People with a love of sports could find Florida property to be an investment that allows them to indulge their passion while basking in the glow of the sunshine state.

Sports play an important role in American culture, from home life to schooling, with this year’s NFL Super Bowl putting Florida’s Sun Life Stadium at the very core of the American Football world on February 7th.

While future Super Bowls are set to take place in Texas, Indianapolis and New Orleans, property in Florida is likely to remain a hub for American sports due partly to the presence of the Miami Dolphins, one of the NFL’s most recognisable teams.

NFL in the sunshine state

Property in Florida need not be in Miami, as there are plenty of other beautiful towns and cities to choose from, many of which are equally well suited to fans of American Football.

For NFL fans, Tampa Bay could be an ideal area, as it was the venue for last year’s Super Bowl and is likely to appear on the shortlist of locations for the sporting spectacle again in the future.

Of course, the area is also home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, providing season-round American Football action for residents of Florida property in the surrounding region.

Other Florida sports

There are a variety of good reasons why fans of sports – particularly American sports – might consider moving to property in Florida as a new home, or just as a permanent holiday home.

Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports is a single venue to the west of the Florida turnpike and south-west of Orlando that offers amateur and professional sporting facilities across a wide range of disciplines.

Homesick expats can watch soccer at the facility, as the Hess Sports Fields play host to events including a President’s Day soccer festival and the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic.

More all-American options include baseball, which takes place at the Champion Stadium and the Baseball Quadraplex, while basketball games are staged at the Milk House and Jostens Center.

Other activities range from volleyball, lacrosse and hockey to martial arts, athletics and cheerleading.

Florida sports teams

As might be expected of any US state, Florida is represented by a number of teams in each of the major sports, meaning newcomers moving into property in Florida for the first time are faced with the task of choosing where their loyalties lie.

The Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are joined by the Jacksonville Jaguars as the major teams in American Football in the state – and Tampa Bay is significant in a variety of other disciplines too, which could make Florida property in the surrounding region ideal for omnivorous consumers of sports.

In baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays face off against the Florida Marlins for local supremacy, while Tampa Bay Lightning challenge the Florida Panthers for domination of the area’s ice hockey bragging rights.

Miami Heat represent the city in basketball, while Orlando properties close to the Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports could also allow basketball fans to choose Orlando Magic as their favourite team.

Famous Faces

Anyone who does try to buy property in Florida could find they become neighbours with some of the stars of the NFL itself.

In Boca Raton, Randy Moss of the New England Patriots has his home, while former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath resides in Palm Beach.

NFL fans could do worse than to consider Palm Beach when looking at Florida property, as Namath is not the only legend of the sport to live there.

Dwight Schar’s purchase of a house in Palm Beach for the price of $70 million (£44 million) made headlines in late 2004.

The Washington Redskins part-owner set a new record for the highest amount ever paid for a residential property in the US.

In other sports, Palm Beach Gardens is the location for the PGA of America headquarters.

More than 28,000 members of the Professional Golfers Association have their administrative home there.

Professional golfers who hail from the region itself include Ted Potter Jr, who turned professional in 2002.

The Ocala-born pro made the cut in three events in 2007, reaching the top 25 on one of those occasions.

A more headline-grabbing name from the sport, Tiger Woods, also owns Florida property.

His home is in Windermere, a town in Florida’s Orange County with a population of fewer than 2,000 permanent residents, many of whom are celebrities from the world of American sport.