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The seventh most populous city within the state of California, Long Beach has well over 400,000 residents. It is also a mecca for tourism, given that it is a hub for cruise ships and home to both Long Beach Airport and one of the world's largest shipping ports.
As Long Beach is only 20-something miles away from Los Angeles -- the second largest metropolitan area within the United States -- often it is easy to forget how much of an impact Long Beach has had and continues to have on the sports world.
This not only pertain to sporting events and their participating athletes but also the tremendous sports-related history that has taken place in Long Beach since the city became incorporated in 1897.
I had the pleasure of visiting Long Beach for four days in July 2019, and over the course of the time spent there I had the chance to experience the latest and greatest that the city had to offer.
Below and on the following pages are reasons why Long Beach, California is a great city for sports fans, while more on Long Beach can be found online by visiting www.visitlongbeach.com.
#1 Its Live Venues
The Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center is a multi-venue space which is host to the Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach Arena and the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. The Long Beach Arena specifically has been host to numerous hockey and basketball events.
The Long Beach Arena was the site of volleyball events from the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. It has also been played host to the 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Rounds of 64 and 32, the Big West Conference men's basketball tournament from 1989 to 1993, 2017's New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Special in the U.S., and the 2018 mixed martial events known as PFL 9.
The Grand Prix of Long Beach, as started in 1975, is held in the streets near the Convention Center. Also nearby is the Long Beach Marathon, which takes place annually in October.
It has not yet been announced where all events of the 2028 Summer Olympics will be taking place, but it is anticipated that its BMX cycling, water polo, swimming, sailing, handball and triathlon events will be held in Long Beach.
#2 Minor League Sports
Los Angeles is a major sports hub, home to many sports dynasties, past and present. This includes the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Kings. In turn, not everyone realizes that 20-something miles away have been plenty of hometown Long Beach teams.
The minor league American Basketball Association team known as the Long Beach Jam played in town from The Walter Pyramid has been home to the basketball's Southern California Summer Pro League from 1995 to 2007.
It was also home to the Long Beach Stingrays, a women's professional basketball team of the now-defunct American Basketball League, in 1997 and 1998.
The Long Beach Breakers were a minor league baseball team that played at Blair Field in Long Beach in 2001.
In 2005, the team became the Golden Baseball League's Long Beach Armada. Former Major League Baseball players Steve Yeager (Los Angeles Dodgers) and John Curtis (Boston Red Sox) had played for this organization.
The earlier-mentioned Long Beach Arena has also been home to the California Surf of the North American Soccer League and the former Long Beach Ice Dogs team, which played professional ice hockey in the IHL, WCHL and ECHL.
#3 College Sports
Long Beach is home to two notable higher education institutions, California State University, Long Beach and Long Beach City College. CSU is notably home to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, as named after Richard and Karen Carpenter of the musical duo The Carpenters.
California State University, Long Beach competes in NCAA Division I within 19 different sports. Known as "the Long Beach State 49ers," the school's baseball team has appeared in 4 College World Series competitions. Its women's basketball team has several NCAA Final Four appearances to its credit.
Overall, the Long Beach State 49ers have competed in 203 NCAA Division I tournaments to date among 16 sports. In addition, 3 national championships have been won at the NCAA Division II level and six non-NCAA national championships have been won by the 49ers.
Among the notable athletic alumni from California State University, Long Beach are retired MMA fighter Gil Castillo, PGA golfers Paul Goydos and Mark O'Meara, four-time Olympic gold medalist Pat McCormick, MLB players Jason Giambi and Evan Langoria, legendary NBA coach Jerry Tarkanian, NFL quarterback Jeff Graham, and USA Olympic coach Guy Baker. Alumnus Joan Lind Van Blom, an Olympic rower, was the first woman to receive an Olympic medal in her sport for the United States.
#4 There's Lots To Do Outdoors
As a coastal, waterfront city, Long Beach is an ideal spot for anyone who likes to experience the great outdoors. Less humid than you may expect, the city is known for offering sunny weather without extreme humidity.
Its waterfront path totals around 5.5 miles in length. Such can safely be walked, bicycled, scootered and/or rollerbladed. For travelers traveling without exercise equipment, Long Beach has on-demand rentals for bicycles and electric scooters, app-based and available on-demand.
Some of the popular natural areas of Long Beach are Bluff Park, the Golden Shores Marine Reserve, the Jack Dunster Marine Reserve, Shoreline Park, and DeForest Park. The city leads Southern California in park access, size and spending, also ranking 16th within such among the 75 largest U.S. cities, as its 92 parks cover over 3,100 acres.
Long Beach is also home to Rosie's Dog Beach (the only legal off-leash beach area for dogs on in Los Angeles County), the El Dorado Nature Center, the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden, the permanently-docked Queen Mary, the Aquarium Of The Pacific, and Alamitos Beach. It is also close to Catalina Island, which is reachable by ferry.
#5 The Sports History
As discussed earlier, California State University, Long Beach had many notable athletes graduate from its institution. The city itself has been home to countless professional athletes before, during and after their successful careers.
Within professional basketball this includes Chris "Birdman" Andersen, Jordan Bell, Chuck Terry, Brian Scalabrine, and Russell Westbrook. From hockey, this includes Emerson Etem, Matt Nieto, and Jonathon Blum.
Many past and present NFL players have called Long Beach home including Jayon Brown, Jurrell Casey, Antonie Cason, Ronnie Hillman, DeSean Jackson, and Donovan Warren. From baseball, Long Beach-related players include Justin Turner, Tony Gwynn Jr. and Sr., Tyler Houston, Jeff Burroughs, Scott Erickson, and Aaron Hicks.
Other sports greats from the area include tennis legend Billie Jean King, L.A. Galaxy soccer player Daniel Steres, track-and-field record holder Kate Schmidt, NASCAR driver Jason Leffler, and pro skateboarder Terry Kennedy. Sports-related entertainers with Long Beach roots include Snoop Dogg, Nicolas Cage, Cameron Diaz, and Korn singer Jonathan Davis.
The key is that Long Beach has no shortage of sports-related celebrities to brag of, and that the city continues to show its widespread influence on an international basis. Even without a major sports franchise to call its own.
