Top tier amateur teams

Denver and the wider metro area is also home to other professional sports teams.

College sports teams

• Colorado Buffaloes: The CU Buffaloes are a member of the Pac-12 Conference and are located in Boulder.
• Denver Pioneers: The DU Pioneers, located in the city of Denver, play in NCAA Division I and are a member of The Summit League. In sports not sponsored by that conference, it is a member of several other conferences; most notably, the men's ice hockey team plays in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, the women's gymnastics team in the Big 12 Conference, and the men's and women's lacrosse teams in the Big East Conference.
• Metro State Roadrunners: The Metro State Roadrunners play in NCAA Division II and are a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and are located in Denver.
• Regis Rangers: The Regis Rangers play in NCAA Division II and are a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and are located in Denver.

Former teams

• Denver Bears (Western League) former Western League team (1885-1954); replaced by the new Denver Bears
• Denver Zephyrs originally, the Denver Bears, who played in the American Association (1955-1962, 1969–1992) and the Pacific Coast League (1963-1968) moved to New Orleans in 1992. Now play as the Wichita Wind Surge
• Denver Nuggets former National Basketball League & National Basketball Association team (1948–1950); folded as the Evansville Agogans
• Denver Spurs former World Hockey Association team (1975–76); folded as the Ottawa Civics
• Colorado Rockies former National Hockey League team (1976–1982); now play as the New Jersey Devils
• Denver Avalanche former Major Indoor Soccer League team (1980–1982); ceased operations
• Colorado Flames former Central Professional Hockey League team (1982–1984); league ceased operations
• Denver Gold former United States Football League team (1983–1985); ceased operations
• Denver Dynamite former Arena Football League team (1987, 1989–1991); ceased operations
• Denver Rangers former International Hockey League team (1988-1989); folded as the Phoenix Roadrunners
• Denver Grizzlies former International Hockey League team (1994–1995); relocated to Utah after one season. Now play in the American Hockey League as the Cleveland Monsters
• Colorado Crush former Arena Football League team (2003–2008); the AFL suspended operations indefinitely
• Denver Cutthroats former Central Hockey League team (2012–2014); league ceased operations
• Denver Stampede former PRO Rugby team (2016–2017); league ceased operations after one season
• Colorado Raptors former Major League Rugby team (2018-2020); withdrew from the league after three seasons of play
• Denver Dynamite (soccer) former PASL-Pro (2008-2010) & PASL-Premier (2011-2015) team; ceased operations
• Furniture Row Racing, former NASCAR team that fielded the #78 Chevrolet SS for Martin Truex Jr., was owned and sponsored by the U.S. furniture store chain Furniture Row as the only NASCAR team headquartered in Colorado until 2018.
• Denver Outlaws, former Major League Lacrosse team (2006–2020), ceased operations after the MLL–PLL merger

Local events

• Denver hosted a yearly auto race on the Champ Car World Series circuit, the Grand Prix of Denver, before that series' demise in 2008.
• The Colorado Colfax Marathon is run through the city annually.

"Big Four" events

• The 1998 and 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Coors Field.
• The 2001 NHL All-Star Game and FanFest at Pepsi Center.
• The ABA All-Star Game in 1976, the 1984 NBA All-Star Game at McNichols Arena, and the 2005 NBA All-Star game at Pepsi Center.

International events

• Initially awarded the 1976 Winter Olympics. However, due to rising costs and worries about environmental impact, voters rejected a public-funding ballot measure. Without the bond, Denver could not support the games, and the IOC retracted the award.
• The city strongly considered a bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics. In December 2011 a Denver 2022 exploratory committee was launched.^[3] Reno-Tahoe was also interested in bidding for 2022.^[4]
• The Churchill Cup, a now-defunct annual international competition in rugby union featuring the USA and Canada senior national teams, the England Saxons (that country's second-level national team), and three invited teams, was hosted by Denver in 2009, with matches held at the rugby-specific Infinity Park in Glendale and Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Denver was suggested as a permanent home for the competition. The 2010 tournament featured preliminary rounds in Denver. Also, Denver was reportedly in the running to host a Bledisloe Cup match between the Australia and New Zealand national teams, possibly in 2010, though that did not materialize.

Other events

• Denver co-hosted the 1962 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships (together with Colorado Springs).
• Denver also hosted the 1990 NCAA Final Four at McNichols Arena.
• The Ultimate Fighting Championship, which eventually become the world's leading mixed martial arts organization, held its first two events in Denver—UFC 1 on November 12, 1993, and UFC 2 on March 11, 1994.
• The 2008 NCAA Frozen Four Tournament was hosted in Denver.
• Denver was the host for Sportaccord 2009, the largest international sports convention in the world.
• Infinity Park became the new host of the USA Women's Sevens, the country's stop in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series for national rugby sevens teams, in 2018.

Current teams

College teams

Former teams