Miami is usually a name that a person associates with high living, impressive skylines, buzzing nightlife and incredible beaches. This coastal city is situated in Florida, United States and it is a significant finance, entertainment, commerce, media and international trade centre. Numerous banks, media houses, television studios and financial institutions have their headquarters in this city and have a large concentration of cruise liner companies, international banks and performing arts centers.
The citys changing skyline, with over fifty 400 feet skyscrapers, ranks it as the 3rd most impressive city in the USA after New York and Chicago. Miami is considered to have an estimated population of 4, 24,662 based on the U.S Census report of 2008 and is ranked as Americas Cleanest City by the Forbs Magazine.
Along with its hectic life, Miami also has been in news reports 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 the team are played in the Land Sharks Stadium that is based in the suburbs of Miami Gardens. They belong to the Eastern Division in the NFL and are also one of the earliest major league professional sports franchisees in Florida having started playing since 1966.
Miamis professional basketball team is called the Miami Heat. They are a part of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference in the NBA and they are currently belonging to Mickey Arison. They were created in 1988 and have been making successful play offs since that time 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 of their home games inside the American Airlines Arena.
The Florida Marlins are Miamis professional baseball team. They are an element of the Eastern Division of the National League of the Major Baseball League. They've been in existence since 1993 and play each of their home games in the Land Shark Stadium. They have been the 2 times winners in the baseball World Series and have been the only team to have won all their post season series.
Ice Hockey is yet 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 offers two other premier sports leagues in 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 in the USL First Division as well as in the 2nd tier in the American Soccer Pyramid.
The Miami Topics are amongst 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 transferred to the PBL in 2007. They have been the winners of the US Basketball League champions and have represented United States in the FIBA Americas League championships.