The county seat of Davidson County and the capital of the state of Tennessee is the city of Nashville. After Memphis, Nashville is among the most populated city in the state. Nashville also includes seven small municipalities in their government system and is also known as the hub for a number of industries such as banking, music, publishing, healthcare and transportation.
Nashville was named after the American war hero Francis Nash and became a leading railroad centre. Owing to its strategic location as 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 as a shipping and trading area together with setting up a strong manufacturing base. In addition, it continued to grow its established publishing industry and inspired the creation of fine arts. Soon, Nashville was nicknamed the Music City.
Along with its prosperous culture and economic standing, Nashville has additionally remained in news reports for its sports scene. Nashville houses a number of professional sports teams; some of the prominent ones being the Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans. The Nashville Predators are the areas professional ice hockey team and they are an element of the Central Division of the Western Conference in the National Hockey League. They were formed in 1962 and were then known as the Dixie Flyers. All of the home games that they play are at 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 in the National playing in 1960. These were moved from Houston to Tennessee in 1997. They were then referred to 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 a part of the Pacific Coast League and play all of their home games in the Herschel Greer Stadium. This stadium was inaugurated in 1978 and can host almost 10,000 baseball fans. This team is acknowledged as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams. This league moved through to winning several titles such as the PCL Championships in 2005, the Southern League title and also the Double A of the Cincinnati Reds as well as the Double A in the New York Yankees.
Previously called the Nashville Broncs, the Music City Starts is Nashvilles basketball team which is an expansion team in the American Basketball Association. This team began playing from the 2008-09 season and played their home games in the Nashville Municipal Auditorium but will be moving to the Allen Arena for their games in the 2009-10 seasons. The Nashville Broncs officially changed their name to the Music City Stars in 2009 in keeping 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 and the Tennessee State University.