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Sports League
A sports league is a group of individual athletes, sports teams or clubs who form a league to compete against each other and gain points in a specific sport. At its simplest, it may be a local group of amateur athletes who form teams among themselves and compete periodically, at its most complex, it can be an international professional league making large amounts of money and involving dozens of teams and thousands of players. Terminology Misuse of term 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 is not a league. Synonyms In many cases, organizations that function as leagues are described using a different term, such as association, conference, division, leaderboard, or series. This is especially common in individual sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sports Team
A sports team is a group of individuals who play a team sport together. The number of players in the group depends on the sport. The highest level of a sports team is a professional sports team. In professional sports, the athletes are very talented and are paid to compete in their sport. Historically, sports teams and the people who play sports have been amateurs. However, by the 20th century, some sports teams and their associated leagues became extremely valuable with net worth in the millions. In 2017 the Dallas Cowboys were rated by Forbes as the world's most valuable sports team at 4.2 billion US dollars. Some individual sports have modified rules that allow them to be played by teams. Team identities can be formed from a number of sources, most often a type of geographic location; e.g., the Dallas Cowboys are named after Dallas, Texas, US. Some teams can also be named after an institution, such as the Alabama Crimson Tide, who represent the University of Alabama, o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National League (division)
The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National League System and fifth-highest tier overall in the English football league system, after the Premier League and the EFL leagues and is contested by 24 clubs. Through the National League, clubs get promoted to the EFL League Two, one of the divisions of the English Football League. Formerly the Conference National, the league was renamed the National League from the 2015–16 season.Football Conference to be renamed as National League , BBC Sport, 6 April 2015 Notable former English Football League clubs that compete in the National League include: [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League (original), Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to Major League Baseball, major league status. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season, 25 years after the formation of the National League (baseball), National League (the "Senior Circuit"). Since 1903, the American League champion has played in the World Series against the National League champion with only two exceptions: 1904, when the NL champion New York Giants (baseball), New York Giants refused to play their AL counterpart, and 1994, when a 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, players' strike resulted in the cancellation of the Series. Through ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional baseball league in the world. Each team plays 162 games per season, with Opening Day traditionally held during the first week of April. Six teams in each league then advance to a four-round Major League Baseball postseason, postseason tournament in October, culminating in the World Series, a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions first played in 1903. MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. Formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively, the NL and AL cemented their cooperation with the National Agreement in 1903, making MLB the oldest major professional sports league in the world. They remained le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional ice hockey league in the world. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the Stanley Cup playoffs, league playoff champion at the end of each season. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) views the Stanley Cup as one of the "most important championships available to the sport". The NHL is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The National Hockey League was organized at the Windsor Hotel (Montreal), Windsor Hotel in Montreal on November 26, 1917, after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association (NHA), which had been founded in 1909 at Renfrew, Ontario. The NHL immediately took the NHA ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AFL–NFL Merger
The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, which retained the "National Football League" name and logo, to become the most popular sports league in the United States. The merger was announced on the evening of June 8, 1966. Under the merger agreement, the leagues maintained separate regular-season schedules for the next four seasons—from 1966 through 1969 with a final championship game which would become known as the Super Bowl—and then officially merged before the 1970 season to form one league with two conferences. Background Early rivals Following its inception in 1920, the NFL fended off several rival leagues. Before 1960, its most important rival was the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), which began play in 1946. The AAFC differed from the NFL in several ways. Despit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence. It was more successful than earlier rivals to the NFL, including not only the organizations founded in American Football League (1926), 1926, American Football League (1936), 1936, and American Football League (1940), 1940, respectively, under the AFL name, but also the later All-America Football Conference, which existed between 1944 and 1950, but conducted operations only between 1946 and 1949. This fourth version of the AFL was the most successful, created by a number of owners who had been refused NFL expansion franchises or had minor shares of NFL franchises. The AFL's original lineup consisted of an Eastern division ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference (NFC), each have 16 teams organized into four divisions. Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 merger between the National Football League, and the American Football League (AFL). All ten of the AFL teams, and three NFL teams, became members of the new AFC, with the remaining thirteen NFL teams forming the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total of 16 teams in each conference. The current AFC champions are the Kansas City Chiefs, who defeated the Buffalo Bills in the 2024 season's AFC Championship Game for their fifth conference championship and went on to lose Super Bowl LIX against the Philadelphia Eagles. Teams Like the NFC, the conferenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference (NFC) is a conference of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference (AFC), each have 16 teams organized into four divisions. Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 NFL merger with the rival American Football League (AFL). All ten of the former AFL teams and three NFL teams formed the AFC while the remaining thirteen NFL clubs formed the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making a total of 16 clubs in each conference. The defending champions of the NFC are the Philadelphia Eagles, who defeated the Washington Commanders in the 2024 season's NFC Championship Game for their fifth conference championship in the team's history. Teams Since 2002, like the AFC, the NFC has 16 teams that organized into four divisions each with four teams: East, North, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and the highest professional level of American football in the world. Each NFL season begins annually with a NFL preseason, three-week preseason in August, followed by the NFL regular season, 18-week regular season, which runs from early September to early January, with each team playing 17 games and having one Bye (sports), bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven teams from each conference, including the four division winners and three Wild card (sports), wild card teams, advance to the NFL playoffs, playoffs, a single-elimination tournament, which culminates in the Super Bowl, played in early February ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minor League
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in various sports. They generally have lesser fan bases, much smaller revenues and salaries, and are used to develop players for bigger leagues. Minor leagues are also occasionally used as a testing ground for proposed rule changes prior to implementation at the top level. The minor league concept is a manifestation of the franchise system used in North American sports, whereby the group of major league teams in each sport is fixed for long periods between expansions or other adjustments, which only take place with the consent of the major league owners. In Europe, and many other parts of the world, association football (soccer), basketball, american football, baseball, handball, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major Professional Sports Leagues In The United States And Canada
Major professional sports, professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada traditionally include four leagues: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL). Other prominent leagues include Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Canadian Football League (CFL). MLB, the NBA, the NFL, and the NHL are commonly referred to as the "Big Four". Each of these is the wealthiest professional club competition in its sport worldwide, and along with the English Premier League they make up the top five sports leagues by revenue in the world. Each of the Big Four leagues, as well as MLS and the CFL, averages at least 15,000 fans in attendance per game . The NFL has the largest stadiums on average in the world, ranging in capacity from just over 60,000 to almost 100,000 spectators, while MLB ballparks generally hold between 30,000 and 50,000 fans. Venues used primarily by MLS and CFL vary mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
