Sports in Pittsburgh Sports in Pittsburgh Sports in Pittsburgh have been played dating back to the American Civil War. Baseball, hockey, and the first professional American football game had been played in the city by 1892. Pittsburgh was first known as the "City of Champions" when the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Panthers, and Pittsburgh Steelers won multiple championships in the 1970s. Today, the city has three major professional sports franchises, the Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins; while the University of Pittsburgh Panthers compete in a Division I BCS conference, the highest level of collegiate athletics in the United States, in both football and basketball. Local
2018 Hampton Pirates football team schools agreeing to play them, forcing the Pirates to become an FCS independent for 2018 before joining the Big South in 2019. In their final season as a member of the MEAC, the Pirates finished the season 6–5, 5–3 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place. On November 20, 2017, head coach Connell Maynor resigned to become the head coach at Alabama A&M. He finished at Hampton with a four-year record of 20–25. 2018 Hampton Pirates football team The 2018 Hampton Pirates football team represents Hampton University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season.