ORLANDO, Fla. — There were plenty of newsworthy sporting events and stories that happened in the Central Florida and Tampa Bay areas that made 2025 an eventful year.
The past 12 months saw championships won, plenty of coaching changes, and some of our local teams using the offseason to transform their teams.
In February, William Bryon won his second consecutive Daytona 500, being one of five racers ever to do so.
In April, the state of Florida was home to both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball championships. UConn women won the title in Tampa and University of Florida men’s team won the school’s third national championship.
The Orlando Valkyries won the Pro Volleyball Federation Championships, defeating the Indy Ignite on May 11.
The year ended with a football state championship to remember: The Lake Mary Rams won their first state championship on a last-second Hail Mary and extra point to win the game.
Toward the end of the year, we saw plenty of coaching changes on the college gridiron. The Gators let head coach Billy Napier go in October, and in November, University of South Florida’s Alex Golesh left to become the head coach at Auburn. University of Florida hired Tulane’s Jon Sumrall and USF hired Ohio State’s offensive coordinator Brian Hartline to take over for those respective teams.
The Rays played their 2025 season at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ spring training home, because Tropicana Field was getting repaired from damage caused by Hurricane Milton.
Also, the 2025 season ended with the Rays being sold to an investment group led Patrick Zalupski for $1.7 billion.