December 6, 2024/Midnight

Erie, Pa.— Erie, Pennsylvania has a lot of love for many things: Presque Isle, Waldameer, pepperoni balls, and obviously sports! Erie is a sports town at its finest. While the city doesn’t have any major professional teams, Erie shows a lot of love and support for its local teams. Over the years, fans have seen the likes of Connor McDavid, Justin Verlander, James Connor, and even Kobe Bryant (in high school) played in Flagship City.

As we turn the page to 2025, it is hard to argue that it isn’t a great time to be a sports fan in Erie.

This is the most exciting year in the 814 since Connor McDavid caught the world’s attention a decade ago.

Here’s why: Starting off in the college world, Erie has seen numerous college teams have a lot of success. Starting off here at Gannon, the Golden Knights have had historic seasons in basketball, golf, soccer, and cheer while the acrobatics team has been one of the best in the country. On the other side of town, Mercyhurst University became Erie’s first Division I school which will allow the school to compete in new tournaments including March Madness.

While unfortunately the beloved Erie Bayhawks basketball team of the NBA G League left town back in 2021, it is an exciting year for Erie’s hockey and baseball teams.

The Erie SeaWolves of Minor League Baseball’s Eastern League just won back–to–back championships and have improved their attendance by 27.3% in the last year. If you have watched the Detroit Tigers this season, especially during their postseason run, you’ll notice that all of their starting batting lineup consists of former SeaWolves including Spencer Torkelsen, Colt Keith, Wenceel Perez, Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, and Kerry Carpenter. All these players played in Erie between 2021–2023 with some more players of this championship SeaWolves teams will make their way to Detroit within the next few years.

The Erie Otters, a major junior hockey team of the Ontario Hockey League, are having their best season since they won it all in 2017. It’s a very remarkable season for Erie’s hockey team as they have been one of the top teams in the league this season with a record of 13–7–4 as of this writing. Just a few weeks ago, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas and his scouts were at an Erie Otters game and for good reason. The Otters have two of the best draft–eligible players in the 2025 NHL Draft. Defenseman Matthew Schaefer is a favorite to be the first player selected in June’s draft while forward Malcom Spence is also expected to be selected within the first ten picks. Erie will look to make a championship run and if they were to win, it would be the first time in the city’s history that two of its professional teams won championships in the same season (2024–25).

So yes, it is a great time to be a sports fan in Erie. It’s one of the best times in the history of our city’s athletics. These teams are having success on and off the field/court/ice and are putting Erie on the map. If you haven’t been able to catch a game, make sure to do so as you can be a part of history in the Flagship City.