Boston is a showcase city where people from all over the world come together to live, work, and play. It is a city where everyone brings their own values and traditions to continually refine what it means to be a Bostonian. From the earliest new world settlements through the Revolutionary War and onwards to the current era, Boston has been at the center of American history. The city was founded in 1630, and is a relatively compact population center. By the 19th century, the city was a magnet for the enormous waves of immigration, especially from Ireland, that swelled the population.

Today, Boston is one of the primary business and cultural hubs of the northeastern United States, and at the forefront of biotechnology, medicine, finance, and electronics, sparked by the energy of many world leading colleges and universities that energize the region with youth and innovation. Boston’s football tradition dates to the Oneida Football Club in the late 19th century, cited as the first football club established anywhere outside of England. The club had an impressive record, going undefeated for most of its seasons between 1862 and 1867. Football was brought to the collegiate levels in the late 1800’s and rapidly adopted by the working class communities. Further, as immigration increased, new arrivals brought football traditions with them.

There have been professional, semiprofessional, and amateur football teams on the scene right up to the modern day, with the New England Revolution carrying the MLS banner. Today, Massachusetts is second only to California in registered football players, with a total of 242,000 athletes playing the game. Boston has played host to three FIFA championships: the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™, and the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 1999 and 2003. It has teams in all the major professional sports: the New England Revolution (MLS), the New England Patriots (NFL), the Boston Celtics (NBA), the Boston Bruins (NHL), and perhaps the city’s greatest passion, the Boston Red Sox (MLB). The Boston Marathon is one of the world’s premier running events, and the city also has gracefully hosted the women’s collegiate basketball championship, the World Series, and the NBA Finals.