March 1998
Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) opens with a swimming pool beyond the outfield wall, the first major sports facility to incorporate the element.
April 1999
The USL Charleston (S.C.) Battery debuts the team’s new, privately funded, $5.7 million Blackbaud Stadium (now MUSC Health Stadium), the country’s first professional soccer-only stadium.
February 2000
The Women’s United Soccer Association, the first professional women’s soccer league, announces plans to launch in the U.S.
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March 2001
Brett Favre becomes the first $100 million player in the NFL after agreeing to a 10-year deal with the Green Bay Packers.
April 2001
Wang Zhizhi becomes the first China-born player to play in the NBA, scoring six points for the Dallas Mavericks.
December 2002
ESPN2 airs a high school basketball game with future No. 1 draft pick LeBron James of Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, the first regular-season prep game the network has shown since 1989.
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February 2003
Annika Sorenstam accepts an invitation to play in the Bank of America Colonial, becoming the first woman since Babe Zaharias in 1945 to play a PGA Tour event.
April 2003
Raley Field, home to the Class AAA Sacramento (Calif.) River Cats, becomes the first ballpark with Wi-Fi. The following season, SBC Park (now AT&T Park) becomes the first big league venue in the world to offer Wi-Fi access throughout the entire site.
February 2004
NASCAR this season implements a new “Chase” format to determine the champion for its premier series. That same season, Nextel takes over as series title sponsor, resulting in the first change in the series since Winston began its decades-long title sponsorship in 1971.
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August 2004
U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps wins his sixth gold medal to go along with his two bronze medals, becoming the first Olympian since 1980 to win eight medals in a single Olympics.
December 2004
MLS and the MLS Players Union reach a deal on the first collective-bargaining agreement in league history.
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April 2005
MLB returns to Washington, D.C., and RFK Stadium with the Nationals’ sold-out home opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks, marking the first time since the 1971 season that baseball is played in the nation’s capital.
October 2005
The Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers play at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, the NFL’s first regular-season game outside the U.S.
January 2006
Google makes its first entry into sports through a video download deal with the NBA.
February 2006
For the first time, an American rights holder (NBC) streams live action from the Olympics — the men’s gold medal hockey game in Turin.
May 2006
University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt signs a six-year contract that makes her the first women’s basketball coach to reach the $1 million mark.
August 2006
University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., opens as the first venue in North America to have a retractable field and retractable roof.
September 2006
For the first time in the team’s 40-year history, the New Orleans Saints sell out every season ticket.
February 2007
The Chicago Cubs sign a three-year sponsorship with Under Armour to place two signs on the Wrigley Field outfield doors, the first corporate advertising to be placed among the famed brick-and-ivy outfield wall in the ballpark’s 93-year history.
April 2007
Toronto FC begins the season as MLS’s first Canadian franchise.
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October 2007
The Miami Dolphins and New York Giants play in London, marking the NFL’s first regular-season game held overseas.
March 2008
The IndyCar Series season debuts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, marking the first event following the unification of the IRL and Champ Car World Series.
July 2008
The NFL and NBC announce that during the upcoming season, the network’s 17 regular-season games will be streamed live on NFL.com and NBCSports.com, the first time regular-season action will be broadly streamed in real time in the U.S.
April 2009
The Chicago Blackhawks announce they will locally broadcast all 82 regular-season games in the upcoming season for the first time in franchise history.
April 2009
AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami and Philips Arena in Atlanta become the first venues in the NBA and NHL to earn the LEED certification for their sustainability efforts.
September 2009
Mikhail Prokhorov acquires the New Jersey Nets in a $200 million deal, becoming the first foreign owner in the NBA and the first in major U.S. stick-and-ball sports since the chairman of Nintendo bought the Seattle Mariners in 1992.
October 2009
Staples extends its naming-rights agreement for the AEG-owned Staples Center in perpetuity, marking the first lifetime naming-rights extension for a major-market arena.
April 2010
The NBA signs a three-year sponsorship with Bacardi, making it the first of the big four professional stick-and-ball sports to sign a spirits marketer as a corporate patron.
July 2011
MLB.com generates 51 percent of its total traffic from mobile devices, the first time the site and perhaps any other major online sports destination has gained more than half of its overall traffic from mobile.
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November 2011
North Carolina and Michigan State play in the Quicken Loans Carrier Classic in San Diego, the first college basketball game held on a Navy aircraft carrier.
August 2012
Augusta National Golf Club invites former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina-based financier Darla Moore to become the club’s first female members.
February 2013
The University of Texas athletic department reports $103.8 million in football income for its 2011-12 fiscal year, the first time a college has reported $100 million in revenue from one sport.
July 2014
The NBPA makes history by electing Michele Roberts the first female executive director of a sports union in North America.
April 2015
The NFL draft is held in Chicago, the first time it has been held outside New York in 50 years.
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June 2015
American Pharoah becomes the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed did so in 1978.
August 2016
The U.S. Open uses its new, $150 million retractable roof atop Arthur Ashe Stadium during a match for the first time.
September 2016
The Philadelphia 76ers and venture firm NextEquity buy a majority stake in esports franchises Team Dignitas and Team Apex, making the Sixers the first U.S. sports organization to control a professional gaming outfit.
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November 2016
UFC stages a bout at Madison Square Garden, its first fight card in New York since the sport was legalized in the state.
October 2017
Carla Williams is named athletic director at the University of Virginia, becoming the first African-American woman to hold such a position among the 64 schools that make up the power five conferences.
February 2018
MLS expansion club LAFC signs a partnership with YouTube TV that makes the team the first among major U.S. pro franchises to air all of its locally televised matches on a live TV streaming provider.
