Austin taps into its Texas roots when it come to team sports, particularly when the University of Texas Longhorns are playing. The most comprehensive source of information on the various teams is www.texassports.com, but you can get tickets through TexasBoxOffice.com and get hold of a real person at [tel] 512/477-6060 or 800/982-2386. See Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Soccer, below.

BASEBALL — The University of Texas baseball team goes to bat February through May at Disch-Falk Field (east of I-35, at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd. and Comal). Many players have gone on to the pros.

Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan’s Round Rock Express, a Texas Rangers farm club, competes in the Pacific Coast League. See them play at the Dell Diamond, 3400 E. Palm Valley Rd., in Round Rock (512/255-2255), an 8,688-seat stadium where you can choose from box seats or stadium seating. An additional 3,000 fans can sit on a grassy berm in the outfield. 

BASKETBALL — The University of Texas Longhorn and Lady Longhorn basketball teams, both former Southwest Conference champions, play in the Frank Erwin Center (just west of I-35 on Red River btw. Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd. and 15th St.) November through March. 

FOOTBALL — Part of the Big 12 Conference, the University of Texas football team often fills the huge Darrell K. Royal/Texas Memorial Stadium (just west of I-35 btw. 23rd and 21st sts., E. Campus Dr., and San Jacinto Blvd.) during home games, played August through November. Those seeking to explore the inner workings of the stadium can take a behind-the-scenes tour.

GOLF — World Golf Championship excitement comes to Austin in March 2019 and 2020 for the Dell Technologies Match Play tournament at the Austin Country Club. 

HOCKEY — The American Hockey League’s Texas Stars take to the ice at the H.E.B. Center in Cedar Park, 2100 Avenue of the Stars (512/GO-STARS [467-8277; team] or 512/600-5000 [stadium]); they’re the primary affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars.

A (Skating) League Of Their Own

If any sport embodies Austin’s spirit, it’s roller derby, a no-holds-barred free-for-all with ties to the punk scene. Long relegated to the halls of kitsch, the sport was resurrected in 2001 by the SheEOs, a group of music producers who realized just how much fun it could be to circle a banked track in roller skates while elbowing other women out of the way. The resulting TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls league—with teams named the Holy Rollers, Hellcats, Putas del Fuego, Cherry Bombs, and Rhinestone Cowgirls—spurred renewed interest in the sport around the country. You can watch the Lonestar Rollergirls January to October at the Palmer Event Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd.

The Texas Rollergirls, formed in Austin in 2003, compete in the slightly more rules-oriented flat track league. Their season lasts from March through August, with bouts taking place at the Austin Sports Center, 425 Woodward St. 

For a sweetly humorous take on the scene, check out Whip It (2009), directed by Drew Barrymore (she also appears in it). The film stars Ellen Page as a misfit who finds her natural peer group among Austin’s equally square-peg skaters. 

MOTOR SPORTS — The highly celebrated 2012 opening of the Circuit of the Americas racetrack and entertainment venue revved the engines of Texans and visitors from everywhere else who are mad for world-class motorsports. Set on 1,500 acres just southeast of the Austin-Bergstrom Airport, off Hwy. 130, the 3.41-mile Circuit of the Americas track is the only one in the U.S. that hosts both Formula 1 and MotoGP events, and the first one in the country built specifically for Formula 1. The biggest names in racing, action sports, and music turn up here year round, and rooms are hard to come by when the American Grand Prix is held (Nov 1–3 in 2019).

SOCCER — From August through November, the University of Texas women’s soccer team competes against other NCAA teams. Home games are played Friday or Sunday at the Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field, just northeast of the UT football stadium at Robert Dedman Drive and Mike Myers Drive. Money was allocated in 2018 to build a soccer stadium for a major league team north of town. Stay tuned.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.