536:. These conferences ordinarily keep league tables and crown champions within the conference, as other sports leagues do, but the individual schools also schedule a certain number of "non-conference" games that are organized independently between two schools in different conferences, or between a conference team and a non-conference team. Also, national championships in some college sports are determined by a ranking or playoff system that is independent of the individual conferences.
290:(NL). They are titled leagues rather than conferences for several reasons. The National League predates the American by 25 years and was considered a "major" league in comparison to its early competitors, and in a sense it simply extended this recognition to the AL, the only league of similar financial clout. In addition, the leagues played no interlocking schedule of any kind until 1995, and then added only a small amount of
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25:
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Many sports leagues also participate in a single-elimination tournament each year. In the United States, Mexico, and some other countries, these tournaments are commonly called "playoffs" and are played at the end of the season, with the teams qualifying for the playoffs based on their performance
364:
In such a set-up, the team with the best record becomes champion, based on either a strict win–loss–tie system or on a points system where a certain number of points are awarded for a win, loss, or tie, while bonus points might also be added for teams meeting various criteria. Many leagues also use
103:
Many uses of the term league in sports and for sports organizations are misnomers as the term league relates specifically to the form of organization, requiring persons or bodies to be in league together. A sport competition owned and controlled other than by its participant players, teams or clubs
544:
Most major team sports play some form of round-robin schedule, where the goal is for each team to play a relatively balanced schedule with each other team in the league or in its league subdivision. Within this structure, there are a few significant differences between leagues, a few of which are
495:
In some sports, points are assigned to results at individual competitions, and the resulting points are used to generate a season rankings and determine the season champion. While not usually referred to as "leagues", but "tours" or "series", these season-long competitions with set events are very
561:
One potential drawback of this simple double round-robin format is that the number of teams in the league determines the schedule. Larger leagues may not be able to play as many games as such a system would require, and smaller leagues may want more games. In addition, leagues whose teams are
369:, where after teams compete in a regular season in a league format, the top teams (possibly determined by conference or division) advance to the playoffs. In some such leagues having the best regular season record is relatively unimportant, though top-seeded teams in some leagues, such as the
381:
While round-robin and modified round-robin competitions are the most common form of league organization, there are a number of ways to organize a sporting competition, almost all of which may be described as a "league". Many sports organizations fall on a continuum between a total lack of
337:
winners, etc. Since its name is constructed differently—a description of the status of two leagues rather than the title of one—it is common to hear "MLB" without "the" attached to it, as in "the most home runs in MLB this year", since one would not say "the Major League
Baseball".
553:
The simplest way to organize a sports league, and still one of the most common, is in a double round-robin format where each team plays each other team twice, once at home and once away. This ensures that every team plays an equally difficult schedule and that no team has undue
562:
geographically spread out over a wide area (a common situation for leagues in North
America) may face significant travel costs. One solution is to play an unbalanced schedule, with some teams playing additional games against some other teams; this is the way
687:
702:
672:
221:
298:. Thus the two leagues played mostly separate competitions within the larger framework of MLB. Finally, until 2000, they were actually separate legal entities, unlike the conferences of other leagues.
212:
An alternate system of league organization which is used primarily in
Australia, Canada, and the United States is a closed model which always has the same teams playing, with occasional admission of
398:, and there is little or no ranking or competition outside winning certain major races. A small amount of league organization may be imposed on these non-league sports by way of a series or
275:. These are geographically based, and teams play their divisional opponents more than any others, and then play the other clubs in their conference more than their non-conference opponents.
677:
628:
during the season. In Europe, "cup" competitions are more common, with all teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that takes place during and parallel with the regular season.
582:
A "central venue league" (CVL) is a sports league where all the fixtures take place at the same venue, instead of rotating around the venues of the 'home' team, for each fixture. Several
373:, can gain byes to later rounds of the playoffs, and teams finishing with the best records usually have the advantage of playing the weakest teams that have advanced to the playoffs.
346:
The common thread between all sports leagues is a structure that allows teams or individuals to compete against each other in a nonrandom order on a set schedule, usually called a
361:
is a major factor in many sports. When teams competing for a tournament championship do not play the same teams the same number of times, it is known as an unbalanced schedule.
235:
In many of these closed-model leagues in Canada and the United States, they are divided into subdivisions on historical or geographical lines. These may be referred to as
193:, a group of leagues that are tied together in a hierarchical fashion by promotion and relegation, and to the individual leagues within the league system. For example, in
330:
682:
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has traditionally been scheduled, with the additional games being played against local rivals. Some leagues also break the league into subunits, often known as
271:(NHL) are divided into Eastern and Western Conferences. The conferences in the NFL, NBA, and NHL are further divided into subsets, all of which are called
481:
Individual sports often use an alternative type of league organization where competitors are ranked against each other. In the simplest cases, such as
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217:
87:
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Even in team sports that normally use a traditional league format, some teams often exist outside any league; these teams are generally known as
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teams and either schedule games against local professional or amateur competition or bring their own competition, such as the barnstorming
326:
147:, which is organized with multiple small round-robin competitions followed by a single elimination tournament to choose an overall winner.
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403:
325:
National League, while "in all of baseball" or similar is used to denote the larger status. Each of the major leagues also has its own
825:'Similar Economic Histories, Different Industrial Structures: Transatlantic Contrasts in the Evolution of Professional Sports Leagues'
206:
697:
132:. This is especially common in individual sports, although the term "league" is sometimes used in amateur individual sports such as
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A league championship may be contested in a number of ways. Each team may play every other team a certain number of times in a
313:
Due to this naming custom, it is common to use slightly different terms to discuss MLB. Where someone might refer to "the best
264:
113:
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692:
382:
organization, as in a pick-up game, and a formal league such as is common at the highest level of professional team sports.
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473:. These teams do play in leagues and should not be confused with barnstorming teams that play truly non-league schedules.
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The simplest form of competition is to allow teams to play each other whenever they see fit. In some sports, such as
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155:"League" and its synonyms may be used to encompass either a single competition or a related group of competitions.
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athletes who form teams among themselves and compete periodically, at its most complex, it can be an international
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leagues operate on this basis, intended to keep the costs of participation as low as possible, including:
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421:. As with the Globetrotters, barnstorming teams sometimes emphasize spectacle over athletic competition.
357:. Usually, teams play equal number of games or matches at their own stadium and at other teams', because
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279:
144:
139:
The term "league" is also sometimes applicable to competitions that would more traditionally be called
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plays the other teams a pre-determined number of times in a season, usually on a home and away basis.
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tournaments, where the pairing of teams in each round is determined by a "draw" (see for example, the
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In many cases, organizations that function as leagues are described using a different term, such as
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485:, the rankings mean little and the major competition is to crown a champion in a title fight.
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league making large amounts of money and involving dozens of teams and thousands of players.
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350:, with the results of the individual competitions being used to name an overall champion.
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213:
781:. The Ivy League official website. Council of Ivy Group Presidents. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
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in the league" and be understood to mean the overall NFL, a similar mention of "the best
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or clubs who form a league to compete against each other and gain points in a specific
46:
263:, though it now contains three original NFL teams and three expansion teams. Both the
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In other sports, the rankings and leaderboards gain importance when they are used in
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in
England), to distinguish it from league competition, in which every club in the
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228:
125:
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282:" (MLB) the name of the overall grouping of 30 teams in two "major leagues", the
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294:, with the main AL-NL competition occurring between their champions in the
201:(EFL) is a league system, while the term "National League" refers both to
16:
Group of sports teams or individual athletes that compete again each other
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1085:
941:
558:. This organization is still used in many team sports around the world.
466:
366:
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459:, the two highest levels of competition in that sport in that country.
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to recognize the separation between the two, which means there are two
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for the next season. Under this system, "league" may refer both to a
255:; the latter conference was formed largely from the remnants of the
574:, each of which may itself play a balanced or unbalanced schedule.
874:
703:
List of attendance figures at domestic professional sports leagues
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similar to league structures in team sports. Examples of this are
79:
673:
Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada
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505:
133:
847:
370:
18:
321:
in the league" is almost always a reference to the
American
688:
List of high school sports conferences in the United States
532:
are traditionally organized into groups of teams known as
469:
teams that play in leagues other than those sanctioned by
424:
In Europe, the term "cup competition" is used to describe
678:
List of college athletic conferences in the United States
177:
for the next season, and the worst-ranked team(s) in the
843:
205:
immediately below the EFL in the
English pyramid and to
402:
tying several individual events together, such as the
451:
teams that play in organized leagues, but not in the
394:, the main goal of the entrants is to win individual
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465:is used similarly in the United States to describe
32:It has been suggested that this article should be
810:, published 2 November 2017, accessed 11 July 2020
377:Alternatives to traditional league organization
220:. There is no team movement between the higher
683:List of developmental and minor sports leagues
82:. At its simplest, it may be a local group of
859:
8:
823:Cain, Louis P. and Haddock, David D.; 2005;
447:is used for historical reasons to describe
866:
852:
844:
278:Baseball has a unique nomenclature, with "
302:in Japan has a similar history, with the
806:Newcastle Eagles Community Foundation,
724:
668:Professional sports league organization
549:Single-table versus unbalanced schedule
162:, where the best-ranked team(s) in the
795:About the Community Basketball League'
789:
787:
611:Newcastle Eagles Central Venue League
601:Community Basketball League (London)
7:
808:15 Years of the Central Venue League
663:List of professional sports leagues
74:is a group of individual athletes,
14:
698:List of sports attendance figures
1442:
1433:
1432:
1420:
524:Conferences and informal leagues
23:
1443:
623:Cups, tournaments, and playoffs
607:(Surrey Basketball Association)
265:National Basketball Association
762:Some conferences, though, use
693:List of defunct sports leagues
591:Bracknell Central Venue League
443:Further, in England, the term
417:did when they toured with the
1:
793:Community Basketball League,
742:"A Golf League of Their Own"
605:Knights Central Venue League
300:Nippon Professional Baseball
253:American Football Conference
249:National Football Conference
218:relocation of existing teams
207:its associated league system
195:English association football
837:Journal of Economic History
1495:
617:Sherwood Basketball League
540:Round-robin sports leagues
247:(NFL) is divided into the
151:Leagues and league systems
1414:
477:Rankings and leaderboards
1016:Bodybuilding supplements
648:Promotion and relegation
257:American Football League
245:National Football League
160:promotion and relegation
797:, accessed 11 July 2020
453:English Football League
199:English Football League
840:65 (4); pp. 1116–1147.
613:, established in 2002
355:round-robin tournament
310:not founded together.
269:National Hockey League
578:Central venue leagues
471:Major League Baseball
280:Major League Baseball
145:UEFA Champions League
38:into articles titled
772:About The Ivy League
598:Central Venue League
556:home field advantage
463:Independent baseball
449:association football
415:Harlem Globetrotters
1479:Sports competitions
658:Regulation of sport
564:Major League Soccer
445:non-league football
419:Washington Generals
342:League organization
286:(AL) and the older
261:merged with the NFL
243:. For example, the
1474:Sports terminology
1033:Physical education
830:2008-10-31 at the
777:2011-09-03 at the
438:league or division
426:single elimination
1456:
1455:
1427:Sports portal
1038:Physical activity
984:Athletic training
967:Strength training
919:Semi-professional
731:Oxford dictionary
708:Outline of sports
653:Group tournaments
545:set forth below.
386:Non-league sports
104:is not a league.
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67:
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1169:General managers
1071:Governing bodies
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804:
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770:in their names.
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748:. Archived from
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514:beach volleyball
292:interleague play
158:Many groups use
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899:Military sports
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832:Wayback Machine
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818:Further reading
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284:American League
214:expansion teams
179:higher division
175:higher division
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752:on 2009-12-23.
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457:Premier League
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359:home advantage
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335:Cy Young Award
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308:Pacific League
304:Central League
226:and the lower
187:lower division
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143:, such as the
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99:Misuse of term
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47:Amateur league
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957:Periodization
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327:set of awards
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638:League club
572:conferences
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