From AHL hockey to NASCAR Winston Cup racing to AAA baseball to professional golf...Greater Scranton offers tons of fun to sports fanatics.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, bang heads with their opponents at 40 annual home games at the fabulous $44 million Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. But if you think the Penguins are tough, check out the intense competition between former Olympic skaters when Champions on Ice and Stars on Ice make their regular tour stops at the Arena.
Pocono Raceway has long been recognized as one of NASCAR's most competitive speedways. Located just 30 minutes from Scranton, Pocono's unique 2.5-mile tri-oval features fender-to-fender action in the turns, 200-mph slingshots on the long straights and photo-finish endings.
Our warm summer nights are filled with baseball, hotdogs and popcorn at the 11,000-seat PNC Field, home of the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. The top farm club of the New York Yankess, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees play 72 home games on Montage Mountain each season. Ticket prices are modest and all seats offer great views of the field.
Those with a wee bit of the gambling spirit can enjoy the new Mohegan Sun at the Pocono Downs, which offers 1,203 slot machines in the newly remodeled portion of the clubhouse at the Pocono Downs race track. View live harness races from April through November, with exciting action Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Mohegan Sun offers a variety of restaurants to blend in meals with the gaming experience. Admission and parking is always free.
The NEPA Miners a local minor league football team, plays a 10 game regular season schedule in the North American Football League, which is the largest minor league sports organization in the world with over 100 teams. And, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers, the newest member in "arenafootball2" (af2), play at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.
Throughout Northeastern PA, fans of high school and college athletics have an endless supply of games and matches from which to choose. Friday and Saturday high school football games are huge community events and high school basketball games pack area gymnasiums. Wrestling and soccer are increasing in popularity. Pro athletes such as New York Yankee Mike Mussina, NBA star Bob Sura, NFL receivers Raghib "The Rocket" and Qadry Ismail, Dolphins center Tim Ruddy and former NFL all-pro and new NFL Hall-of Famer Mike Munchak all played their high school ball in Northeastern PA.
NCAA Division III sports draw big crowds too. The University of Scranton lays claim to three national basketball championships since the 1970's and has made it to the NCAA's soccer final four on several occ | 
