Years in sports:	1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879
Centuries:	18th century · 19th century · 20th century
Decades:	1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s
Years:	1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879

Contents 1 Baseball 2 Football 3 Golf 4 Horse Racing 5 Ice sports 6 Rowing 7 Yacht racing 8 Births

Baseball

• February 2 - The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (NL) is founded at the Grand Central Hotel in New York City, the first pro sports league, North American style: closed and territorial. Major League Baseball recognizes "all-time history" beginning here.
• Chicago fields a practically invincible team featuring four stars from the champion Bostons (Big Four) and one from the Athletics of Philadelphia (Cap Anson).
• The venerable Mutuals and Athletics, holding the New York and Philadelphia franchises, are competitive failures on field and off. They cancel their final western trips and suffer expulsion, the last formerly amateur clubs in the majors.

Football

• March 11 - FA Cup: Wanderers FC beat Old Etonians 1 - 1 (aet) ; March 18 Replay 3 - 0

Golf

• British Open - Bob Martin

Horse Racing

• May 15 - Virgin wins the Kentucky derby

Ice sports

• January 7 - The Glaciarium opens in Chelsea, London; the world's first artificial ice rink.

Rowing

• Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race - Cambridge
• The Harvard-Yale Regatta for the main event establishes the 4-mile distance and returns to the original eight-oar shells. Yale wins by 29 seconds on the Connecticut River.[1]

Yacht racing

• The New York Yacht Club retains the America's Cup as Madeleine defeats challenger Countess of Dufferin, of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club

Births

• February 7 — Harry Freeman, British field hockey player (d. 1968)
• March 21 — John Tewksbury, American track and field athlete (d. 1968)
• March 25 — Irving Baxter, American athlete (d. 1957)
• June 16 — Gustav Schuft, German gymnast (d. 1948)