The county seat of Davidson County and also the capital of the state of Tennessee is the city of Nashville. After Memphis, Nashville is among the most populous city within the state. Nashville also includes 7 small municipalities in their government system and is known as a hub for several industries such as banking, music, publishing, healthcare and transportation.
Nashville was named after the American war hero Francis Nash and became a prime railroad centre. Owing to its strategic location as being a river port, Nashville continued to grow in its economic strength till the Civil War. However, the city soon recovered its economic position and continued to grow to be a shipping and trading area together with setting up a strong manufacturing base. It also continued to grow its established publishing industry and inspired the creation of fine arts. Soon, Nashville was nicknamed the Music City.
As well as its prosperous culture and economic standing, Nashville has also remained in the news due to its sports scene. Nashville is home to several professional sports teams; a few of the prominent ones being the Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans. The Nashville Predators are definitely the areas professional ice hockey team and are a part of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League. They were formed in 1962 and were then known as the Dixie Flyers. All the home games which they play are in the Sommet Centre which was formerly called the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
Their professional football team goes by the name of the Tennessee Titans. They belong to the South Division of the American Football Conference within the National playing in 1960. They were moved from Houston to Tennessee in 1997. They were then known as the Tennessee Oilers but modified their name to Tennessee Titans in 1999. The home field for the Tennessee Titans is the LP field.
Nashville also has a minor league baseball team which is called the Nashville Sounds. They’re an element of the Pacific Coast League and play all their home games at the Herschel Greer Stadium. This stadium was inaugurated in 1978 and can host nearly 10,000 baseball fans. This team is recognized as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams. This league has gone on to winning numerous titles such as the PCL Championships in 2005, the Southern League title and the Double A of the Cincinnati Reds as well as the Double A in the New York Yankees.
Earlier called the Nashville Broncs, the Music City Starts is Nashvilles basketball team which is an expansion team of the American Basketball Association. This team began playing in the 2008-09 season and played their home games within the Nashville Municipal Auditorium but shall be shifting to the Allen Arena for their games from the 2009-10 seasons. The Nashville Broncs formally changed their name to the Music City Stars during 2009 in line with Nashvilles strong association with the music industry.
Nashville also encourages college sports and lends its support to the teams from Vanderbilt University, Belmont University along with the Tennessee State University.
