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In sport, a franchise is a club given permanent rights to play in a specific league. The corporation which owns a major league sports team is often called "the franchise" as a colloquial term. This concept is standard in the USA and Canada, but is foreign to sport structures in most of the rest of the world. In these other countries, clubs are not attatched so much to their league or to their owners, but to their geographical location and history. A club will move through the leagues dependent on their success, and may be promoted or relegated. 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... Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in North America. ... In the sports leagues — especially soccer leagues — of many countries, relegation (or demotion) means the mandated transfer of the worst team(s) (usually the bottom three) of a higher league into a lower league at the end of the season. ...

Franchising

In the United States, sports franchises occasionally move cities, sometimes vast distances (for example, the St. Louis Rams started out in the Midwestern United States as the Cleveland Rams, moved to Los Angeles on the West Coast in 1945, then again to Saint Louis in 1995.). City Saint Louis, Missouri Other nicknames {{{nicknames}}} Team colors New Century Gold, Millennium Blue, and White Head Coach Scott Linehan Owner Georgia Frontiere and E. Stanley Kroenke General manager Charlie Armey Fight song {{{song}}} Mascot {{{mascot}}} Local radio Flagship stations: KLOU (103. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... Nickname: The Forest City Motto: Progress and Prosperity Official website: http://www. ... Nickname: City of Angels Motto: Official website: http://www. ... Nickname: Gateway City, Gateway to the West, or Mound City Motto: Official website: http://stlouis. ...

Relocation

Although franchising does not generally occur in 'European sports', there are examples of relocation or similar moves.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, this sort of move is rare. This is due to the different relationship between clubs and their league. In most sports, teams can be relegated from their current league, into a lower one, or promoted up a league to the one above. Clubs are closely linked to their geographical base, with fans forming emotional links with 'their' town's team. In the sports leagues — especially soccer leagues — of many countries, relegation (or demotion) means the mandated transfer of the worst team(s) (often the bottom three) of a higher league into a lower league at the end of the season. ... Promotion, used in sports leagues of most countries outside North America, is the mandated transfer of the best team(s) of a lower league into a higher league at the end of the season. ... Physical map of the Earth (Medium) (Large 2 MB) Geography is the scientific study of the locational and spatial variation in both physical and human phenomena on Earth. ...

Football can be taken as an example. In England, one recent case is often described as 'franchising'. Wimbledon F.C.'s Norwegian owners moved the club from London to Milton Keynes, a city 70 miles away and without a league football team. For doing so, they were widely criticised by the footballing community, who began to refer to the club as Franchise F.C.: though this isn't technically 'franchising', the fact of continuing to call it Wimbledon (when it was nowhere near) made it reminiscent of US practice. London fans created a new local team, AFC Wimbledon, Wimbledon F.C went into administration, was rescued and subsequently relaunched with a new name, Milton Keynes Dons F.C.. 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. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the British Isles Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK... Wimbledon F.C. logo This article is about the football club known as Wimbledon F.C. between 1889 and 2003. ... Wimbledon F.C. logo This article is about the football club known as Wimbledon F.C. between 1889 and 2003. ... The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower containing Big Ben Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Milton Keynes Milton Keynes (pronounced ) is a purpose-built, high technology city in South East England. ... Milton Keynes Dons F.C. is a football club that currently plays in the English Football League One, having just been relegated from the First Division. ... AFC Wimbledon is a semi-professional English football team representing the area of Wimbledon and Merton in London, though they currently play their games in nearby New Malden. ... Milton Keynes Dons F.C. is a football club in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. ...

Another similar, but less well known move, is that from South Shields. In 1973, South Shields F.C. became Gateshead United F.C. after a move between the two towns that are 10 miles apart — repeating a similar migration in 1930. South Shields high street and Metro station Map sources for South Shields at grid reference NZ1658 South Shields is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne, with a population of about 90,000. ... South Shields F.C. is a football club based in South Shields, England. ... Gateshead F.C. are a football team based in Gateshead, England, who currently play in the Northern Premier League. ...

Other examples of relocation out of the original town are slightly more common. In certain cases, the club has moved within a conurbation: A conurbation is an urban area comprising a number of cities or towns which, through population growth and expansion, have physically merged to form one continuous built up area. ...

• Arsenal F.C. moved from Woolwich in south London to Highbury in north London in 1913.
• Grimsby Town F.C. play in the town of Cleethorpes, a town to the north of Grimsby that has been absorbed by the former's outward growth
• Livingston F.C. was originally known as Meadowbank Thistle F.C., a struggling Edinburgh club that controversially relocated in 1995 to the new town of Livingston, a suburb of Edinbrough. Its fortunes improved and it won the Scottish League Cup in 2004.
• Partick Thistle is a Glaswegian football club that moved from the district of Partick to that of Maryhill.
• Wimbledon F.C., before the move to Milton Keynes, had preivously left their home borough of Merton for Selhurst Park. Although this was a supposedly temporary move, it had lasted 12 years by the time of their migration.

In 2002, Airdrie United F.C. was the controversial re-incarnation of bankrupt Clydebank F.C., following the earlier bankruptcy of Airdrieonians F.C.. Whether this 'counts' as a relocation or franchise is slightly contestable, as Clydebank were being evicted from the league anyway. However, Airdrie United effectively 'bought' their league place. Arsenal Football Club (also known as Arsenal, The Arsenal or The Gunners) are an English professional football club based in north London. ... Woolwich (pronounced Woolitch) is a town in south-east London, England in the London Borough of Greenwich, on the south side of the River Thames, though the tiny exclave of North Woolwich (which is now part of the London Borough of Newham) is on the north side of the river. ... Highbury Clock is located just north of Highbury Fields, near the junction of Highbury Barn and Highbury Hill. ... Grimsby Town F.C. are an English football Football League Two club. ... Location within the British Isles Arms of Cleethorpes Cleethorpes is a town in North East Lincolnshire, England, situated at the mouth of the River Humber. ... Livingston F.C. is a Scottish football team currently playing in the Scottish Premier League. ... Meadowbank Thistle were a Scottish football club who were created at the start of the 1974–75 season after a previous club, Ferranti Thistle, relocated to the Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh and joined the Football League. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ), Dùn Èideann () in Scottish Gaelic, is the second-largest city in Scotland and its capital city. ... A New town or planned community or planned city is a city, town, or community that was designed from scratch, and grew up more or less following the plan. ... Livingston is a town in central Scotland. ... The Scottish League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League members. ... Partick Thistle Football Club is a Scottish football club. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation) George Square and Glasgows City Chambers Glasgow is Scotlands largest city, located on the River Clyde in West Central Scotland. ... Partick is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. ... Maryhill is a residential district in the northwest of the City of Glasgow. ... Wimbledon F.C. logo This article is about the football club known as Wimbledon F.C. between 1889 and 2003. ... The administrative area of Greater London contains 32 London Boroughs, of which 12 (plus the City of London) make up Inner London and 20 Outer London. ... Merton may refer to: // People Gerald Merton, English astronomer (1893–1983) [1] [2] Paul Merton (1957–), British actor and comedian Robert Carhart Merton (1944–), American economist Robert King Merton (1910–2003), American sociologist Thomas Merton (1915–1968), American Cistercian monk and author Walter de Merton (ca. ... Selhurst Park is a football stadium in south London, and is the current home ground of Crystal Palace F.C. Its present capacity is 26, 247. ... Airdrie United Football Club are a Scottish association football team currently playing in the Scottish Football League First Division. ... Clydebank Football Club is a football club from Clydebank in Scotland. ... Airdrie United Football Club are a Scottish association football team currently playing in the Scottish Football League First Division. ...

Merchandising

Also, all major sports teams franchise their name and logos to be used in all kinds of merchandise. Franchising (from the French for free) is a method of doing business wherein a franchisor licenses trademarks and methods of doing business to a franchisee in exchange for a recurring royalty fee. ...