Athletic Events in Ogden: Hockey, Baseball, Basketball, and More
FROM HOMETOWN HOCKEY TO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLES, SPORTS FANS HAVE PLENTY TO CHEER ABOUT IN OGDEN.
It stands to reason that Ogden, Utah’s “Notoriously Independent” nature, has effectively put it on the map for sporting events. A century ago, Jack Dempsey waited tables on 25th Street by day and rolled into local saloons at night, challenging patrons to fights where serious betting would occur. Dempsey rarely lost these barroom brawls on his way to becoming the World Heavyweight Champion, a title he held from 1919 to 1926. Since then, Ogden has been a hub for athletic events of all sizes.
OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES
The mountains that tower over Ogden crowned medalists during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in the downhill, combined, and Super-G events. Bode Miller, the most successful male American alpine ski racer of all time, won a couple of silvers that year at Snowbasin Resort on a course that every skier can still experience.
USA CYCLING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Since then, Ogden has awarded USA Cycling National Championship titles to collegiate and masters road racers on grueling mountain climbs and blisteringly fast criterium courses on downtown streets.
Ogden, and nearby Powder Mountain, also hosted the first two years of the USA Cycling Fat Bike National Championships.
Regional off-road triathletes first competed here for the XTERRA Mountain Championships for two years before Ogden became the location for the USA Championships for the next decade, and ultimately welcomed athletes from around the globe for several years of hosting the XTERRA Pan-American Championships.
Athletes have ascended championship podiums in Ogden at the Archery World Cup, the Winter Dew Tour, and The Tour of Utah as Ogden has legitimately become known as “Title Town” among athletes in individual sports.
Even in individual athletic pursuits that don’t involve a clock or a score, Ogden has been central to exceptional athletes such as Jeff Lowe. The Ogden climber who recently passed away at the age of 67 was declared “The Best Alpinist of a Generation” in this moving Rock & Ice Magazine profile.
The accomplishment of athletes in individual sports has made Ogden a regular fixture on SportsCenter’s Top Ten over the years…like this “shot heard ’round the world” at the 2020 Disc Golf World Championships at Fort Buenaventura.
TEAM SPORTS
Ogden’s love of individual sport doesn’t preclude it’s love and support of team sports.
BASEBALL: OGDEN RAPTORS
An Ogden Raptors home game should be on every baseball lover’s bucket list. In addition to being regular contenders in the Pioneer League (and 2017 Champions), the club’s stadium has been awarded “The Most Scenic Stadium in Baseball.”
Until 2020, the Ogden Raptors were an advanced-rookie, minor league affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and nearly 40 pros have gone through Ogden on their way up to “The Big Show.” Now, as an independent, Ogden consistently ranks near the top of the Pioneer League every season.
HOCKEY: OGDEN MUSTANGS
The Mustangs are Ogden’s Amateur Athletic Union-sanctioned junior hockey team in the Western States Hockey League (WSHL). Home games are played at the Weber County Ice Sheet, located on the campus of Weber State University.
The Mustangs have had 38+ wins in each of their past four seasons. They were one game away from the championship game two seasons ago on home ice and then one goal short of a championship victory last season. The Mustangs are always a contender for the Thorne Cup, playing with a grittiness that is an ideal fit for Ogden.
BASKETBALL: WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY WILDCATS
Basketball fans will easily recognize three-time NBA All-Star and 2013 Rookie of the Year Damian Lillard. While at Weber State University, he earned Player of the Year honors for the Big Sky Conference and had his signature #1 jersey retired.
WILDCAT FOOTBALL
The Wildcat football program has been putting up impressive numbers over the past few seasons. They have finished the past few seasons in the quarter-finals of the FCS playoffs.
TOURNAMENTS
Ogden currently hosts the Triple Crown World Series for baseball and fast-pitch softball, Varsity Spirit cheerleading, and dozens of other tournaments, including soccer, football, lacrosse, hockey, pickleball, tennis, and more.
For more information on hosting your sporting event in the Ogden, Utah, area, contact Millie Stewart at millie@visitogden.com.
