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90-460: 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, 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

180-562: A demonstration sport . Various auto racing organizations hold non-championship exhibition events; these events usually award no championship points to participants, but they do offer prize money to participants. The NASCAR Cup Series holds two exhibition events annually – the Busch Clash , held at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at the start of the season, and the All-Star Race , held at North Wilkesboro Speedway midway through

270-634: A charity fight on his rematch with Buddy Baer , but this was not considered an exhibition as it was for Louis' world Heavyweight title, and as a championship fight, it counted on both boxers' records. Muhammad Ali fought many exhibitions, including one with Lyle Alzado . In more modern times, Mike Tyson , Julio César Chávez , Jorge Castro , and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have been involved in exhibition fights. Although not fought for profit, amateur bouts (usually) and sparring sessions are not considered to be exhibition fights. On 25 August 2018 , YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI had an exhibition match that ended in

360-478: A combination of strength and conditioning workouts, skill, development sessions, and team building activities. Athletes may also participate in recreational sports or activities to maintain their competitive edge while enjoying a break from the rigors of their primary sport. Furthermore, athletes may take advantage of the off-season to pursue personal interests, further their education, or engage in community service and outreach initiatives. Beyond individual training,

450-663: A desire to limit travel expenses. In the scheduling system used in the NFL , it is possible for two teams to only meet every four years, and to only have 2 common opponents in a season. Major League Baseball has the most uneven schedules of all the four major North American sports. In MLB, the conferences are called leagues instead, but have exactly the same effect as conferences (as with all North American major leagues , leagues, conferences, and division are not based on skill, but instead geography, history, and rivalries). Prior to scheduling changes in 2023, teams played 19 games against each of

540-468: A double round-robin "regular season". The Football League started its promotion playoffs in 1987, with the third up to the sixth-ranked teams participating for the final promotion berth (the two top teams are automatically promoted). Elsewhere, relegation playoffs are also held to determine which teams would be relegated to the lower leagues. One prominent top-level football league, the Eredivisie of

630-729: A draw. On 28 November 2020 , Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. had a fight that ended in a draw. Prior to the 1917–18 NHL season , an exhibition game was played on 15 December, between the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers . The game was played as a benefit to aid victims of the Halifax explosion . Under the 1995 – 2004 National Hockey League collective bargaining agreement , teams were limited to nine preseason games. From 1975 to 1991 , NHL teams sometimes played exhibition games against teams from

720-482: A final stage of training camp and regular season rosters are finalized after the exhibition games, which are generally referred to as "pre-season" play. During the amateur era, there was only a limited number of rugby union competitions between national teams. Therefore, matches between national teams are never considered "exhibitions" or "friendlies", as they always have Test match status. National teams sometimes play exhibition matches versus invitational teams like

810-571: 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 , 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

900-681: A league in a particular sport will operate their regular season at roughly the same time as the others, international tournaments may be arranged during the off season. For example, most European football league club competitions run from July or August to May, subsequently major international competitions such as the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Football Championship are organised to occur in June and July. The table represents typical seasons for some leagues by month. Blank or white denotes off-season and pre-season months and solid colors mark

990-477: A local college team, a minor-league team from their farm system, or even a national baseball team representing a country. Some days feature the team playing two games with two different rosters evenly divided up, which are known as "split-squad" games. Several MLB teams used to play regular exhibition games during the year against nearby teams in the other major league, but regular-season interleague play has made such games unnecessary. The two Canadian MLB teams,

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1080-472: A match held in honor of a player for contribution to their club, may also be described as exhibition matches but they are normally referred to as charity matches ( Soccer Aid , Team UNICEF etc .) and testimonial matches respectively. A training game is generally a non-competitive football match played between two sides usually as part of a training exercise or to give players match practice. Managers may also use bounce games as an opportunity to observe

1170-411: A new season/competitive match. Some rules may be changed or experimented with, such as unlimited substitutions (which allow teams to play less experienced players). Frequently such games take place between a large club and nearby smaller clubs, such as those between Newcastle United and Gateshead , or on a large club on an international tour against local opponents. Since the 2000s, friendlies played in

1260-619: 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 each year. The 2024 All-Star Game reverted to its original East vs. West format. Football Basketball Other sports High school baseball High school basketball High school football (Longest running football all star game in

1350-569: A player in action before offering a contract. Usually these games are played on a training ground rather than in a stadium with no spectators in attendance. Before the establishment of the Bandy World Championship in 1957, annually held friendly games were the main events for national teams of the sport . International friendlies are still often held. Exhibition fights were once common in boxing. Jack Dempsey fought many exhibition bouts after retiring. Joe Louis fought

1440-503: A playoff system (except during the two World Wars) since 1899. South Africa's Currie Cup has determined its champions by playoffs since 1968, and New Zealand's National Provincial Championship , the top level of which is now known as the Mitre 10 Cup , has used playoffs since its creation in 1976. Argentina's Nacional de Clubes has determined its champion by playoffs since its inception in 1993. Currently, two separate competitions feed into

1530-868: A potential NHL expansion venue; and the St. Louis Blues in Kansas City, Missouri at T-Mobile Center , also a potential expansion venue that is currently considered part of the Blues' television market). Before the Vegas Golden Knights entered the NHL in 2017, the Kings would traditionally play an annual game known as Frozen Fury in Las Vegas in a partnership with the MGM Grand Las Vegas . The game

1620-533: A practice common in baseball and hockey, where a team that is scheduled to play two games on the same day splits their team into two squads, are prohibited. The NFL has played exhibition games in Europe , Japan , Canada , Australia (including the American Bowl in 1999) and Mexico to spread the league's popularity (a game of this type was proposed for China but, due to financial and logistical problems,

1710-552: A preseason, a series of exhibition games played for training purposes; a regular season, the main period of the league's competition; the postseason , a playoff tournament played against the league's top teams to determine the league's champion; and the offseason, the time when there is no official competition. In association football, many clubs tour and then they have a series of exhibition games for training purposes. In baseball, many clubs go to spring camp and then they have spring training . The National Football League preseason

1800-909: A region. These games are typically played by graduating seniors after the regular season or in the summer. Many of these games, which include the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and Under Armour All-America Game , are used as showcases for players to be seen by colleges and increase their college recruiting profile, or for athletes to confirm their choice and sign their National Letter of Intent outside of National Signing Day . Outside North America, teams will sometimes organize exhibition games as part of their pre season preparations – German Football League teams for example often schedule games against second or third tier opponents ahead of their regular season. Exhibition games are also sometimes scheduled between teams from different countries which would otherwise never play each other – including on occasion between non-North American teams and North American college teams. As

1890-757: A result of the COVID-19 pandemic leading to the cancellation of regular league play in many places, some teams scheduled exhibition games instead, including the Dresden Monarchs hosting the Wroclaw Panthers on September 20, 2020. Teams in the Canadian Football League play two exhibition games each year, in June. Exhibition games in the CFL have taken on great importance to coaching staff and players alike in that they are used as

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1980-507: A season-ticket package. Numerous lawsuits have been brought by fans and classes of fans against the NFL or its member teams regarding this practice, but none have been successful in halting it. The Pro Bowl , traditionally played after the end of the NFL season (since 2010 played the week prior to the Super Bowl), is also considered an exhibition game. The Arena Football League briefly had

2070-518: A significant number of non-championship Formula One races. The National Hot Rod Association Pro Stock teams will have a preseason drag meet held before the traditional start in Pomona. The Pro Stock Showdown is a preseason drag meet held for the Pro Stock teams held at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway . In sumo wrestling , official tournaments ( honbasho ) are held six times per year, in

2160-652: A team playing against itself leaves little ability for poll participants to make judgments, and at levels below the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) , championships are decided by objective formulas and thus those teams can play non-league games without affecting their playoff hopes. High school football teams frequently participate in controlled scrimmages with other teams during preseason practice, but full exhibition games are rare because of league rules and concerns about finances, travel and player injuries, along with enrollments not being registered until

2250-688: A trip to a home team's arena during the regular season to see a game close to home; for instance, the Minnesota Timberwolves will play games in arenas in North and South Dakota , while the Phoenix Suns schedule one exhibition game outdoors at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California , yearly, the only such instance an NBA game takes place in an outdoor venue. Exhibition games have also been held on occasion outside

2340-439: A trophy, and television broadcasts, there is little prestige attached to them. In addition, club teams may tour other continents as part of global branding campaigns. International teams also play friendlies, generally in preparation for the qualifying or final stages of major tournaments. This is essential, since national squads generally have much less time together in which to prepare. The biggest difference between friendlies at

2430-423: A two-game exhibition season in the early 2000s, a practice that ended in 2003 with a new television contract. Exhibition games outside of a structured season are relatively common among indoor American football leagues; because teams switch leagues frequently at that level of play, it is not uncommon to see some of the smaller leagues schedule exhibition games against teams that are from another league, about to join

2520-418: A two-round knockout stage to determine the champions. It has since been expanded to the 4-round knockout stage today. The Copa Libertadores has applied a knockout stage since the 1988 tournament, expanding to the current four-round format next season. All intercontinental club football competitions now feature a knockout stage. The off-season , vacation time , or close season is the time of year when there

2610-462: Is a highly structured three-game series of games in which teams are afforded a larger roster limit and play games that do not count toward the record. It is used to evaluate and prepare talent for the upcoming regular season. In the highest levels of professional tennis , the preseason (November–December) consists of extensive period of training on and off the court (gym/fitness work as well as working on tennis-specific skills like for example improving

2700-481: Is allowed only one foreign tour every four years and a maximum of ten games in each tour. The National Football League teams play three preseason games a year, with the exception of two teams each year who play a fourth game, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game (previously before the 2021 season expansion , four games). These exhibition games, most of which are held in the month of August, are played for

2790-605: Is canceled if pre-empted by major international competitions such as the Olympic Games . Traditionally, major college basketball teams began their seasons with a few exhibition games. They played traveling teams made up of former college players on teams such as Athletes in Action or a team sponsored by Marathon Petroleum . On occasion before 1992, when FIBA allowed professional players on foreign national teams, colleges played those teams in exhibitions. However, in 2003,

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2880-487: Is either zero or otherwise greatly reduced. Exhibition games often serve as "warm-up matches", particularly in many team sports where these games help coaches and managers select and condition players, before the competitive matches of a league season or tournament. If the players usually play in different teams in other leagues, exhibition games offer an opportunity for the players to learn to work with each other. The games can be held between separate teams or between parts of

2970-741: Is more important than winning the regular season. This includes the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada ( MLB's World Series , the NBA Finals , the NFL's Super Bowl , the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals , the MLS Cup , and the CFL's Grey Cup ), and the major Australian sports (BBL Grand Final, NBL Grand Final , A-League Grand Final , AFL Grand Final and NRL Grand Final ). European leagues have also started holding playoffs after

3060-417: Is no official competition. Although upper management continues to work, the athletes will take much vacation time off. Also, various events such as drafts , transfers and important off-season free agent signings occur. Generally, most athletes stay in shape during the off-season in preparation for the next season. Certain new rules in the league may be made during this time, and will become enforced during

3150-597: Is no serious checking , while in American football 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 current format of the NHL All-Star Game differs significantly from that of normal league games. Instead of a single game, the event

3240-432: 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

3330-661: Is played in a double round-robin format in the same way as the European championships. A system similar to the Apertura and Clausura developed independently in Philippine professional basketball , with formerly two, now three tournaments (called "conferences") in one season, with each conference divided into an "elimination round" (the single round-robin group stage) and the playoffs in the North American sense. Winning

3420-599: Is played today at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah . Today, all teams must play six, seven, or eight preseason games. Each preseason game must have at least eight veterans dressed, except during the World Cup of Hockey. In the 1994–95 season and the 2012–13 season, no preseason games were played due to lockouts . Since the 2000s, some preseason games have been played in Europe against European teams, as part of

3510-419: Is reserved for the country's cup winner, only three of the four teams are guaranteed a place in the next season's European competitions (unless both the cup winner and runner-up are already qualified for Europe by other means). The playoff determines the country's second Champions League participant, and the points at which the two or three Europa League entrants join that competition. Conversely, some leagues like

3600-624: Is sometimes used instead of regular season. Many football leagues in Latin America have a very different system. Because most Latin American countries never had a football cup competition, they instead split their season into two parts, typically known as the Apertura and Clausura ( Spanish for "opening" and "closing"). Most countries that use this system, Argentina being one notable example, crown separate league champions for each part of

3690-710: Is the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team , which is composed almost entirely of retired NHL players, the majority of whom (as the name suggests) played at least a portion of their career for the Buffalo Sabres . American college hockey teams occasionally play exhibition games against Canadian college teams as well as against USA or Canadian national teams. (In men's hockey, the senior national teams are selected from NHL and other pro players, and college teams would be overmatched against those teams even if they were allowed to play them. However,

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3780-454: The 1998–99 and 2011–12 seasons, teams were limited to only two preseason games due to lockouts. The annual NBA All-Star Game is an exhibition game. Women's National Basketball Association teams play up to three preseasons games per year. WNBA teams will play each other and will also play women's national basketball teams. Most years, the WNBA also stages an All-Star Game , but this game

3870-525: The Barbarian F.C. and Barbarian Rugby Club . Also, rugby union clubs sometimes play preseason matches. Australian rules football has been introduced to a wide range of places around Australia and the world since the code originated in Victoria in 1859. Much of this expansion can be directly attributed to exhibition matches by the major leagues in regions and countries where the code has been played as

3960-868: The King's Cup , the Kirin Cup , Intercontinental Cup and the China Cup are usually considered international friendlies by FIFA. In the UK and Ireland, "exhibition match" and "friendly match" refer to two different types of games. The types described above as friendlies are not termed exhibition matches, all-star matches such as those held in the US Major League Soccer , Japan's J.League or South Korea's K League are called exhibition matches rather than friendly matches. A one-off match for charitable fundraising, usually involving one or two all-star teams, or

4050-544: The Los Angeles Clippers (a team within their division, a subdivision of the conference) four times in a regular season, while both will only play the Toronto Raptors , who are in the opposite Eastern Conference , twice. Part of this is due to the vast geographic distances between some teams in North America — measured in a straight line, Los Angeles is 3,494 kilometres from Toronto, for instance — and

4140-695: The NHL Challenge and NHL Premiere series. In addition to the standard preseason, there also exist prospect tournaments such as the Vancouver Canucks ' YoungStars tournament and the Detroit Red Wings ' training camp, in which NHL teams' younger prospects face off against each other under their parent club's banner. In 1992 , goaltender Manon Rhéaume played in a preseason game for the Tampa Bay Lightning , becoming

4230-672: The National Collegiate Athletic Association banned games with non-college teams. Some teams have begun scheduling exhibition games against teams in NCAA Division II , NCAA Division III and the NAIA , or even against colleges and universities located in Canada . Major college basketball teams still travel to other countries during the summer to play in exhibition games, although a college team

4320-672: The Ontario Reign ; Montreal Canadiens games at Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City , which has no pro hockey but used to have an NHL team until 1995; Washington Capitals at 1st Mariner Arena in the Baltimore Hockey Classic; Buffalo Sabres at Pegula Ice Arena on the campus of owner Terrence Pegula 's alma mater Penn State University ; various Western Canada teams at Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon ,

4410-687: The Premier League do not hold a postseason, and therefore these leagues' champions and relegation are instead based on the regular season records. Although rugby union did not become professional until 1995, that sport has a long history of playoffs, primarily in France and the Southern Hemisphere. The French national championship, now known as Top 14 , staged a championship final in its first season of 1892, first used more than one round of playoffs in 1893, and has continuously operated

4500-582: The Roman numeral corresponding to the number of players allowed on the field – for example, a soccer or cricket XI , a rugby league XIII and a rugby union XV . Major League Baseball organized the first professional league all-star game as part of the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago . It was the brainchild of Arch Ward , then sports editor for the Chicago Tribune . Initially intended to be

4590-831: The Soviet Union in the Super Series , and in 1978, played against World Hockey Association teams also in preseason training. Like the NFL, the NHL sometimes schedules exhibition games for cities without their own NHL teams, often at a club's minor league affiliate (e.g. Carolina Hurricanes games at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina , home of their AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers ; Los Angeles Kings games at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California , home of their AHL affiliate

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4680-935: The Toronto Blue Jays of the American League and the Montreal Expos of the National League , met annually to contest the Pearson Cup ; this tradition ended when the Expos moved to Washington DC for the 2005 season . Similarly, the New York Yankees played in the Mayor's Trophy Game against various local rivals from 1946 to 1983. It also used to be commonplace to have a team play an exhibition against Minor League affiliates during

4770-459: The national under-18 teams are made up of amateurs, allowing college squads to play them.) The Major League Baseball 's preseason is also known as spring training . All MLB teams maintain a spring-training base in Arizona or Florida . The teams in Arizona make up the Cactus League , while the teams in Florida play in the Grapefruit League . Each team plays about 30 preseason games against other MLB teams. They may also play exhibitions against

4860-421: The 19th century: by 2000, national leagues were established in almost every country throughout the world, with local or regional leagues for lower-level teams. Since the introduction of league football, most club sides play a number of friendlies before the start of each season (called pre-season friendlies). Friendly football matches are considered to be non-competitive and are mostly used to "warm up" players for

4950-588: The Nacional, the Torneo de la URBA (for Buenos Aires clubs, held since 1899) and Torneo del Interior (for the rest of the country); both use playoffs to determine their champions. Super Rugby , involving regional franchises from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa and national franchises in Argentina and Japan, has used playoffs to determine its champions since its creation as Super 12 in 1996. By contrast, other European countries were slow to adopt playoffs in rugby union. The English Premiership only began playoffs in 1999–2000 , and did not use them to determine

5040-436: The Netherlands, uses two different playoffs—one for relegation purposes, and the other to determine one of the league's entrants in the following season's UEFA Europa League . In Superleague Greece , which currently has two places in the UEFA Champions League and three in the Europa League, the teams that finish second through fifth in the regular season enter a home-and-away "playoff" mini-league. Since one Europa League place

5130-460: The US and Canada. However, from 1971 to 1975, NBA teams played preseason exhibitions against American Basketball Association teams with the ABA winning the series 80 to 75 games. In the early days of the NBA, league clubs sometimes challenged the legendary barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters , with mixed success. The Minneapolis Lakers beat the Globetrotters seven games to one. The NBA has played preseason games in Europe and Asia. Beginning in 2015,

5220-447: The United States have become increasingly lucrative for European teams. Although most friendlies are simply one-off matches arranged between the clubs in which a certain amount is paid by the challenger club to the incumbent club, some teams do compete in short tournaments, such as the Emirates Cup , Teresa Herrera Trophy , International Champions Cup and the Amsterdam Tournament . Although these events may involve sponsorship deals,

5310-501: The accuracy of serve). In sport, the term "regular season" or "home-and-away season" refers to the sport's league competition . The regular season is usually similar to a group tournament format: teams are divided into groups, conferences and/or divisions, and each club plays a set number of games against a set number of opponents. In most countries the league is played in a double round-robin format, where every team plays every other team twice, once at their home venue, and once away at

5400-437: The best in the world. International competitions like the Olympic Games may also hold exhibition games as part of a demonstration sport . In the early days of association football , friendlies were the most common type of match. However, with the development of The Football League in England in 1888, league and cup tournaments became the primary methods of competition. The significance of friendly matches thus declined since

5490-543: The cities of Tokyo , Osaka , Nagoya , and Fukuoka . In between the tournaments, regional tours known as jungyō (巡業) are undertaken to bring sumo wrestling to more regions of Japan . In addition to exhibition bouts, there are "demonstrations of hairdressing , comedy sumo and sumo singing", as well as opportunities for fans to meet with wrestlers and for sumo stables to find new recruits. Season (sports) A year can often be broken up into several distinct sections (sometimes themselves called seasons). These are:

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5580-413: The club and international levels is that international friendlies mostly take place during club league seasons, not between them. This has on occasion led to disagreement between national associations and clubs as to the availability of players, who could become injured or fatigued in a friendly. International friendlies give team managers the opportunity to experiment with team selection and tactics before

5670-434: The commonly used term for the major scrimmage at the end of spring practice is the "Spring Game." True exhibition games between opposing colleges at the highest level do not exist in college football; due to the importance of opinion polling in the top level of college football, even exhibition games would not truly be exhibitions because they could influence the opinions of those polled. Intramural games are possible because

5760-416: The country's FIFA ranking . In 2004, FIFA ruled that substitutions by a team be limited to six per match in international friendlies in response to criticism that such matches were becoming increasingly farcical with managers making as many as 11 substitutions per match. An international match loses its official status if this regulation is breached. Matches in multinational football tournaments such as

5850-416: The country. EST. 1935) (www.CarolinaBowl.com / EST. 2015) High school hockey High school lacrosse Exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly , a scrimmage , a demonstration , a pre-season game , a warmup match , or a preparation match , depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or the team's rankings

5940-438: The demands of competitive play. This period of rest is essential for preventing burnout, reducing the risk of injuries, and allowing the body to recover from the wear and tear of regular training and competition. Athletes may use this time to focus on rehabilitation from any lingering injuries, undergo medical evaluations, and engage in cross-training activities to maintain overall fitness levels. In addition to rest and recovery,

6030-457: The early part of August in most school districts under the traditional September–June academic term . Some states hold preseason events known as "jamborees" in which several pairs of high school football squads take turns playing one half (usually 24 minutes of game time) to give players some experience before the first official game. Another high school football exhibition contest is the all-star game , which usually brings together top players from

6120-408: The first woman to suit up for an all-male pro sports team in North America. The Flying Fathers , a Canadian group of Catholic priests , regularly toured North America playing exhibition hockey games for charity. One of the organization's founders, Les Costello , was a onetime NHL player who was ordained as a priest after retiring from professional hockey. Another prominent exhibition hockey team

6210-448: The league as a probational franchise, or a semi-pro outdoor team to fill holes in a schedule. Many college football teams, particularly larger organizations, play a public intramural exhibition game in the spring mainly to promote the team and give new recruits an early chance at public game action. Many of these intramural games are nationally televised, though not to the same level of prominence as intercollegiate play. In college sports

6300-515: The league champion until 2002–03 . The Celtic League, now known as Pro14 , resisted a playoff system even longer; its champions were determined solely by league play from its inception in 2001–02 until playoffs began in 2009–10 . When the UEFA Champions League reformatted in 1993, it added a "knockout stage" involving four teams that finished at the top two places in their respective groups. Like North American sports leagues, this setup prevented some participants from facing each other, necessitating

6390-418: The league has scheduled NBA Africa Games with players of direct African descent against players from the rest of the league; the NBA has also played against teams in Australia's National Basketball League . In the 2006 and 2007 seasons, the NBA and the primary European club competition, the Euroleague , conducted a preseason tournament featuring two NBA teams and the finalists from that year's Euroleague. In

6480-451: The next regular season. The Off-season is characterized by a break in regular league or tournament play, allowing athletes, coaches, and staff to rest, recover, and prepare for the upcoming season. The off-season typically follows the conclusion of the regular season or playoffs and precedes the start of preseason training or conditioning camps. During the off-season, athletes often take time off to recuperate both physically and mentally from

6570-454: The off-season is also a critical time for teams to regroup, strategize, and plan for the upcoming season. Coaching staff and management may conduct player evaluations, analyze performance data, and make personnel decisions such as trades, drafts and free agent signings. Team bonding activities, such as retreats, workshops, and social events, may be organized  to foster camaraderie and cohesion among teammates. As most countries which have

6660-459: The off-season provides athletes with an opportunity to address weakness and areas for improvement in their performance. Many athletes use this time to work on specific skills, refine techniques, and build strength and conditioning through targeted training programs. Coaches and training staff often collaborate with athletes to develop individualized offseason training regimens tailored to their specific needs and goals. Off-season training may include

6750-457: The opposition's venue as visitors. The results over all games are accumulated and when every team has completed its full schedule of games, a winner is declared. In North America, the scheduling is different. Rather than every team playing all others twice, teams usually play more games against local rivals than teams in other parts of the country. For example, the NBA 's Los Angeles Lakers will play

6840-498: The playoffs is the ultimate goal of every team for every conference; while there is no season championship, winning all conferences within a single season is rare and has only happened five times since 1975, with the two most recent examples occurring in 1996 and 2013–14 . The qualifying round and playoffs setup has permeated down to the local level and in most team sports, although seasons are not divided into conferences. Many sports leagues have playoffs or "finals" that occur after

6930-435: The postseason World Series , and thus MLB teams did not play the other league's teams at all). In 2023, teams played all interleague teams in a single season for the first time; teams now play a 3-game series against all teams, except their designated interleague rival with 4 games, totalling to 46 games (later increased to 48 games and a 6-game series with their interleague rival for the forthcoming 2025 season). In Australia,

7020-425: The purpose of helping coaches narrow down the roster from the offseason limit of 90 players to the regular season limit of 53 players. While the scheduling formula is not as rigid for preseason games as they are for the regular season, there are numerous restrictions and traditions that limit the choices of preseason opponents; teams are also restricted on what days and times they can play these games. Split-squad games,

7110-411: The regular season is complete. A subset of the teams enter into a playoff tournament , usually a knockout tournament , generally a pre-determined number with better overall records (more wins, fewer losses) during the regular season. There are many variations used to determine the champion, the league's top prize. In many of these leagues, winning the league's top prize at the conclusion of the postseason

7200-579: The regular season, but worries of injuries to players, along with travel issues, have made this very rare. Exhibitions between inter-city teams in different leagues, like Chicago's Crosstown Classic and New York's Subway Series which used to be played solely as exhibitions for bragging rights are now blended into interleague play. The annual MLB All-Star Game , played in July between players from AL teams and players from NL teams, had long been considered an exhibition match, though between 2003 and 2016 this status

7290-406: The roster. An all-star game usually occurs at the midpoint of the regular season . An exception is American football 's NFL Pro Bowl , 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 , for example, there

7380-447: The same team. An exhibition game may also be used to settle a challenge, to provide professional entertainment, to promote the sport, to commemorate an anniversary or a famous player, or to raise money for charities . Several sports leagues hold all-star games to showcase their best players against each other, while other exhibitions games may pit participants from two different leagues or countries to unofficially determine who would be

7470-679: The season, using only league play. A few others, such as Uruguay, crown one champion at the end of a playoff involving top teams from each half of the season. Mexico operates its Apertura and Clausura as separate competitions that both end in playoffs. Brazil has a different system, the season starts with the state championships in January (every Brazilian state have his own championship), these state championships ends in April. The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A itself starts in May and ends in early December, and

7560-876: The season. Both events carry a hefty purse of over US$ 1,000,000. NASCAR has also held exhibition races at Suzuka Circuit and Twin Ring Motegi in Japan and Calder Park Thunderdome in Australia. Other historical examples of non-championship races include the Marlboro Challenge in IndyCar racing and the TOCA Touring Car Shootout in the British Touring Car Championship . Until the mid-1980s there were also

7650-428: The teams in their own division each year but only played 20 games total against all of the teams in the other league. Because each of the inter-league match-ups was part of a 3-game series or a 2-game series, teams played no games at all against most teams from the other league. They played 6 of the 15 teams in the other league, a historically high number (until 1997, interleague play was limited to exhibition matches and

7740-413: The tournament proper, and also allow them to assess the abilities of players they may potentially select for the tournament squad. Players can be booked in international friendlies, and can be suspended from future international matches based on red cards or accumulated yellows in a specified period. Caps and goals scored also count towards a player's career records. The results can play a part in affecting

7830-460: The two largest football leagues, the AFL ( Australian rules football ) and NRL ( rugby league ), both grew out of competitions held within a single city (respectively Melbourne and Sydney) and only began expanding to the rest of the country when inexpensive air travel made a national league possible. These leagues use a single table instead of being split into divisions. The term "home and away season"

7920-502: The weekend of inductions to the Baseball Hall of Fame , was also ended in 2008 due to interleague play and teams playing only substitutes. National Basketball Association teams usually play eight preseason games per year, with the number rarely being lower than seven. Today, NBA teams almost always play each other in the preseason but often at neutral sites within their market areas in order to allow those who can not usually make

8010-404: Was eventually canceled). The league has tacitly forbidden the playing of non-league opponents, with the last interleague game having come in 1972 and the last game against a team other than an NFL team (the all-NFL rookie College All-Stars ) was held in 1976. Exhibition games are quite unpopular with many fans, who resent having to pay regular-season prices for two home exhibition games as part of

8100-593: Was questioned because the league whose team won the All-Star game has been awarded home field advantage for the upcoming World Series (prior to 2003 the leagues alternated which one of them had home field advantage; starting in 2017 the team with the better regular season record would be given home field advantage). Another exhibition game, the Hall of Fame Game/Classic which was played in Cooperstown, New York on

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