Harlem Globetrotters mark 100 years with global tour kickoff
From an all-Black Chicago barnstorming team to a 123-country brand, the Globetrotters turned 100 with a tour built for Madison Square Garden and beyond.
The Harlem Globetrotters reached a century by doing what has always made them singular: turning basketball into theater without losing the weight of what came before. Founded in Chicago in 1926 as the all-Black Savoy Big Five, the team debuted in January 1927 in Hinckley, Illinois, as the New York Globetrotters, a name that would become synonymous with trick shots, ball-handling flair and showmanship on a global scale.
That evolution tells a deeper American story about race and reinvention. The Globetrotters began as Black athletes playing in a segregated era, then transformed barriers into a business model that helped define sports entertainment for generations. The team says it has entertained more than 148 million fans in 123 countries and territories worldwide, while another widely cited historical summary puts the total at more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 countries and territories.
The centennial is being marked with The Harlem Globetrotters 100 Year Tour, a season the team is presenting as the 100th edition of its global live tour. It began with a special event at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday, December 14, 2025, before the full tour launched in Boston and Pittsburgh on Friday, December 26, 2025. From there, the Globetrotters said the tour would reach more than 200 domestic markets and more than 125 international markets.
The anniversary push is not just retrospective. The team said the centennial season includes new elements on and off the court, including new partnerships, new merchandise, new players, new uniforms and deeper fan engagement. That mix of nostalgia and product expansion reflects how the Globetrotters have survived where many barnstorming acts faded, building a brand that is part athletic exhibition, part family entertainment and part cultural export.
The team also says it holds more than 60 Guinness World Records and is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, markers that underscore how far a once-segregated exhibition squad has traveled. Current players discussed the milestone on CBS Saturday Morning, as the Globetrotters used their 100th year to frame the same message that has carried them across decades: the barrier-breaking Black team from Chicago became one of the most recognizable live acts in the world.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
