Professional sports leagues are organized in numerous ways. The most common are those in the North American mode and those in the European mode. Generally, the North American structure is characterized by its use of franchises and closed membership; the European structure is characterized by its use of promotion and relegation. A list of professional sports leagues: Auto racing Champcars, formerly CART (Official Page) Formula One, Grand Prix racing (Official Site) IRL (Indy Racing League) (Official Page) NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) (Official Page) NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) (Official Page) Baseball Major League Baseball Minor League Baseball... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... Franchising (from the French for honesty[citation needed]) is a method of doing business wherein a franchisor licenses trademarks and tried and proven methods of doing business to a franchisee in exchange for a recurring payment, and usually a percentage piece of gross sales or gross profits as well as... In most sports leagues around the world (with the North American professional leagues as the most important exception), relegation (or demotion) means the mandated transfer of the worst team(s) of a higher division into a lower division at the end of the season. ...

The system developed in baseball

See also: Major professional sports league

Professional sports leagues in North America are 'closed corporations' limited to a fixed number of teams^[1], known as "franchises". Only a vote of the existing constituent franchises can admit more teams; when this is done, a new franchise place is put up to bid among would-be owners. With a few exceptions, these franchises enjoy a geographical monopoly in a particular location. This system started with the formation of the National League in 1876, in reaction to the instability of its predecessor organizations. A view of the playing field at Busch Stadium II St. ... The major professional sports leagues are those professional sports leagues with the largest fan bases and television audiences (and therefore, the largest revenues and player salaries). ... Look up franchise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The major professional sports leagues are those professional sports leagues with the largest fan bases and television audiences (and therefore, the largest revenues and player salaries). ... The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, or simply the National League, is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada and the worlds oldest extant professional team sports league. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Although league members generally operate as independent entities, separate from the league itself, they are largely creations of the league. Only the few oldest teams in the National Hockey League, for example, existed before becoming part of the NHL or its former rival, the World Hockey Association. The rest of the teams were created ex novo as expansion teams or as charter members of the WHA, which merged into the NHL in 1979. NHL redirects here. ... World Hockey Association logo The World Hockey Association (French: Association Mondiale de Hockey) was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. ... An expansion team is a term used for a brand new team in a sports league. ...

Exceptions to the ownership structure described above do exist. Major League Soccer is technically not an association of franchises but a single business entity. The team owners are actually shareholders in the league. The league, not the individual teams, contracts with the players. The short-lived XFL football league did not have independently owned teams; all teams were owned by the league. Major League Soccer (MLS) is the top soccer league of both the United States and Canada. ... The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. ...

Because North American pro teams are so closely tied to their leagues, they almost never play games outside of the league (and these generally are exhibitions rather than competitive contests). The best teams in a given season reach a playoff tournament, and the winner of the playoffs is crowned champion of the league (and, in the case of the four major professional sports leagues, "world champion"). The league develops its own rule book and sets the conditions under which players join and change teams. A playoff in sports (North American professional sports in particular) is a game or series of games played after the regular season is over with the goal of determining a league champion. ... The major professional sports leagues are those professional sports leagues with the largest fan bases and television audiences (and therefore, the largest revenues and player salaries). ...

Major League Baseball has an associated minor-league system used to develop young talent. Although most minor league teams are independently owned, each contracts with a major-league team, which hires and pays the players and assigns them to a given level in its minor-league hierarchy. The teams as a whole cannot move up or down levels. Professional ice hockey has a system somewhat similar to baseball's, while the National Basketball Association and National Football League each operate one small developmental league. MLB and Major Leagues redirect here. ... A Class A California League game in San Jose, California (1994) Minor baseball leagues are North American professional baseball leagues that compete at a level below that of Major League Baseball. ... Ice hockey, known simply as hockey in areas where it is more common than field hockey, is a team sport played on ice. ... The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the worlds premier mens professional basketball league and one of the major professional sports leagues of North America. ... Bills Dolphins Patriots Jets Ravens Bengals Browns Steelers Texans Colts Titans Broncos Chiefs Raiders Chargers Cowboys Giants Eagles Redskins Bears Lions Packers Vikings Falcons Panthers Saints Buccaneers Jaguars Cardinals Rams 49ers Seahawks The National Football League (NFL) is the largest professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from...

The system of league organization described above developed in Major League Baseball in the 19th century and was later adopted by other North American sports leagues.

Outside of North America, the American system of organizing sports leagues is sometimes referred to as "franchising." North Americans themselves refer to major-league teams as "franchises," but have no need for a name for their system of league ownership, since all major leagues operate on the same principles.

A number of leagues outside of the United States now use this system. These include the Super League, which is the top level of rugby league in the United Kingdom and France. This will run on a franchise basis from 2009.^[2] In rugby union, the Southern Hemisphere Super 14 competition operates on a franchise system. In 2006, a promotion/relegation system was introduced affecting only the South African teams, but as of November of that year, it was confirmed that it will never actually be employed.^[3] Professional sport leagues in Australia are based on this model as well, with the most notable examples being the Australian Football League (Aussie rules) and National Rugby League (rugby league). The German Bundesliga also initially ran under a similar 'licence' system, though this was relaxed in 1965. The engage Super League logo Super League (Europe) is the only full-time professional rugby league competition operating in the northern hemisphere. ... Rugby league is a team sport played by two teams of 17 players, with 13 on the field at any one time and 4 on the bench (reserves). ... A rugby union scrum. ... The current Super 14 logo The Super 14 is a rugby union championship competed for by teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Australian Football League (AFL) is the Australian national competition in the sport of Australian rules football. ... The Big Men Fly - high marking is a key skill and spectator attribute of Aussie Rules Precise field and goal kicking using the oval shaped ball is the most important skill in Aussie Rules Footy Australian rules football, also known as Australian football, Aussie rules, or simply football or footy... For other uses of the term NRL, go to NRL (disambiguation) The National Rugby League (often referred to as the Telstra Premiership for sponsorship purposes) is a competition for rugby league clubs in Australia and New Zealand, and is Australias primary rugby league competition. ... Rugby league is a team sport played by two teams of 17 players, with 13 on the field at any one time and 4 on the bench (reserves). ... In German football, the Bundesliga (Federal League) is the highest level league club competition where play determines the national champions. ...

The system developed in Association Football (soccer)

English football (soccer) developed a very different system from the North American one, and it has been adopted for soccer in most other countries. The system is marked by: The striker (wearing red jersey) has run past the defender (in white jersey) and is about to take a shot at the goal, while the goalkeeper positions himself to stop the ball. ...

• The existence of an elected governing body to which clubs at all levels of the sport belong;
• Games played both inside and outside of leagues; and
• The promotion of well-performing teams to higher-level leagues or divisions and the relegation of poorly performing teams to lower-level leagues or divisions.

European soccer clubs are members both of a league and of a governing body. In the case of England, all competitive soccer clubs are members of The Football Association, while the top 20 teams are members of the FA Premier League, a separate organization. The FA operates the national soccer team and tournaments that involve teams from different leagues. In conjunction with other countries' governing bodies, it also sets the playing rules and the rules under which teams can sell players' contracts to other clubs. The Football Association (The FA) is the governing body of football in England (and the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man). ... The FA Premier League (often referred to as the Barclays Premiership in the UK and the Barclays English Premier League internationally) is a league competition for football clubs located at the top of the English football league system (above The Football League), making it Englands primary football competition. ... The Laws of the Game (also known as the Laws of Football) are the rules governing a game of association football (soccer). ...

The Premier League negotiates television contracts for its games. However, the "league" is only one of several competitions in which a club might participate in a given year; only some of the games a league member plays are league games. A Premier League team might play a league game one week and an FA Cup game against a team from a lower-level league the next. The third game might be against a Danish team in the UEFA Champions League (operated by the Union of European Football Associations). Note: for the full results of all FA Cup finals, see FA Cup Final The FA Cup - this is the fourth trophy, in use since 1992, and identical in design to the third trophy introduced in 1911. ... The UEFA Champions League (which used to be named and is often still called the European Cup) is an annual club football competition organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for the most successful football clubs in Europe. ... UEFA logo The Union of European Football Associations, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ...

In any given year, a country could have several champions. In 2004-05, Chelsea won the Premier League championship, Arsenal won the FA Cup and Liverpool won the UEFA Champions League. Usually the national league winners are considered the national champions (a notion also used in franchise-based leagues), and the disparities may be settled by means of a Super Cup, although this is considered a special event and has not been mandatory in any league anywhere in the world. The 2004-2005 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England. ... Chelsea Football Club (also known as The Blues or previously as The Pensioners), founded in 1905, are an English Premier League football team. ... Arsenal Football Club (also known as Arsenal, The Arsenal or The Gunners) are an English professional football club based in north London. ... Liverpool Football Club are a football club based in Liverpool, in the north west of England. ... There are several Super Cups: European Super Cup, a trophy for the top European football team Super Cup, an English football tournament held in 1985-86 This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The promotion and relegation system is generally used to determine membership of leagues. A pre-determined number of teams at the bottom of a league or divsion are relegated down to a lower level, being replaced by the same number of teams gaining promotion from that lower tier. The following season, these teams compete at their new levels. In England in 2006, Birmingham City, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion were relegated from the Premier League to the Football League Championship, the second level of English soccer. Relegation has devastating financial consequences for club owners who not only lose TV, sponsorship and gate income but also see the asset value of their shares in the club collapse. There is of course a corresponding bonanza for owners of promoted clubs. In most sports leagues around the world (with the North American professional leagues as the most important exception), relegation (or demotion) means the mandated transfer of the worst team(s) of a higher division into a lower division at the end of the season. ... Location of teams in the 2005-06 season The 2005-06 season of the FA Premier League saw Chelsea defend and win a back-to-back-titles by defeating Manchester United on 29 April. ... Birmingham City Football Club were established in 1875 it is an English football club based in Birmingham, and currently play in the Football League Championship. ... Sunderland Association Football Club are a professional football club, based at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, in North-East England. ... West Bromwich Albion Football Club is an English football club that was formed in 1878 by workers from Salters Spring Works in West Bromwich (then in Staffordshire, now part of the West Midlands). ... The Football League Championship (often referred to as The Championship for short or the Coca-Cola Football League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the FA Premier League. ...

Clubs may be sold privately to new owners at any time. However, relocation of clubs to other cities is very rare. If a millionaire wishes to have a top club in his native city, he usually must buy the local club as it stands and work it up through the divisions, usually by hiring better talent. He would be unlikely to buy an existing top-flight club and move it to his city. (There have been a number of cases where existing owners have chosen to relocate out of a crowded market, to better facilities, and/or simply to realise the market value of the land that the current stadium is built upon. As in the U.S., team relocations have been controversial, but for different reasons). Relocation of professional sports teams, is a common practice in North America but not at all common in Europe. ...

The league does not choose which cities are to have teams in the top division. For example, Leeds, the fourth-biggest city in England, saw their team relegated in 2004. Leeds will remain without a Premiership team as long as it takes for Leeds United (or in theory any other local club) to do well enough in the second-tier division to win the right to play in the Premiership. Famously, the French Ligue 1 lacked a team from Paris for some years. Statistics Population: 443,247 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SE297338 Administration Metropolitan borough: City of Leeds Metropolitan county: West Yorkshire Region: Yorkshire and the Humber Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: West Yorkshire Historic county: Yorkshire (West Riding) Services Police force: West Yorkshire Police Ambulance service... The FA Premier League (often referred to as the Barclays Premiership in the UK and the Barclays English Premier League internationally) is a league competition for football clubs located at the top of the English football league system (above The Football League), making it Englands primary football competition. ... Leeds United Football Club is the only professional association football club in the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire. ... Ligue 1 (Première Division or Division 1 until 2003) is the top division of French football, one of two divisions making up the LFP, the other being Ligue 2. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Région ÃŽle-de-France Département Paris (75) Subdivisions 20 arrondissements Mayor Bertrand Delanoë  (PS) (since 2001) City Statistics Land...

Territorial rights are not recognised, and new teams in a geographical location can overtake older ones; in Munich, for example, TSV 1860 München were initially more successful than the city's current biggest team Bayern München ^[4]. Major cities such as London may have many teams in the professional leagues: for example, it has six teams in the 2006-07 FA Premier League alone. Munich: Frauenkirche and Town Hall steeple Munich: St. ... TSV 1860 München is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. ... FC Bayern Munich (German: FC Bayern München) is a German sports club based in Munich, the capital of the state of Bavaria. ... The 2006-07 FA Premier League season, the fifteenth since its establishment, started on August 19, 2006. ... The Football Association (The FA) is the governing body of football in England (and the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man). ... The FA Premier League (often referred to as the Barclays Premiership in the UK and the Barclays English Premier League internationally) is a league competition for football clubs located at the top of the English football league system (above The Football League), making it Englands primary football competition. ...

This system originated in England in 1888 when twelve clubs decided to create a professional Football League. The "closed shop" aspect of baseball's National League was not deemed to be necessary to ensure stability in England because a national English football league did not require the sort of travel commitments that were necessary in the U.S. A secretariat was created to organise and run the Football League. Later lower tiers (divisions) were added. Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... The Football League is a league competition for professional football clubs in England, the oldest such competition in world football. ... In most sports leagues around the world (with the North American professional leagues as the most important exception), relegation (or demotion) means the mandated transfer of the worst team(s) of a higher division into a lower division at the end of the season. ...

This system is widely used in football (soccer) around the world, notably in Africa and Latin America as well as Europe. The most notable variation has developed in Latin America where many countries have two league seasons per year. It has historically been used in other team sports to have expanded out of the United Kingdom, such as rugby union and cricket. Even "American" sports such as basketball and ice hockey use the system in European countries where their influence is strong, such as Spain or Lithuania in basketball or Russia in ice hockey. Football (soccer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... In recent times, many Latin American football leagues, including those of Mexico, El Salvador, Argentina and Paraguay, have divided their football championships into two sections per season, awarding a champion for each. ... A rugby union scrum. ... For the insect, see Cricket (insect). ... Sara Giauro shoots a three-point shot, FIBA Europe Cup for Women Finals 2005. ... Ice hockey, known simply as hockey in areas where it is more common than field hockey, is a team sport played on ice. ...

East Asian countries (Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan) have a particular differentiation among leagues: "European" sports (soccer, rugby, etc.) use promotion and relegation, while "American" sports (baseball, basketball, etc.) use franchising, with a few differences varying from country to country. A similar situation exists in countries in Central America and the Caribbean, where soccer and baseball share several close markets. East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. ... Map of Central America Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. ... World map depicting Caribbean : West Indies redirects here. ...

References

1. ^ [Rader, Benjamin G.; 2002; Baseball:A History of America's Game; Second Edition; University of Illinois Press]
2. ^ Article discussing the potentially negative affects of franchising on Rugby League
3. ^ Spears abandon their Super conquest. Planet Rugby (2006-11-16). Retrieved on 2006-11-22.
4. ^ [Bundesliga history http://www.the-shot.com/bundesliga-faq/history-faq/]

2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further reading

• Cain, Louis P. and Haddock, David D.; 2005; 'Similar Economic Histories, Different Industrial Structures: Transatlantic Contrasts in the Evolution of Professional Sports Leagues'; Journal of Economic History 65 (4); pp1116-1147