This short essay introduces the symposium "Teaching sports geography". The six papers that make up this symposium represent the first substantive interventions into the pedagogies of sports geography. Sports geography has a rich research literature that is briefly reviewed, before the paper goes on to consider enduring concerns that sports geographers have pursued over several decades. The paper also notes some of the many opportunities and challenges associated with the teaching of sports geography, before going on the provide an overview of the six papers in the symposium. The paper ends by briefly outlining prospects for the teaching of sports geography. It also acknowledges the recent death of John Bale who was the preeminent pioneer and scholar of sports geography, to whom this collection of papers is dedicated.