An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a

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 them ...

. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, but sometimes dividing the players by an attribute such as nationality. Selection of the players may be done by a vote of the coaches and/or news media; in professional leagues, fans may vote on some or all of the roster. An all-star game usually occurs at the midpoint of the regular season. An exception is

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

's NFL

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

, which occurs at the end of the season. All-star games are usually organized like regular games, but are often played with less emphasis on victory. Competing goals are to give many players time in the game and to avoid injury. In

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

, for example, there is no serious checking, while in

no blitzing is allowed. In basketball, there is virtually no defense played until the final quarter; instead, the Australian State of Origin series involves physicality that often leads to on-field scuffles. The results, particularly in later years, have been met with overwhelming negative reactions from fans and sports media, criticizing players for not trying, and causing the games to have among the lowest ratings in a sports league season. The current format of the NHL

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

differs significantly from that of normal league games. Instead of a single game, the event is organized as a four-team knockout tournament, with each team representing one of the league's divisions. Additionally, each game within the event is contested as a single 20-minute period, making the playing time of the All-Star Game identical to that of a regulation NHL game. The most radical difference is the on-ice team composition—instead of five skaters and one goaltender at full strength, each team has three skaters and a goaltender. Due to the reduced team sizes, penalties that normally cause the penalized team to lose a skater instead give the non-penalized team an extra skater. The term "all-star" is mainly used in North America. All-star games are rare in international sports, such as

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, where games between national teams are more popular than all-star games would be. In the United Kingdom, all-star teams are usually denoted with the

Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...

corresponding to the number of players allowed on the field – for example, a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

''XI'', a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

''XIII'' and a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

''XV''.

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 i ...

organized the first professional league all-star game as part of the 1933 World's Fair in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. It was the brainchild of Arch Ward, then sports editor for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

''.All-Star Game History
", Baseball Almanac. Initially intended to be a one-time event, its great success resulted in playing the game annually. Ward's contribution was recognized by Major League Baseball in 1962 with the creation of the Arch Ward Trophy, given to the All-Star Game's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

each year.Newman, Mark.
All-Star MVP Awaits Your Vote
", MLB.com, July 10, 2006.

Professional all-star games

North America

Major leagues

* Major League Baseball All-Star Game ( National League vs.

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 L ...

) * National Basketball Association All-Star Game ** The game has had two formats throughout its history: *** The original format used from the first game in 1951 until 2017 pitted Eastern Conference and Western Conference all-star teams. *** The 2018 to the 2023 All-Star games, followed a fantasy draft format, similar to the 2011–2015 format of the NHL All-Star Game (see below), involving the selection of players by a combination of fan, player, and media voting. The vote leaders for each conferences are then named as team captains for each all-star team, who then select players from the rest of the all-stars, regardless of the conference they play in. The 2024 All-Star Game reverted to its original East vs. West format. * National Hockey League All-Star Game ** The game has had a number of formats throughout its history: *** The original format, used from 1947 through 1968 with two exceptions, saw the previous season's Stanley Cup champions take on an "All-Star" team made up of the First and Second NHL All-Star Teams plus other star players. *** In 1951 and 1952, the competing teams were the First NHL All-Star Team, supplemented with stars from the league's American franchises, and the Second NHL All-Star Team, supplemented with stars from Canadian franchises. *** Beginning in 1969 and continuing through

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, with some exceptions, the format was geographic—most recently Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference. *** For

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and 1987, a single team comprising the NHL's best players faced the Soviet national ice hockey team in a two-game series. *** From 1998 through 2002, the teams were divided by player nationality, with a "North America" team made up of Canadians and Americans and a "World" team drawn from the rest of the world. *** In 2006, 2010 and 2014, the league did not hold an all-star game, instead releasing its players to play

ice hockey at the Olympic Games Ice hockey tournaments have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1920. The men's tournament was introduced at the 1920 Summer Olympics and was transferred permanently to the Winter Olympic Games program in 1924, in France. The women's tourname ...

. The league held an all-star game in addition to releasing its players for the Olympics in 1998 and 2002. *** Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout cancelling the entire season, the All-Star Game was not held in 2005. In 2013, the league did not hold an all-star game as well, as it omitted from the schedule because of the shortened season caused by the player lockout. *** From

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

to 2015, a fantasy draft took place that involved the selection of 42 players—six in fan voting, and the other 36 by the league. The selected players then chose two of these individuals as team captains. *** From 2016 onward, the "All-Star Game" consists of a mini-tournament where teams representing the league's divisions compete against each other in abbreviated games lasting only 20 minutes (instead of the three 20-minute periods of normal NHL games). * National Football League Pro Bowl ** From 1938 to 1942, the NFL held an all-star game with the winner of that year's NFL Championship Game against an all-star team composed of players from the other teams (and, at least once, teams outside the NFL). ** From 1951 to 2013, the Pro Bowl followed an inter-conference format (Eastern vs. Western from 1951 to 1969 and American Football Conference vs. National Football Conference since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970). The AFC vs NFC format was restored in 2017. ** From 2014 to 2016 it followed a draft format, similar to the 2011–2015 format of the NHL All-Star Game (see above). :''Note:'' In professional American football, the term "all-star game" can also refer to the American Football League All-Star game, played from 1961 to 1969; or the College All-Star Game, played from 1934 to 1976. * Major League Soccer All-Star Game ** The game has had several formats throughout its history: *** Originally, the game pitted Eastern Conference and Western Conference all-star teams. This format was used for all games save one from 1996 through 2001, and also in 2004. *** The 1998 game pitted an "MLS USA" team, consisting entirely of Americans, against an "MLS World" team drawn from all other nationalities. *** The 2002 game matched an MLS all-star team against the US national team. *** The 2003 game was the first in which an MLS all-star team played a visiting foreign club team. This format was used through the 2019 edition, with the exception of 2004. In the 2003 game, the visiting team was from Mexico; from 2005 to 2019, the visiting team was based in Europe. *** The 2021 game was the first to incorporate its current format involving all-star teams from both MLS and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

's top league,

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

. * NASCAR All-Star Race (Race winners from previous and current season, as well as Cup champions and All-Star Race winners from the previous 10 seasons) * WNBA All-Star Game (usually Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference) ** In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, the East-West format was not followed; instead, the USA national team faced a team of WNBA all-stars. The league does not consider these games to be official All-Star Games. ** From 2008 forward, no All-Star Game has been played in any Olympic year. ** Since 2018, the All-Star Game has used a draft format similar to that used by the NHL in the 2011–2015 period. In the WNBA's implementation, fan voting determines the two team captains (though in the first game under the current format, Maya Moore declined the captain's role).

Minor leagues

* USAFL East vs West * American Hockey League All-Star Game * ECHL All-Star Game *

Legends Football League The Extreme Football League (X League) is a women's Semi-professional sports, semi-professional indoor American football league operating in the United States. The league was originally founded in 2009 as the Lingerie Football League (LFL), and ...

All-Fantasy Game (Eastern vs Western) * Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game (Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference) * National Lacrosse League All-Star Game (East Division vs. West Division) * Major Indoor Soccer League All-Star Game (Format varies) * Women's Professional Soccer All-Star Game ** In the three years of the league's existence, two different formats were used. *** The first game in

, which took place after the season, employed a format similar to that of recent MLS All-Star Games, with a team of WPS all-stars taking on a visiting foreign club team (specifically Umeå IK of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

). *** The 2010 edition took place at midseason. Of the 36 players, 22 were selected through a voting process, and the other 14 were selected by the league. The top vote-getters among U.S. and international players, respectively

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired Association football, soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on ...

and Marta, were named captains. They picked their first 10 teammates from the remaining 20 All-Stars selected through the voting process, with the league then filling out each roster. *** No All-Star Game was held in

, which turned out to be the league's final season, because the season ran up against the Women's World Cup. ** The successor to WPS, the National Women's Soccer League (2013–present), has never held an all-star game. * Triple-A All-Star Game (Baseball;

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

vs. Pacific Coast League) * Southern League All-Star Game (Baseball; North Division vs. South Division) * AIFA Kickoff Classic ( American Indoor Football Association All-Stars vs. expansion team)

Former events

* East–West All-Star Game (1933–1962, pairing teams of Negro league baseball players) * Marlboro Challenge (1987–1992, CART series winners from the current and previous seasons) * CFL All-Star Game (various years and formats) * Double-A All-Star Game (1991–2002; baseball; players from

-affiliated teams vs. players from National League-affiliated teams)

Other regions

Association football

* A-Leagues All Star Game – A selected team from the best of the Australian football (soccer) league. The A-League All Stars play an international club annually. * J.League All-Star Soccer (Japan; J-WEST vs. J-EAST, generally) * K League All-Star Game * MLS All-Star Game

Australian rules football

* E. J. Whitten Legends Game (Victoria vs. All Stars, a team representing the rest of Australia—annual) * AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match (Victoria vs. Dream Team—only edition in 2008)

Baseball

* Australian Baseball League All-Star Game (Team Australia vs. World All-Stars) * Chinese Professional Baseball League All-Star Game (Red vs. White) * Honkbal Hoofdklasse All-Star Game (Netherlands; North All-Stars vs. South All-Stars) * KBO All-Star Game (Nanum vs. Dream) * Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Series

Basketball

* BBL All-Star Game ( Basketball Bundesliga, Germany; teams currently divided by player nationality as National ermansand International) * BSL All-Star Game ( Basketball Super League, Turkey; teams currently divided by the location of the individual players' clubs as Team Asia (

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

) and Team Europe ( East Thrace) * DBL All-Star Gala ( Dutch Basketball League; varying team compositions) * HEBA Greek All Star Game ( Greek Basket League; teams currently divided by player nationality as Greek and Rest of the World) * LNB All-Star Game ( LNB Pro A, France; teams currently divided by players citizenship as French nationals and foreign players) * Lega Basket All Star Game (

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

, Italy; varying team compositions) *

LKL All-Star Game The LKL All-Star Game is the All-Star Game of the professional Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). The game is held once every year. The participants of the game are chosen in two ways: the first is via fan ballot, with the leading vote recipien ...

(

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

; varying team compositions) * MPBL All-Star Game (

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

; North vs. South) * NBB All-Star Game (

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

; teams currently divided by player nationality as ''Brasil'' and ''Mundo'' orld * NBL All-Star Game (

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

; varying team compositions, with the current format being North vs. South) * Philippine Basketball Association All-Star Game (varying team compositions, with the current format being Team A vs. Team B, it follows a fantasy draft format where the top two vote-getters will be the team captains of both teams, the remaining players will be selected from a 24-man list via draft.)

Ice hockey

* Kontinental Hockey League All-Star Game — Two different formats have been used: ** In the game's first two editions in 2009 and 2010, the competing sides were divided by player nationality: "Team Russia" and "Team World". ** Since then, the competing teams have been "Team East" and "Team West", divided between the league's two conferences.

Kart racing

* Masters of Paris-Bercy * CIK-FIA Monaco Kart Cup – all-star races held in several editions

Rugby league

* National Rugby League All Stars Game – ( Indigenous All Stars vs NRL All Stars) :''Note:'' This annual game involves a publicly voted selection of the best club players from the league versus an Aboriginal team in honour of reconciliation.

Pesäpallo

* – East-West

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

pesäpallo match that usually fields top league Superpesis players, along with corresponding matches at various youth tiers.

College all-star games

Football * Aztec Bowl, features an all-star Mexican team and, currently, an NCAA Division III all-star team * Blue–Gray Football Classic (defunct) * Casino del Sol College All-Star Game (originally the Eastham Energy All-Star Game) (defunct) * Challenge Bowl (defunct), ''see Kingdome#Challenge Bowl'' * College All-Star Game (defunct), featured the defending NFL champions and an all-star team of recent college graduates * East–West Shrine Bowl * HBCU Legacy Bowl * Hula Bowl * Magnolia Gridiron All-Star Classic (defunct) * Mahi Shrine North–South College All-Star Classic (defunct) * Medal of Honor Game * NFLPA Collegiate Bowl (defunct) * Texas vs The Nation (defunct) * Tropical Bowl * North–South All-American Game (defunct) * North–South All-Star Classic (defunct) * North–South Shrine Game (defunct) * Senior Bowl Basketball *NCAA All-Star Game (Philippines; Heroes vs. Saints) * Reese's College All-Star Game (defunct) * UAAP NCAA All-Star Game ( UAAP vs

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

; defunct) Other sports * North–South Senior All-Star Game, the NCAA men's lacrosse all-star games

High school all-star games

High school baseball * Under Armour All-America Baseball Game * Perfect Game All-American Classic (East vs. West) High school basketball * McDonald's All-American Game — featuring the most highly recruited high school players from across the nation. * Jordan Brand Classic – similar game among blue chip athletes * Capital Classic – longest-running high school all-star basketball game in the United States * Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic – defunct, played annually in Louisville, Kentucky at Freedom Hall and featured top high school boys basketball players from across the country High school football * U.S. Army All-American Bowl * Under Armour All-America Game * Offense-Defense All-American Bowl * NUC All-World Gridiron Classic * Alabama–Mississippi All-Star Classic (

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

vs.

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

) * Big 33 Football Classic (

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

vs.

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

) * Bayou Bowl ( Houston metropolitan area, Texas vs.

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

) * Don Raabe Big 30 Charities Classic ( Southern Tier, New York vs. Northern Tier, Pennsylvania) *Lions Club All-Star High School Football Classic ( Erie County, New York vs. Niagara County, New York) * Maryland Crab Bowl ( Washington, D.C. vs.

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

) * Oil Bowl (

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

vs.

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

) * DFW Bowl (high school) All Star Football Game featuring top players from (

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

) vs. top players from ( Fort Worth). The game is organized by North American All Stars. The game is also referred to as the North Texas East/West Classic. * Dunmore Lions Club Dream Game ( City vs. County) (

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

) (Longest running football all star game in the country. EST. 1935) * Carolina Bowl "Senior Showcase" (

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

vs.

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

) (www.CarolinaBowl.com / EST. 2015) High school hockey * CCM Hockey Showcase High school lacrosse * Under Armour All-American Lacrosse Game

References

{{Commons category Sports competitions 1933 introductions American inventions Sports originating in the United States