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52-474: In October, 2011, PowerShares QQQ signed a multi-year agreement with the Champions Series to become the title sponsor of this national tennis league of erstwhile ATP professionals. A new match format was introduced to complete all play on a single evening, with only four players involved. The new format is two semi-final matches consisting of a best-of-one-tiebreak set, followed by a one-set final for

104-474: A closed franchise system of league membership. The term refers to the expansion of the sport into new areas. The addition of an expansion team sometimes results in the payment of an expansion fee to the league by the new team and an expansion draft to populate the new roster. In North America, expansion often takes place in response to population growth and geographic shifts of population. Such demographic change results in financial opportunities to engage with

156-453: A generous expansion draft, the team defied all odds and advanced to the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals in their first year of existence, and later won the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals in just their sixth season. The National Football League (NFL), despite being considered the most generous in its revenue sharing and the strictest with its salary cap, has had far more difficulty bringing expansion teams up to par with their more established brethren. Of

208-689: A group of leagues that are tied together in a hierarchical fashion by promotion and relegation, and to the individual leagues within the league system. For example, in English association football , the English Football League (EFL) is a league system, while the term "National League" refers both to the league immediately below the EFL in the English pyramid and to its associated league system . An alternate system of league organization which

260-545: A policy that the league as of 2017 has no intention of stopping. Cities and regions with large populations that lack a team are generally regarded to be the best candidates for new teams. In rugby league , the United Kingdom-based Rugby Football League 's Super League has added teams from France and Wales to cover a great demographic spread. The operator of Super League, England's Rugby Football League , has also added teams to

312-495: A potential franchise in the UK , with a target date some time in the early to mid-2020s. When an expansion team begins play, it is generally stocked with less talented free agents , inexperienced players, and veterans nearing retirement. Additionally, prospective owners may face expensive fees to the league as well as high startup costs such as stadiums and facilities. The team is also at a disadvantage in that it has not been together as

364-484: A regular season in a league format, the top teams (possibly determined by conference or division) advance to the playoffs. In some such leagues having the best regular season record is relatively unimportant, though top-seeded teams in some leagues, such as the NFL , can gain byes to later rounds of the playoffs, and teams finishing with the best records usually have the advantage of playing the weakest teams that have advanced to

416-399: A single competition or a related group of competitions. Many groups use promotion and relegation , where the best-ranked team(s) in the lower division are promoted to the higher division for the next season, and the worst-ranked team(s) in the higher division are relegated to the lower division for the next season. Under this system, "league" may refer both to a league system ,

468-716: A small amount of interleague play , with the main AL-NL competition occurring between their champions in the World Series . Thus the two leagues played mostly separate competitions within the larger framework of MLB. Finally, until 2000, they were actually separate legal entities, unlike the conferences of other leagues. Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan has a similar history, with the Central League and Pacific League not founded together. Due to this naming custom, it

520-537: A team as long as its opponents and thus lacks the cohesiveness other teams have built over years. As a result, most expansion teams are known for their poor play during their first seasons. Expansion teams must also compete with any expansion rivals for available talent, a common problem since leagues often expand by two or four teams in one season. Expansion teams are not necessarily doomed to mediocrity, however, as most leagues have policies which promote parity, such as drafts and salary caps, which give some expansion teams

572-468: A team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also hope that the expansion of their competition will grow the popularity of the sport generally. The term is most commonly used in reference to the North American major professional sports leagues but is applied to sports leagues in other countries with

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624-439: Is a group of individual athletes, sports teams or clubs who form a league to compete against each other and gain points in a specific sport . At its simplest, it may be a local group of amateur athletes who form teams among themselves and compete periodically, at its most complex, it can be an international professional league making large amounts of money and involving dozens of teams and thousands of players. Many uses of

676-519: Is a major factor in many sports. When teams competing for a tournament championship do not play the same teams the same number of times, it is known as an unbalanced schedule. In such a set-up, the team with the best record becomes champion, based on either a strict win–loss–tie system or on a points system where a certain number of points are awarded for a win, loss, or tie, while bonus points might also be added for teams meeting various criteria. Many leagues also use playoffs , where after teams compete in

728-550: Is a sports league where all the fixtures take place at the same venue, instead of rotating around the venues of the 'home' team, for each fixture. Several UK basketball leagues operate on this basis, intended to keep the costs of participation as low as possible, including: Many sports leagues also participate in a single-elimination tournament each year. In the United States, Mexico, and some other countries, these tournaments are commonly called "playoffs" and are played at

780-509: Is a structure that allows teams or individuals to compete against each other in a nonrandom order on a set schedule, usually called a season , with the results of the individual competitions being used to name an overall champion. A league championship may be contested in a number of ways. Each team may play every other team a certain number of times in a round-robin tournament . Usually, teams play an equal number of games or matches at their own stadium and at other teams', because home advantage

832-499: Is common to use slightly different terms to discuss MLB. Where someone might refer to "the best quarterback in the league" and be understood to mean the overall NFL, a similar mention of "the best outfielder in the league" is almost always a reference to the American or National League, while "in all of baseball" or similar is used to denote the larger status. Each of the major leagues also has its own set of awards to recognize

884-567: Is done so that the history of the team stays with the original city, to be assumed a few years later by a revival of the franchise after a period of inactivity. The league expands in the season corresponding to the original franchise's revival, and holds an expansion draft for the revived franchise. For examples, see the notes below on the NFL 's Baltimore Ravens (relocated in 1996 from the Cleveland Browns , which were revived in 1999), NBA 's New Orleans Pelicans (relocated in 2002 from

936-559: Is especially common in individual sports, although the term "league" is sometimes used in amateur individual sports such as golf . The term "league" is also sometimes applicable to competitions that would more traditionally be called tournaments , such as the UEFA Champions League , which is organized with multiple small round-robin competitions followed by a single elimination tournament to choose an overall winner. "League" and its synonyms may be used to encompass either

988-482: Is not an expansion team. If it moves, it is known as a relocated team , and if the name changes, the team is known as a renamed team . Relocated teams may change their name, colors, and mascot at the same time as the move; however, because the roster is the same and the league does not expand as a result, they are not regarded as expansion teams. A handful of franchise relocations are officially recognized by their respective leagues as creation of expansion franchises; this

1040-551: Is still used in many team sports around the world. One potential drawback of this simple double round-robin format is that the number of teams in the league determines the schedule. Larger leagues may not be able to play as many games as such a system would require, and smaller leagues may want more games. In addition, leagues whose teams are geographically spread out over a wide area (a common situation for leagues in North America) may face significant travel costs. One solution

1092-411: Is to allow teams to play each other whenever they see fit. In some sports, such as horse racing , the main goal of the entrants is to win individual purses , and there is little or no ranking or competition outside winning certain major races. A small amount of league organization may be imposed on these non-league sports by way of a series or tournament tying several individual events together, such as

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1144-428: Is to play an unbalanced schedule, with some teams playing additional games against some other teams; this is the way Major League Soccer has traditionally been scheduled, with the additional games being played against local rivals. Some leagues also break the league into subunits, often known as divisions and conferences , each of which may itself play a balanced or unbalanced schedule. A "central venue league" (CVL)

1196-624: Is used primarily in Australia, Canada, and the United States is a closed model which always has the same teams playing, with occasional admission of expansion teams and relocation of existing teams . There is no team movement between the higher major league and the lower minor leagues . In many of these closed-model leagues in Canada and the United States, they are divided into subdivisions on historical or geographical lines. These may be referred to as conferences or divisions . For example,

1248-427: Is used similarly in the United States to describe baseball teams that play in leagues other than those sanctioned by Major League Baseball . These teams do play in leagues and should not be confused with barnstorming teams that play truly non-league schedules. Individual sports often use an alternative type of league organization where competitors are ranked against each other. In the simplest cases, such as boxing ,

1300-724: The 1969 draft and acquiring Oscar Robertson from the Cincinnati Royals before the 1970–71 season began. In the NHL, the Florida Panthers made the Stanley Cup Finals in their third season even though, like MLB, the league then had no salary cap; a cap was established in 2005. However, the Vegas Golden Knights quickly emerged as one of the NHL's best teams in its first season. Thanks to

1352-582: The American League (AL) and the older National League (NL). They are titled leagues rather than conferences for several reasons. The National League predates the American by 25 years and was considered a "major" league in comparison to its early competitors, and in a sense it simply extended this recognition to the AL, the only league of similar financial clout. In addition, the leagues played no interlocking schedule of any kind until 1995, and then added only

1404-719: The Charlotte Hornets , which were revived in 2004 and were initially named the Charlotte Bobcats), and NHL 's Utah Hockey Club (relocated from the Arizona Coyotes in 2024, revival of the Coyotes expected in 2029). The National League had an eight-team lineup established in 1900, mirrored by the eight charter franchises of the American League in 1901. This list enumerates franchises added since this "Classic Eight" era. Eight charter franchises of

1456-559: The Los Angeles Sparks , New York Liberty , Phoenix Mercury , and Utah Starzz (now Las Vegas Aces ). AFL Women's, launched in 2017 with 8 teams, is operated by the Australian Football League, with all teams fielded by AFL clubs. The league expanded to 10 teams prior to the 2019 season and 14 prior to the 2020 season. In 2023, the remaining four AFL clubs launched women's sides. Originally known as

1508-845: The National Football League (NFL) is divided into the National Football Conference and American Football Conference ; the latter conference was formed largely from the remnants of the American Football League after it merged with the NFL , though it now contains three original NFL teams and three expansion teams. Both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Hockey League (NHL) are divided into Eastern and Western Conferences. The conferences in

1560-534: The Triple Crown . Even in team sports that normally use a traditional league format, some teams often exist outside any league; these teams are generally known as barnstorming teams and either schedule games against local professional or amateur competition or bring their own competition, such as the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters did when they toured with the Washington Generals . As with

1612-473: The AFL of the 1960s were expansion teams in that league. Both joined the AFL after the merger with the NFL was agreed to, but before it was finalized. The NHL had a six-team lineup established in 1942. This list enumerates the teams added since the " Original Six " era. Six of the seven charter franchises from 2018 remain active. The WNBA began in 1997 with eight charter franchises, four of which are still active:

Champions Series (senior men's tennis tour) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1664-581: The Globetrotters, barnstorming teams sometimes emphasize spectacle over athletic competition. In Europe, the term "cup competition" is used to describe single elimination or knock-out tournaments, where the pairing of teams in each round is determined by a "draw" (see for example, the FA Cup in England), to distinguish it from league competition, in which every club in the league or division plays

1716-681: The NBA (founded in 1950 via merger of the BAA and NBL ) are still active. There was only one expansion team in the whole history of the ABA. Only extant teams are listed. Two charter franchises, the Chicago Cardinals (now Arizona Cardinals ) and Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears ), are still active. Starting in 1960, the NFL held an expansion draft for new franchises. Two teams from

1768-424: The NFL, NBA, and NHL are further divided into subsets, all of which are called divisions . These are geographically based, and teams play their divisional opponents more than any others, and then play the other clubs in their conference more than their non-conference opponents. Baseball has a unique nomenclature, with " Major League Baseball " (MLB) the name of the overall grouping of 30 teams in two "major leagues",

1820-457: The Palisades, September 26–30, 2007 The Stanford Championships, October 18–21, 2007 The Legends Rock Dubai, November 20–24, 2007 Champions Cup Naples, March 10–13, 2006 Champions Cup Boston, April 27–30, 2006 The Championships at the Palisades, September 20–24, 2006 Stanford Championships, October 4–8, 2006 Stanford Cup, November 8–12, 2006 Sports league A sports league

1872-410: The championship. Prior to PowerShares QQQ, Outback Steakhouse served as the title sponsor of this seniors' league (as before Outback, the series was known simply as Champions Series Tennis ). No matches were played in 2013 as the series realigned from the fall to the spring. Players are ranked based upon performance in each event and a cumulative total is kept each calendar year. Top ranked players of

1924-482: The conference, as other sports leagues do, but the individual schools also schedule a certain number of "non-conference" games that are organized independently between two schools in different conferences, or between a conference team and a non-conference team. Also, national championships in some college sports are determined by a ranking or playoff system that is independent of the individual conferences. Most major team sports play some form of round-robin schedule, where

1976-400: The end of the season, with the teams qualifying for the playoffs based on their performance during the season. In Europe, "cup" competitions are more common, with all teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that takes place during and parallel with the regular season. Expansion teams An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted

2028-420: The existing franchises can pocket more revenue from expansion fees. Indoor American football leagues are notorious for doing so: the leagues can double the number of teams and have many new teams fail within a year or two. Major League Soccer , after spending most of its first decade of existence with relatively stable membership and struggling finances, adopted a policy of continuous expansion beginning in 2005,

2080-456: The game in their 9th and 21st seasons of existence) playing in the game. In 1996 , the Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars each made it to their respective conference championship games in their second season in the league. Expansion teams are usually considered as such in their first season and sometimes in their second season. A team that moves to another location and/or changes its name

2132-570: The goal is for each team to play a relatively balanced schedule with each other team in the league or in its league subdivision. Within this structure, there are a few significant differences between leagues, a few of which are set forth below. The simplest way to organize a sports league, and still one of the most common, is in a double round-robin format where each team plays each other team twice, once at home and once away. This ensures that every team plays an equally difficult schedule and that no team has undue home field advantage . This organization

Champions Series (senior men's tennis tour) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2184-614: The lower levels of its league pyramid, specifically the Championship and League 1 , from both France and Wales, and most recently Canada . In rugby union , the competition originally known as the Celtic League and now as Pro14 , which began with sides only from the Celtic nations of Ireland , Scotland , and Wales, has added teams from Italy and more recently South Africa . The U.S.-based NFL has been laying groundwork for

2236-413: The measures that MLB took was to expand by four teams in 1961 and 1962. Over the past four decades, MLB expanded further, to its current 30-team membership. In the context of MLB, the term "expansion team" is also used to refer to any of the 14 teams enfranchised in the second half of the 20th century. Leagues that are new and/or financially struggling may also admit large numbers of expansion teams so that

2288-433: The new market as consumers of sports demand local teams to support. Major League Baseball (MLB) was limited to 16 teams located north and east of St. Louis, Missouri for the first half of the 20th century. During that time, the United States population doubled and expanded to the south and west. Rival interests explored the possibility of forming a rival league in the untapped markets. To forestall that possibility, one of

2340-478: The opportunity to win championships only a few years after their first season. In Major League Baseball (MLB) The Arizona Diamondbacks won the 2001 World Series in their fourth season, and the Florida Marlins won the 1997 World Series in their fifth season. In the NBA, The Milwaukee Bucks won the 1971 NBA Finals in their third year of existence, greatly helped by drafting Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in

2392-463: The other teams a pre-determined number of times in a season, usually on a home and away basis. Further, in England, the term non-league football is used for historical reasons to describe association football teams that play in organized leagues, but not in the English Football League or Premier League , the two highest levels of competition in that sport in that country. Independent baseball

2444-473: The past include: The Oliver Group Champions Cup, March 12–16, 2008 The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman Legends Championship, April 16–20, 2008 Champions Cup Boston, April 30- May 4, 2008 The Oliver Group Champions Cup, March 7–11, 2007 Champions Cup Boston, May 2–6, 2007 Champions Cup Athens, May 17–20, 2007 The Gibson Guitar Champions Cup, August 22–26, 2007 The Championships at

2496-464: The playoffs. While round-robin and modified round-robin competitions are the most common form of league organization, there are a number of ways to organize a sporting competition, almost all of which may be described as a "league". Many sports organizations fall on a continuum between a total lack of organization, as in a pick-up game, and a formal league such as is common at the highest level of professional team sports. The simplest form of competition

2548-826: The rankings mean little and the major competition is to crown a champion in a title fight. In other sports, the rankings and leaderboards gain importance when they are used in seeding tournaments. In some sports, points are assigned to results at individual competitions, and the resulting points are used to generate a season rankings and determine the season champion. While not usually referred to as "leagues", but "tours" or "series", these season-long competitions with set events are very similar to league structures in team sports. Examples of this are motorsport , tennis , golf , skiing , beach volleyball and rugby sevens . American college sports are traditionally organized into groups of teams known as conferences . These conferences ordinarily keep league tables and crown champions within

2600-539: The separation between the two, which means there are two MVPs , two Cy Young Award winners, etc. Since its name is constructed differently—a description of the status of two leagues rather than the title of one—it is common to hear "MLB" without "the" attached to it, as in "the most home runs in MLB this year", since one would not say "the Major League Baseball". The common thread between all sports leagues

2652-601: The six teams to have been added to the NFL since the AFL–NFL merger , the fastest turnaround between an inaugural season and the team's first Super Bowl victory was 27 seasons (the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , established in 1976, won Super Bowl XXXVII in the 2002 season); none of the four teams to hold expansion drafts since 1995 have ever won that contest, with only one, the Carolina Panthers (who reached

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2704-480: The term league in sports and for sports organizations are misnomers as the term league relates specifically to the form of organization, requiring persons or bodies to be in league together. A sport competition owned and controlled other than by its participant players, teams or clubs is not a league. In many cases, organizations that function as leagues are described using a different term, such as association , conference , division , leaderboard , or series . This

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