New York City has played a key role in popularizing certain sports in America. Although baseball was not invented here—the first baseball game under modern rules was played in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1846—New York City has always been the spiritual home of the game, and it was only after amateur teams from New York popularized the game that baseball became popular throughout the country. New York also had one of the first professional hockey teams in the United States, and New York’s professional basketball team, the Knicks (short for Knickerbockers), actually started before the NBA did. With millions of people in the city, every New York team has a huge, rabid fan base, and the most famous New York teams—like the inimitable Yankees—are adored throughout the country.
