas League championships.