Sports

Baseball

The area is home to the Eastern League's Binghamton Rumble Ponies (AA affiliate of the New York Mets). The former B-Mets have sent stars like José Reyes, David Wright, Preston Wilson, Ike Davis, Zack Wheeler, Edgardo Alfonzo, Jon Niese, and Jay Payton to the majors.
Binghamton has a long history in professional Organized Baseball dating back to 1877. Teams nicknamed the Crickets, the Bingoes, and for many years the Triplets represented Binghamton in the New York State League (now defunct), the New York-Pennsylvania League, the International League and the Eastern League (1892–94, 1938–1963, 1967–1968, 1992–present).
The 1887 Binghamton Bingoes of the International League attracted national attention when the white players revolted against the two black players on the team. The reaction around the league forced Binghamton to release the black players, and the team itself folded shortly thereafter.
The Binghamton Triplets of the Eastern League, founded in 1923, became a farm club of the New York Yankees in 1932, and sent many players to New York through 1968, when the team folded. Notably, the Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey Ford was a starting pitcher for the Triplets in 1949.

American football

Binghamton is also home to two semi-pro American football teams, the Broome County Dragons (members of the Empire Football League) and the Southern Tier Green Machine (members of the North American Football League). In addition, two women's football teams call Binghamton home; the Binghamton Tiger Cats (members of the Independent Women's Football League) and the Southern Tier Spitfire (members of the Women's Football Alliance). Of the 4 teams only the Binghamton Tiger Cats still survive for 2012.

Golf

The B.C. Open was an official PGA Tour event that was held annually from 1971 to 2005 at Endicott's En-Joie Golf Course. (Note that the 2006 B.C. Open had to be played in Verona, N.Y. due to extensive damage during the June 2006 Flooding of the Susquehanna River.) Beginning in 2007, the area hosted a PGA Champion's Tour event, the Dick's Sporting Goods Open. The event replaced the B.C. Open and continues to be played at En-Joie Golf Course in Endicott.

Hockey

Professional hockey arrived in Binghamton in 1973 with the founding of the Broome Dusters of the North American Hockey League. The Dusters were popular from the start with a wide open style of play which was unusual in professional hockey at the time. When the league folded in 1977, the Providence team of the American Hockey League moved to Binghamton and became the Binghamton Dusters. The team became the Binghamton Whalers from 1980 to 1990 and the Binghamton Rangers from 1990 to 1997 as a result of affiliations with the NHL Hartford Whalers and New York Rangers. The team is now the Binghamton Senators who currently serve as the AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators. The B-Sens won division titles on 2003 and 2005, reaching the AHL conference finals in 2003 and winning the Calder Cup in 2011. They play their home games at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. The B-Sens have sent stars like Jason Spezza, Robin Lehner, Chris Kelly, Jakob Silfverberg and Jean-Gabriel Pageau to the NHL.

Tennis

The area is also home to an annual Professional Tennis Challenger, the Levene Gouldin & Thompson Tennis Challenger, part of the USTA pro circuit (Known as the Frito-Lay Tennis Challenger in years past). Tennis greats such as Lleyton Hewitt, James Blake and more recently Andy Murray found their start with this tournament, using it as a spring board to the U.S. Open (tennis).^[130]

NCAA sports

Binghamton University plays Division I college sports as a member of the America East Conference. Division III College Sports are played at Broome Community College. Bobby Gonzalez, former head coach of Seton Hall's men's basketball team was born here, and still has family in the area. King Rice, head basketball coach at Monmouth University, attended Binghamton High School.^[131]

Youth sports

Two world-famous amateur sports tournaments are held in Binghamton. The Stop DWI Holiday Classic – a nationally recognized high school basketball tournament – calls the city home during the Christmas season, amassing about 16 of the nations best teams from places such as Orlando, NYC, Philadelphia, Kentucky, Cincinnati, and other large metropolitan areas. The World Youth Classic is an American Legion youth baseball tournament featuring world-class Legion baseball teams. Held in July, it features teams from Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, Georgia, and New England. As many as 32 teams may play per year.

Motor sports

Since 1978 a round of the American Motorcyclist Association's Motocross Championship has been held at the nearby Broome-Tioga Sports Center. This round of the series has recently been moved to Texas and is no longer hosted by the Broome-Tioga Sports Center. They also host the New York State Motocross Championships each fall and many other semi-pro events throughout the season.