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123-852: The Continental League of Professional Baseball Clubs (known as the Continental League or CL ) was a proposed third major league for baseball in the United States and Canada. The league was announced in 1959 and scheduled to begin play in the 1961 season. Unlike predecessor competitors such as the Players' League and the Federal League , it sought membership within organized baseball's existing organization and acceptance within Major League Baseball as any attempt at outsider leagues could be quashed by them per

246-582: A 1922 Supreme Court case declaring MLB exempt from federal antitrust laws. The league disbanded in August 1960 without playing a single game as a concession by lawyer William Shea as part of his negotiations with Major League Baseball to expand to incorporate at least eight new teams. The move of the New York Giants (to San Francisco) and the Brooklyn Dodgers (to Los Angeles) following

369-539: A 56–106 (.346) record, 48½ games behind the New York Yankees . The 1964 season saw the Senators' best season to date, though still with an abysmal showing. For the entire season, the team mostly wavered between seventh and eighth place prior to June 19. From then on, the team was exclusively in ninth or last place. The Senators ended the season in ninth place with a 62–100 (.383) record, 42 games behind

492-592: A 76–85 (.472) record, 15½ games behind the Boston Red Sox . Co-owner James Johnston died in December, leaving his control of ownership to his estate. The 1968 season, under new manager Jim Lemon , saw the Senators' worst season since 1964 . The team slowly dropped in the standings after starting as a " first division " team, having placed in the upper half of the league team in April. From June 11 through

615-468: A $ 150 million expansion fee, a significant increase from the $ 100 million that New York City FC paid to join MLS in 2015. MLS announced plans to expand to 30 teams by 2023, and set the expansion fee for the 28th and 29th teams (ultimately Sacramento Republic FC and St. Louis City SC) at $ 200 million. The 30th team, ultimately unveiled as 2022 entry Charlotte FC, reportedly paid $ 325 million. For comparison,

738-620: A Continental League city without an existing Major League Baseball team. However, notwithstanding aforementioned promise to expand to non-MLB cities, the National League owners had always had misgivings regarding their apparent ceding of the nation's largest market to the American League. Thus, once expansion was committed to, it was virtually inevitable the NL would return to New York City. The NL opted to offer its tenth franchise to

861-744: A Continental League city without an existing Major League Baseball team. Though the AL placed one of its expansion teams (the Washington Senators , now the Texas Rangers ) in a previously existing Major League Baseball city (Washington, D.C.), this was done to replace the original Senators team, which had relocated to Minneapolis–St. Paul and became the Minnesota Twins . Like Houston, the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul were

984-504: A chaotic, last-minute expansion draft . Ownership changed hands several times during the franchise's stay in Washington and was often plagued by poor decision-making and planning. Owner Elwood Richard Quesada once wondered why he needed to pay players who did not belong in the majors and later agreed to a ten-year lease at D.C. Stadium—a move that would come back to haunt the Senators. In 1963 , Quesada resigned and sold his stake in

1107-421: A combined metro area of over 2 million), a league business model that relies more heavily on equally distributed television revenue that puts small-market teams at less of a disadvantage, and the loyalty of their Cheesehead fan base, whose fans and their next of kin typically renew their season tickets every year until their issue expires, resulting in a centuries-long waiting list for season tickets. Green Bay

1230-554: A decade. Years earlier, Charles O. Finley , the owner of the Kansas City Athletics , sought to relocate his baseball team to Dallas, but the idea was rebuffed and ultimately declined by the other AL team owners (the A's ultimately moved to Oakland, California in 1968 ). Arlington's hole card was Turnpike Stadium , a 10,000-seat park built in 1965 to house the Double-A Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs of

1353-674: A first-division league, with that title going instead to the Canadian Premier League (CPL). However, Canadian teams in the MLS are regarded as Division I teams, and MLS is generally acknowledged as having a higher quality of play than the CPL, significantly more media coverage and economic success, and has teams based in Canada's three largest metropolitan areas, who together have dominated the Canadian Championship ,

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1476-545: A head at the club's last game in Washington on Thursday, September 30. Thousands simply walked in without paying after the security guards left early, swelling the paid attendance of 14,460 to around 25,000, while fans unfurled a "SHORT STINKS" banner. With two outs in the top of the ninth inning and the Senators leading 7–5, several hundred youths stormed the field, raiding it for souvenirs. One man grabbed first base and ran off with it. With no security in sight and only three bases, umpire crew chief Jim Honochick forfeited

1599-658: A major league team in Buffalo in the nineteenth century .) Buffalo remains home to the Buffalo Bisons , a team in the Triple-A International League . Buffalo also played host to the majority of Toronto Blue Jays home games for the 2020 season and part of the next season due to cross-border travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic . Major professional sports leagues in

1722-726: A metro area of that size being the Buffalo Sabres ). While only one MLB team, the San Diego Padres , is located in a market that has no other major league teams, six NBA teams are located in cities devoid of any additional "Big Four" franchises: the Memphis Grizzlies , Oklahoma City Thunder , Orlando Magic , Portland Trail Blazers , Sacramento Kings , and San Antonio Spurs . Four of these six NBA-only cities also lack an MLS team (Memphis, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, San Antonio). The Salt Lake City market, home to

1845-411: A multi-league knockout competition which technically decides the national champions of Canada. This makes Canada unusual in awarding its national soccer championship to the winner of its premier knockout tournament, rather than the winners of its highest-level league competition. MLS is unique among U.S. and Canada's major sports leagues in that the teams take part in multiple separate tournament outside

1968-609: A population of more than 1 million host at least one major sports franchise. All five U.S.-based major leagues each currently have at least two teams in both the New York/North Jersey area and the Los Angeles/Anaheim market. MLB, which historically (as a result of its history as two rival leagues) had a team in each component league in Boston, Philadelphia and St. Louis up until the mid-20th century, and in

2091-438: A red block "W" with white trim. In 1963, the uniforms returned to a design similar to the final uniforms worn by the original Senators, with "Senators" in script letters and an underline tail that flowed after the second "s". However, the color scheme was reversed on the letters, with red serving as the dominant color. The cap also adopted the "curly W" insignia that was later used by the modern-day Washington Nationals . In 1968,

2214-526: A slow upward trend for the league. Its level of play is generally recognized as on the second tier of professional football, with the CFL having a slight advantage in player recruitment compared to second-tier American leagues such as the UFL due to the CFL's longer established history. Major professional sports leagues are distinguished from other sports leagues in terms of business and economic factors, popularity of

2337-728: A small part of North Carolina. The largest TV market without a major franchise is the Hartford – New Haven market, covering all of Connecticut except the former Fairfield County ; Hartford's last major league squad, the NHL's Whalers , left in 1997. The NHL has been the dominant professional sports league in Canada, and was first established in Canada in 1917. The NHL was initially based entirely in eastern Canada. By 1925, Hamilton and Quebec City no longer had NHL teams, while Ottawa left in 1934, by which point American teams were slowly being added. The first Canadian expansion launched in 1970 with

2460-522: A team from the league's unsuccessful 1990s-era South Division . The CFL has had either eight or nine teams in operation since its inception except for the 1994 and 1995 seasons in which the league temporarily expanded into the United States. Each of the Big Four leagues has at least 30 teams (the NFL has had 32 teams since 2002 and the NHL added its 32nd team in 2021), and each has had at least 29 teams since

2583-574: A team in Vancouver ; the NHL later added teams in Edmonton , Winnipeg and Quebec City (through absorption of WHA franchises), Calgary (via relocation from Atlanta ) and Ottawa (via expansion) to go with the still-extant Toronto and Montreal teams. The distinctive place ice hockey holds in Canadian culture allowed these franchises to compete with teams in larger cities for some time. However,

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2706-556: A ten-year lease. The Washington Senators had an overall win–loss record of 740–1,032–1 (.418) during their 11 years in Washington, D.C.. No former Washington Senators players were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame . When the original Washington Senators announced their move to Minnesota in 1960 to become the Twins in 1961 , Major League Baseball decided to expand a year earlier than planned to stave off

2829-466: A twist on a joke about the old Senators: "Washington: first in war, first in peace and still last in the American League." Their only winning season was in 1969 when Hall of Famer Ted Williams managed the club to an 86–76 record, placing fourth in the AL East. The team played their inaugural season at old Griffith Stadium , then moved to the new District of Columbia Stadium in 1962 under

2952-532: Is a relatively recent situation. Historically, the league was concentrated in the northeast, with no teams south of New York City or west of Chicago from 1935 until 1967. The league expanded its footprint westward in a 1967 expansion but, other than the unsuccessful Atlanta Flames , avoided the South until making a major expansion into the territory in the 1990s. Both the NBA and MLS have higher concentrations of teams in

3075-533: Is one of two NFL teams, the other being the Jacksonville Jaguars , that are the only major league franchises in their metropolitan area. Both MLB and the NFL have had two prolonged recent exceptions in which the league was absent from one of the U.S.'s ten most populous metropolitan areas; from 1972 to 2004, ninth-place Washington, D.C., had no MLB team , and from 1995 to 2016, second-place Los Angeles had no NFL teams . The NHL's national footprint

3198-507: Is the most watched annual event on U.S. television, with Super Bowl XLIX being the single most-watched program in U.S. television history. The NFL is the only one of the "Big Four" leagues not to have a team in Canada, where the Canadian Football League ( see § Canadian Football League ) is the premier professional league in a similar gridiron football sport of Canadian football . The National Hockey League

3321-629: Is the only major league that does not have any teams in markets with fewer than 1.75 million people; both it and the NFL have teams in every U.S. market with over 4 million people. The NHL is the major league that least follows the general trend, due to the fact that a disproportionate number of its franchises are in cities with cold winters. The NHL lacks teams in a number of southern metropolitan areas with populations of over 3 million (Houston, Atlanta, San Diego) but has five teams in northern metropolitan areas with fewer than 1.25 million people, all of which are in or adjacent to Canada (the lone American team in

3444-442: Is the top-level men's professional soccer league in the United States. As of the league's 2024 season, MLS has 29 teams, with 26 in the United States and 3 in Canada, with one more U.S. team, San Diego FC , scheduled to start play in 2025. The league began play in 1996, its creation a requirement by FIFA for awarding the United States the right to host the 1994 World Cup . MLS was the first major Division I outdoor soccer league in

3567-684: Is the youngest of the major American leagues. It was founded in 1949 with the merger of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL) though it later adopted the BAA's founding date in 1946 as its own. Four teams from the rival American Basketball Association joined the NBA with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. It currently has 30 teams, 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. The NBA

3690-531: Is watched by audiences both domestically and internationally, and as of 2022 it was the most popular league out of the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB worldwide in desktop web traffic. While the NBA is the most viewed basketball league in Canada, Canada Basketball recognizes the Canadian Elite Basketball League as the country's first-division professional league. The National Football League is a professional American football league and

3813-628: Is widely recognized as the world's premier professional ice hockey league, and is the only "Big Four" league to have been founded in Canada. It was formed in 1917 as a successor to the Canadian National Hockey Association (founded in 1909), taking all but one of the NHA's teams. The NHL partially absorbed the rival World Hockey Association in 1979. There are 32 teams, with 25 in the U.S. and 7 in Canada. The most popular sports league in Canada, and widely followed across

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3936-620: The All-America Football Conference in 1949 and merged with the American Football League in 1970. It has 32 teams, all located in the United States. As of 2015 , NFL games have the largest per-game attendance among domestic professional leagues in the world, and is the most popular league in the U.S. in terms of television ratings and merchandising. Its championship game, the Super Bowl ,

4059-782: The American Basketball Association to Nassau Coliseum. Shea also helped negotiate the mergers of both rival leagues with the established National Football League and National Basketball Association respectively. On the other hand, he actively opposed efforts to establish a World Hockey Association team on Long Island by successfully lobbying the National Hockey League and the New York Rangers to award an NHL franchise (the New York Islanders ) to Nassau County . Of

4182-614: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts , trace their origins to the late 1860s and early 1870s, which ranks them amongst the oldest professional sports teams of any kind still in existence on the continent. From 1993 to 1995, the CFL attempted expansion into the United States to cities without NFL teams, but all the clubs folded, while the management structure of the Baltimore Stallions

4305-674: The Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (which dated to 1907) and the Western Interprovincial Football Union (which was founded in 1936), and became independent from the Canadian Rugby Union in 1958. The league now consists of nine teams, all based in Canada. The Grey Cup is awarded annually to the champion every November and is the highest-attended sporting event in the nation. The oldest extant teams,

4428-527: The Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. Each of the current major leagues has franchises placed nationwide, with multiple franchises in each of the United States' four census regions —Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. Major leagues tend to place franchises only in the largest, most populated metropolitan areas. Most major league teams are in metropolitan areas having populations of more than 2 million. All but 12 continental U.S. metropolitan areas with

4551-620: The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , the Ohio League , and the National Hockey Association formed the basis of the modern MLB, NFL, and NHL, respectively. Basketball was invented in 1891, and its first professional league formed in the 1920s. The Basketball Association of America , founded in 1946, formed the basis of the NBA in 1949 and has lasted for over 75 years. Soccer

4674-553: The National League (founded in 1876) and the American League (founded in 1901). With the establishment of the American League in 1901 also came the trademarking of "Major League Baseball". Cooperation between the two leagues began in 1903 inasmuch as the two league champions began playing a " World Series ". In 1904, however, there was no World Series played because one of the league champions refused to play. During

4797-447: The New York Yankees ) may even partially or fully own the cable network upon which their games are broadcast, and often receive more revenue from local broadcasts than any other source. NFL teams, which generally play once per week, do not negotiate local broadcast contracts, but are allowed to negotiate their own television deals for preseason games with syndication and broadcast stations. The current MLS broadcast deals took effect with

4920-404: The New York Yankees . The 1965 season continued the trend of the Senators' having their best season to date, though the team was still well under .500. This was the first season the team had less than 100 loses. Prior to July, the team was mostly in ninth place, while from July 2 on, the team did not leave eighth place. The Senators ended the season with a 70–92 (.432) record, 32 games behind

5043-695: The Saskatchewan Roughriders , in a market not served by any other major league (the Hamilton Tiger-Cats , while having their city to themselves, are on the outskirts of both the Niagara Frontier (less than 50 miles from Buffalo) and the extended Greater Toronto Area ). The newest market any of the Big Four leagues has entered is the Las Vegas Valley , which received the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 and

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5166-513: The Texas League . However, it had been built to MLB specifications, and only minor excavations would be necessary to expand the park to accommodate major league crowds. Vandergriff's offer of a multimillion-dollar down payment prompted Short to make the move to Arlington. On September 21, 1971 , American League owners voted 10–2 to allow the move of the franchise to Arlington for the 1972 season. Senators fans were livid, and enmity came to

5289-697: The United States Census Bureau as Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), California's Inland Empire is the largest without a major franchise. However, it is part of Greater Los Angeles , a region defined by the US Census as a Combined Statistical Area (CSA), and is thus part of the Los Angeles television market. The largest CSA without a major franchise is the Hampton Roads area of southeastern Virginia, spilling over into

5412-534: The Utah Jazz (as well as MLS team Real Salt Lake ), lacked another major-league team before the quasi-relocation of the Arizona Coyotes after the 2023–24 season. The NFL has one major exception. The Green Bay Packers survive in major league sports' smallest metropolitan area (300,000 population) thanks to unique nonprofit corporate ownership , proximity to the neighboring Milwaukee market (giving

5535-729: The Washington Nationals . However, the Rangers allowed the Nationals to use the curly W logo that originated with the expansion Senators. As the second iteration of the Washington Senators, the team's first home uniforms featured navy pinstripes and navy-trimmed red letters. "SENATORS" was written in a style reminiscent of the Boston Red Sox 's uniforms. Road gray uniforms simply featured "WASHINGTON" in navy block letters with navy numbers. Caps were all-navy with

5658-465: The Washington Nationals . The Toronto Blue Jays , who began play in 1977, became the first team outside the United States to win the World Series in 1992 and 1993. Washington Senators (1961%E2%80%9371) The 11-year tenure in Washington, D.C. saw the team plagued with poor performances, and were the definition of futility, losing an average of 94 games a season. The team's struggles led to

5781-490: The World Series winning New York Yankees . The Senators played in the brand-new District of Columbia Stadium . What turned out to be the longest ownership era of the Washington Senators was through Washington stockbrokers James Johnston and James Lemon , having bought the team from Elwood Richard Quesada . Over the course of six seasons, both suffered massive financial losses. Johnston died in 1967 and Lemon sold

5904-423: The World Series winning New York Yankees . This was the only season the team played at Griffith Stadium , which closed following the conclusion of the season. In the sophomore season of the Senators, the team performed worse than the previous year. The team was in last place from game 7 on April 21 through the end of the season. The Senators ended the season with a dismal 60–101 (.373) record, 35½ games behind

6027-445: The "Big Four" leagues are televised on the four largest U.S. broadcast TV networks— ABC , CBS , NBC , and Fox . They enjoy strong TV viewer ratings, and their leagues earn significant revenues from these TV contracts. All of the top four major sports leagues have had television contracts with at least one of the original "big three" U.S. broadcast television networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) since those networks' early years, indicative of

6150-572: The 1957 season led New York City mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. to appoint a four-man committee to bring the National League back to the city in 1958. Early overtures to entice one of the other six existing NL teams – the Cincinnati Reds , Philadelphia Phillies , and Pittsburgh Pirates were reportedly approached – were abandoned. The Continental League was the idea of attorney William Shea , who proposed it in November 1958. On July 27, 1959,

6273-459: The 2023 season. The league's primary media partner is Apple , which paid a reported $ 2.5 billion for exclusive worldwide streaming rights from 2023 to 2032. All league games are streamed on the MLS Season Pass service on Apple TV+ . English and Spanish commentary are available for all matches, and games involving Canadian teams are also available in French. Linear television rights for 2023–2026 are held by Fox Sports in both English and Spanish in

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6396-422: The 2035–36 season, will be with ABC/ESPN, NBC, Peacock , and Amazon , and also covers the WNBA for its 2026–2036 seasons. It is expected to generate total annual revenues of $ 6.9 billion, with a reported split of roughly $ 6.7 billion for the NBA and $ 200 million for the WNBA. The NHL's current U.S. television deal with ABC/ESPN and Turner Sports took effect with the 2021–22 season and runs through 2027–28. While

6519-444: The AL East with an 86–76 (.531) record, 23 games behind the Baltimore Orioles . Attendance surged to over 918,000, at the time the highest in Washington baseball history. Following their brief success in 1969, owner Bob Short was forced to make many questionable trades to lower the debt he had incurred to pay for the team in late 1968; the purchase price was reported at $ 9.4 million. Serving as his own general manager, Short

6642-427: The AL and NL each added two more teams for a total of eight over the course of the decade, thereby matching the total number of new teams envisioned by the Continental League. Although William Shea's efforts to create a third major league are not well known today, Shea Stadium , home of the New York Mets from 1964 to 2008, was named in his honor for his efforts in bringing National League baseball back to New York. Over

6765-550: The Arizona Coyotes. Since 2002 expansion franchises have commanded huge entry fees, which represent the price the new team must pay to gain its share of the existing teams' often guaranteed revenue streams. The Houston Texans paid $ 700 million to join the NFL in 2002. By comparison, the Charlotte Bobcats (now the Hornets) paid $ 300 million to join the NBA. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays (originally Devil Rays) paid $ 130 million each to join MLB. The NHL's Seattle Kraken (which started play in 2021), paid $ 650 million to join

6888-408: The Continental League's formation. The promise of expansion achieved the owners' desired effect; on August 2, 1960, the Continental League formally disbanded. Baseball historians concur that even without the imminent threat of a third major league, Major League Baseball expansion would inevitably have happened due to such factors as pressure from Congress, the rapid growth of professional football, and

7011-437: The Los Angeles-based Chivas USA squad folded in 2014. MLS has had one franchise relocate, the San Jose Earthquakes , which became Houston Dynamo FC in 2006; the Earthquakes returned as an expansion club in 2008, inheriting the pre-relocation history of the original Earthquakes. All seven CFL franchises between Vancouver and Toronto have been in place since the BC Lions were founded in 1954. The league has had problems in

7134-439: The MLS regular and playoff season; the knockout U.S. Open Cup for United States teams and Canadian Championship for Canadian teams, cross-border/regional Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup and the continental CONCACAF Champions Cup and FIFA Club World Cup . The Canadian Football League is the highest level of play in Canadian football . The league was organized in 1956 as a cooperative agreement between two regional leagues,

7257-513: The NFL no longer share stadiums, although there are frequent examples of MLB and NFL teams sharing stadiums in the past. The NFL and MLB also play a limited number of annual games in English Premier League stadiums, and the NFL plays a limited number of annual games in stadiums of Germany's Bundesliga , and less often plays games in stadiums of Mexico's Liga MX , Brazil's Brasileirão , and Spain's La Liga . The Big Four leagues currently have 30 to 32 teams each, most of which are concentrated in

7380-404: 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 as of 2023 . The NFL has

7503-412: The NHL did not announce the amount, outside reports indicated that ABC and ESPN parent company Disney was paying a total of about $ 400 million and Turner about $ 225 million annually. This $ 625 million annual contract for American rights is in addition to the $ 433 million annual fee Rogers Sportsnet pays for Canadian rights. All four major sports leagues have launched a network of their own— NBA TV in

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7626-445: The Orioles to regular championship contenders (winning their first World Series in 1966 ) did not help the Senators' cause either. Fans kept their distance from the Senators while the Orioles won four American League pennants and two World Series from 1966 through 1971. The 1970 season for the Senators was a return to failure the team traditionally had. While competitive in April, the team fell to 10 games back by June. From June 6 on,

7749-474: The Ottawa Redblacks paid C$ 7 million to join the Canadian Football League. All of the top four major leagues exhibit stability in most of their franchises . No team from the top four leagues has collapsed outright since the 1970s. The last team to contract was the NHL's Cleveland Barons in 1978, when financial pressures forced a merger with the Minnesota North Stars . MLB voted in 2001 to contract from 30 teams to 28 , but ran into opposition and never executed

7872-399: The San Francisco Bay Area until the Athletics move from Oakland to Las Vegas following the 2024 season , still has separate AL and NL teams in Chicago. Twelve American metropolitan areas have a complete set of one or more teams in each of the Big Four leagues; of these, only Detroit does not have an MLS team. MLB, more than any other major league, focuses its teams in the largest markets. MLB

7995-404: The Tigers' vote in favor of the Senators' eventual move to Texas—turned Detroit back into contenders, while McLain was a monumental bust, losing a league-worst 22 games. The 1971 season continued the Senators' downward trend that followed their 1969 season. While the team was once again competitive in April, the team fell to fifth place by May 9, and would waver between fifth and last place for

8118-409: The U.S. and 1 in Canada. Traditionally called the " National Pastime ", baseball was the first professional team sport in the U.S. MLB consistently draws the largest total attendance of any sports league in the world. Josh Martin of Bleacher Report described the National Basketball Association as "the best basketball league in the world" in a 2012 power ranking of international leagues, and it

8241-522: The U.S. in 1999 and in Canada in 2001, the NFL Network in 2003, the NHL Network in Canada in 2001 and in the U.S. in 2007, and the MLB Network in 2009. All networks remain in operation today except for the Canadian NHL Network, which was shut down shortly before the league's 2015–16 season. Teams in MLB, the NBA, and the NHL—which play several days per week—negotiate contracts with local broadcasters to air most of their games, both terrestrial networks and regional sports networks . Some teams (such as

8364-628: The U.S. since the North American Soccer League (NASL) operated from 1968 to 1984. MLS has increased in popularity following the adoption of the Designated Player Rule in 2007, which allowed MLS to sign stars such as David Beckham (from whom the rule took its colloquial name 'the Beckham rule'), Thierry Henry , and Lionel Messi . In 2017, MLS reported an average attendance of 22,112 per game, with total attendance exceeding 8.2 million overall, both breaking previous MLS attendance records, while 2018 saw Atlanta United FC break multiple single-game attendance records, with crowd figures of over 70,000 among

8487-502: The US, and the English-language TSN and French-language RDS in Canada. Before the Apple TV+ deal, MLS matches were shown in English on ESPN and Fox Sports, and in Spanish on Univision. MLS's eight-year contracts for U.S. rights for the 2015–2022 seasons earned a combined $ 105 million annually. The CFL's current television deal with TSN pays the league at least $ 50 million per year until 2026. Its American broadcast contract with CBS Sports Network pays $ 1 million per year for 34 of

8610-406: The United States and Canada Major 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,

8733-428: The addition of Minnesota United FC in 2017 and Inter Miami CF in 2020, along with the departure of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes from Phoenix in 2024, MLS has a team in every market with a complete set of teams in each of the Big Four major leagues except Detroit. The CFL had a total of six teams in the United States over a three-year period between 1993 and 1995, all in medium-sized markets that lacked an NFL team at

8856-468: The addition of another team in the same market unless the current team's owners consent, to avoid competition for ticket sales and televesion rights. Agreements to share are market are generally obtained in exchange for compensation, residual rights, or both. For example, to obtain the consent of the Baltimore Orioles to place an MLB team in Washington (about 35 miles (56 km) away), a deal

8979-411: The average attendance of all professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada that have an average attendance of 15,000 or higher. Major-league franchises are generally worth very large amounts of money, due in large part to high revenues earned by the league's teams. These franchise valuations are reflected in periodic analyses of teams' values, as well as by the expansion fees commanded by

9102-534: The cap color became all-red with the "curly W" now in white with navy trim. Pinstripes would be removed from the home uniform in 1969. Nellie Fox Gil Hodges Minnie Miñoso Ted Williams Chuck Hinton and Frank Howard , who played for the franchise in Washington (although Howard played for the Rangers in 1972), are listed on the Washington Hall of Stars display at Nationals Park in Washington. So are Gil Hodges and Mickey Vernon , who managed

9225-501: The club to Washington stockbrokers James Johnston and James Lemon . In the inaugural season of the Senators, under general manager Ed Doherty and manager Mickey Vernon , the team immediately struggled. The team was over .500 for only one day, with a 24–23 (.511) record on June 2, 6½ games behind the Detroit Tigers . The Senators finished the season in ninth place, with a dismal 61–100 (.379) record, and 47½ games behind

9348-452: The contraction plan. Unlike leagues that use a system of promotion and relegation , franchises in these leagues are stable and do not change annually. Relocation of teams is generally uncommon compared to minor leagues. However, all of the top four major leagues have had at least one franchise relocate to another city since 2004. Among the Big Four leagues, the NFL has had the most relocations occurring recently, relocating three teams over

9471-440: The country's very high level of hockey fandom. A 2013 study by Nate Silver estimated that all of these markets had roughly the same numbers of avid hockey fans as U.S. markets with several times their total population. The Canadian Football League has teams in all seven current NHL markets, in addition to Hamilton, Ontario , and Regina, Saskatchewan . At least eight of these nine markets have hosted CFL teams every year since

9594-578: The course of the late 2010s. The NHL is the most recent of the Big Four to expand, having added the Las Vegas-based Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 and the Seattle Kraken in 2021. None of the other Big Four leagues have added expansion teams since 2004. In the fifty years between 1903 and 1953, MLB experienced no franchise changes—no new franchises, no franchises ceasing operations, and no franchises moving—marking

9717-590: The current KeyBank Center is, or in suburban Lancaster to share with the Buffalo Bills ; however, the project went over budget and the Senators started to look elsewhere while the Bills opened up Rich Stadium instead. Short was especially receptive to an offer brought up by Arlington, Texas , mayor Tom Vandergriff , who had been trying to obtain a major league sports team to play in the Metroplex for over

9840-464: The eight proposed Continental League cities, all but one eventually received relocated or expansion Major League Baseball franchises – Minneapolis–St. Paul in 1961, Houston and New York in 1962, Atlanta in 1966, Dallas–Fort Worth in 1972, Toronto in 1977, and Denver in 1993. Buffalo, although it made efforts to lure an MLB team to then-new Pilot Field in the early 1990s, has not succeeded in bringing Major League Baseball back. (There had been

9963-480: The end of the season, the team held last place. The Senators ended the season with a 65–96 (.404) record, 37½ games behind the World Series winning Detroit Tigers . The 1969 season saw the Senators be placed into the newly formed AL East , following the 1969 expansion of the American League . The season also saw a reshuffle of the team's leadership. James Lemon and the James Johnston estate sold

10086-460: The formerly Washington-based team, the Minnesota Twins . The 1966 season continued the trend of the Senators' having their best season to date, though the team was still well under .500. Aside from June 2–4, the team spent the entire season wavering between seventh and last place. The Senators ended the season in eighth place with a 71–88 (.447) record, 25½ games behind the World Series winning Baltimore Orioles . The 1967 season continued

10209-409: The game to the New York Yankees . Following the team's departure from that the nation's capital, the city went without major league baseball for 33 years. The now-Texas Rangers franchise retained the rights to the Senators name; when the relocation of the National League 's Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C. in  2005 occurred, the team revived another longtime name, calling themselves

10332-420: The highest team attendances worldwide. With a total attendance of nearly 11 million and an average of over 22,000, MLS has the fifth-largest and third-largest, total and average attendances respectively, among the sports league in U.S. and Canada ( see § Attendance ), had the seventh-highest attendance among global professional soccer leagues. The Canadian Soccer Association does not sanction MLS as

10455-511: The largest TV contracts, and earns roughly $ 9 billion annually from its contracts with Amazon , CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC, and DirecTV for the 2023 through 2033 seasons. MLB earns $ 1.5 billion annually from its contracts for the 2014 through 2021 seasons with ESPN, Fox, and Turner Sports (TBS). The NBA's nine-year television deal beginning with the 2016–17 season with ABC/ESPN and TNT generates annual league TV revenues of $ 2.7 billion. The NBA's next TV deal, set to take effect in 2025–26 and run through

10578-607: The largest stadiums on average in the world, ranging in capacity from just under 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 more widely in capacity, from about 20,000 to about 60,000. The two indoor leagues, the NHL and NBA, play mostly in arenas that hold 18,000 to 20,000 seats. There is a significant number of multi-purpose venues that host events in both NFL and MLS (5), CFL and MLS (2), MLB and MLS (1), and NBA and NHL (10). Teams in MLB and

10701-400: The league said it had received applications from 10 cities. The three that were later selected were Atlanta (announced December 8, 1959), Dallas–Fort Worth (announced December 22, 1959), and Buffalo (backed by Robert O. Swados and announced on January 29, 1960). Former Dodgers president Branch Rickey was named league president on August 18, 1959. Appearing in that capacity as a guest on

10824-422: The league's 81 games; prior to its deal with CBS Sports Network, the CFL had bundled its TSN rights with ESPN (a minority owner of TSN), who contributed a negligible $ 100,000 to the annual rights fees. The remainder of the CFL's games are carried online in the United States for free. Major professional sports leagues generally have significantly larger attendance than other sports leagues. The following table shows

10947-627: The league's officially listed inception in 1958, and no other Canadian market has ever had a CFL team of its own. A conditional expansion franchise was awarded to the Atlantic Schooners in 1982; it folded before ever playing a game. Another bid for a Schooners franchise by Schooners Sports and Entertainment in the late 2010s also failed. The first Major League Baseball team in Canada was the Montreal Expos , who began play in 1969. In 2005, they moved to Washington, D.C., and became

11070-575: The league, a 30% increase from the $ 500 million paid by the Vegas Golden Knights to join the league in 2017. The Golden Knights' fee was a dramatic increase from the $ 80 million paid by each of the previous two teams to enter the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild. Two of the six most recently announced Major League Soccer expansion teams, 2019 entrant FC Cincinnati and 2020 arrival Nashville SC , each paid

11193-423: The league, and quality of play. The following table compares the Big Four leagues, plus the CFL and MLS, on certain attributes that collectively attempt to indicate whether the league has "major league" status. The table includes the longevity and stability of the league, as measured by the number of teams in the league, the year founded, the last time the league underwent contraction, expansion, and relocation, and

11316-501: The leagues. The highest value franchises in the respective leagues tend to be located in the largest markets (e.g., MLB's New York Yankees , NHL's New York Rangers ), whereas the lowest value franchises tend to be in smaller markets (e.g., NFL's Buffalo Bills , NBA's New Orleans Pelicans ). The NHL has the largest multiples between the highest-value and lowest-value teams, with the New York Rangers worth 5.5 times as much as

11439-503: The live CBS broadcast of What's My Line on Sunday, September 13, 1959, he pronounced the new league as "Inevitable as tomorrow morning." On February 18, 1960, Rickey and Cooke announced an opening date of April 18, 1961. The Major League Baseball commissioner's office was noncommittal on the issue. At that time, however, the American League and the National League enjoyed far more autonomy than they do today, answering more to their constituent owners (who were universally hostile to

11562-648: The longest such period of stability of any Big Four league. In contrast to the Big Four leagues, MLS has operated on a policy of continuous expansion since 2005. After bottoming out at 10 teams in 2004, it has never gone more than one season without adding one or two expansion teams, with a further expansion team scheduled for 2025 and no indication that the league will cease awarding expansion teams. As of 2023 , MLS nearly tripled in size from its 2005 minimum, with 29 teams. The league has contracted three teams in its history: teams in Miami and Tampa Bay folded in 2002, and

11685-548: The most populous metropolitan areas of the United States and Canada. Unlike the promotion and relegation systems used in sports leagues in various other regions around the world, North American sports leagues are closed leagues that maintain the same teams from season-to-season. Expansion of the league usually occurs by adding newly formed teams, though mergers with competing leagues have also occurred. Baseball , American football , and ice hockey have had professional leagues continuously for over 100 years; early leagues such as

11808-468: The new league was formally announced, with teams in Denver , Houston , Minneapolis–St. Paul , New York City , and Toronto . The name of the league was said to have been the suggestion of Colorado senator Edwin C. Johnson . Representing the team owners at the announcement were Bob Howsam (Denver), Craig F. Cullinan Jr. (Houston), Wheelock Whitney Jr. (Minneapolis–St. Paul), Dwight F. Davis, Jr., who

11931-593: The new league) than to the Commissioner's Office. They reacted to the formation of the new league by announcing plans to expand by adding two teams in each of the existing leagues. Priority would be given, it was stated, to cities that did not have Major League Baseball. Accordingly, the NL placed one of its expansion teams in Houston (the then- Houston Colt .45s , now the American League Astros),

12054-654: The next two decades, Shea would become involved in efforts to secure second franchises for the New York metropolitan area in each of the other three major sports. He brokered the 1963 sale of the Titans of New York (now known as the New York Jets ) from Harry Wismer to Sonny Werblin , ensuring the survival of the then-struggling American Football League franchise, and then worked to bring the New York Nets of

12177-437: The northern and northeastern U.S., the NHL has expanded westward and southward in recent decades to attempt to gain a more national following in the United States, in cities such as Denver , San Jose , Dallas , Miami , Nashville , Salt Lake City , Raleigh , Tampa , Las Vegas , and Seattle with varying success. The NHL has more Canadian teams (seven) than MLB, the NBA, and MLS combined (five). Major League Soccer (MLS)

12300-438: The offseason, the owners of each league voted to have the league champions automatically play one another in the World Series and it was 90 years until another World Series was not played, in 1994, due to a work stoppage. The two leagues merged on an organizational level in 2000 with the elimination of separate league offices; they have shared a single Commissioner since 1920. There are currently 30 member teams, with 29 located in

12423-697: The owners of the Continental League New York team, who immediately accepted, effectively killing any attempt to revive the proposed league. This franchise would become the New York Mets . The AL then followed by placing a second expansion team in Los Angeles, the Angels , giving the American League its first presence on the West Coast. With Shea's mission to bring the National League back to New York successful, he stopped championing

12546-519: The popularity of the league, as measured by annual revenue and average attendance. The "Big Four" leagues each have revenues that can be many times greater than the payrolls of less popular sports leagues in the two nations. In terms of overall league revenue, the NFL, MLB, and NBA rank as the top three most lucrative sports leagues in the world, with the English Premier League and the NHL ranked at fourth and fifth place. Games of

12669-420: The previous season, from May 18 through the end of the season, the team was again in last place. Following the game on May 21, manager Mickey Vernon was fired. Following the firing, third base coach Eddie Yost was acting manager for one game. The next day saw Gil Hodges take over as manager. The Senators ended the season with their worst season in franchise history (including all Texas Rangers seasons), with

12792-513: The replacement of conservative long-tenured owners with younger businessmen who tended to be far more amenable to expansion. Nevertheless, the Continental League undoubtedly compelled MLB to hasten expansion by several years. Although Major League Baseball had succeeded in preventing the launch of an eight-team CL, it only did so by committing to eventually add eight franchises of its own. MLB finished honoring this commitment in 1969 when

12915-560: The rest of the season. Though the team finished with a worse record than the previous year, the team ended the season in fifth place, ahead of the Cleveland Indians , in the AL East with a 63–96 (.396) record, 38½ games behind the Oakland Athletics . At first, it looked like a move to Buffalo, New York , was in the works as at the time, a proposed multi-use stadium was in the cards in either downtown Buffalo where

13038-489: The sports' widespread appeal since their inception, continuing today additionally with Fox. In Canada, the NHL has been broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation since 1952. In Canada, there is only one MLB team and one NBA team, and no Canadian NFL team exists; therefore, the U.S. national telecasts for those three leagues are usually simulcast by a Canadian broadcaster. The NFL has

13161-402: The stadium lease and would move the team elsewhere. At that season's end, Short dealt his best starting pitcher and the left side of his infield to the Detroit Tigers for erstwhile 30-game-winner Denny McLain , who had spent most of the 1970 campaign suspended because of gambling allegations. The deal—alleged by onetime Senators broadcaster Shelby Whitfield to have been made in order to secure

13284-421: The team a year later to hotel and trucking executive Bob Short , who outbid a group headed by Bob Hope . The 1963 season saw a total overhaul of the team's leadership. Owner Elwood Richard Quesada sold his stake in the team, leaving James Johnston and James Lemon as new owners. The season also saw new general manager George Selkirk . and new manager Eddie Yost . Though the season did not start as bad as

13407-423: The team to trucking executive Bob Short . Short named himself general manager and hired Hall of Famer Ted Williams as manager. Although Williams had never coached or managed at any level of baseball, he seemed to light a spark under the once-moribund Senators. After May 16, the team spent most of the season in fourth place and from May 23, were over 10 games behind. The Senators ended the season in fourth place in

13530-469: The team was consistently in fifth and last place for the rest of the season. The Senators ended the season in last place in the AL East with a 70–92 (.432) record, 38 games behind the World Series winning Baltimore Orioles . By the end of the 1970 campaign, Short had issued an ultimatum: unless someone was willing to buy the Senators for $ 12 million (by comparison, the New York Yankees were sold in 1973 for $ 8.8 million), he would not renew

13653-727: The teams in Winnipeg and Quebec City were eventually moved to larger media markets in the U.S. The NHL returned to Winnipeg in 2011 with the Atlanta Thrashers relocating to become the current version of the Winnipeg Jets . Excluding the CFL, the NHL is the only major league to have teams in Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg or Ottawa, all markets with populations of less than 1.25 million, smaller than any U.S. NHL market except Buffalo. However, those Canadian cities benefit from

13776-444: The time. Of the seven markets those teams occupied, three (Baltimore, San Antonio and Sacramento) had other major league franchises at the time, and two later received a major team (Memphis and Las Vegas). The league also played occasional games in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. The largest metropolitan area without a major professional sports franchise depends on the definition of "metropolitan area". Among areas defined by

13899-457: The trend of the Senators' having their best season to date, though the team was still under .500. Though the team looked to be having another dismal season by the All-Star break (having been in last place for most of June), the team rose to sixth place by July 21 and stayed there for most of the remaining season. The Senators ended the season tied for sixth place with the Baltimore Orioles , with

14022-707: The twin threats of competition from the proposed Continental League and loss of its exemption from the Sherman Antitrust Act . As part of the expansion, the American League added two expansion teams for the 1961 season–the Los Angeles Angels and a new Washington Senators team. However, the new Senators were (and still are) considered an expansion team since the Twins retained the old Senators' records and history. The new Senators and Angels began to fill their rosters with American League players in

14145-534: The two markets east of Toronto; both Montreal and Ottawa have each seen two CFL teams fail since the 1980s, although both cities have active teams as of the 2014 season. The cities are now represented by the Alouettes and Redblacks , respectively. Among existing teams, none has ever formally relocated from one city to another; the Alouettes, however, inherited a management structure from the Baltimore Stallions ,

14268-429: The western United States than the other major leagues. Whereas the NBA's teams tend to be somewhat more evenly distributed across the United States, MLS's presence in areas of the southern United States has historically been sparse; after MLS folded its two Florida-based teams after the 2001 season, it did not re-enter the South until Orlando City SC joined the league in 2015, with Atlanta United FC following in 2017. With

14391-548: The year 2000. Major League Soccer has 29 teams; it adopted a policy of continuous expansion at a rate of one to two new franchises a year since 2005,and was set to reach its long-range target of 30 teams in 2023 before the Sacramento expansion bid collapsed. A 30th team in San Diego is set to join in 2025. The CFL has nine franchises. All of the top four major leagues grant territorial exclusivity to their owners, precluding

14514-474: Was first professionalized in 1894, with past U.S.-based leagues including the American Soccer League (1921–1933) (ASL) and original North American Soccer League (1968–1984) (NASL). Major League Soccer (MLS) was established in 1996. Major League Baseball is the highest level of play of baseball in the United States and Canada. and the oldest of the major American leagues. It consists of

14637-425: Was forced to make many questionable trades to service the debt and bring in much-needed revenue. As a result, the team rapidly fell back into the American League's cellar. Moreover, like their predecessors in their final few years in the nation's capital, the new Senators had to compete for an audience with the Baltimore Orioles , 45 miles (72 km) to the northeast, who by the 1960s were perennial contenders. The rise of

14760-566: Was founded in 1920 as a combination of various teams from regional leagues such as the Ohio League , the New York Pro Football League , and the Chicago circuit as a successor to Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit . For its first two seasons, 1920 and 1921, it was known as the "American Professional Football Association" (APFA) before changing its name to the current name in 1922. The NFL partially absorbed

14883-417: Was moved to a relaunched Montreal Alouettes franchise. By 2009 the CFL was the second-most-popular league in Canada, after the NHL. A 2023 study shows that interest in the CFL had dropped over the previous 10 years. The CFL has the fourth-highest average attendance of leagues in the United States and Canada, behind the NFL, MLB and MLS. As of 2024 , the CFL's average attendance number was 22,795, continuing

15006-451: Was representing the group headed by Joan Whitney Payson (New York), and Jack Kent Cooke (Toronto). Owners in each city had agreed to pay $ 50,000 to the league and committed to a capital investment of $ 2.5 million, not including stadium costs. A minimum seating capacity of 35,000 was established by the league for the venues in which its teams would play. At least three other teams were expected to be in place before play began in 1961, and

15129-561: Was struck under the terms of which television and radio broadcast rights to Nationals games are handled by the Orioles franchise. As of 2022 , 49 metropolitan areas (42 in the U.S., seven in Canada) have at least one team in the Big Four leagues. Austin FC , which started play in 2021, is the first and only MLS team in a market not also occupied by at least one Big Four team. The CFL has one team,

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