View source for Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada

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'''Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada''' traditionally include four leagues: [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB), the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA), the [[National Football League]] (NFL), and the [[National Hockey League]] (NHL). Other prominent leagues include [[Major League Soccer]] (MLS) and the [[Canadian Football League]] (CFL).
MLB, the NBA, the NFL, and the NHL are commonly referred to as the "'''Big Four'''".<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/nba-market-size-nfl-mlb-nhl-nielsen-ratings/|title=Major pro sports teams ranked by market size|date=2022|access-date=May 11, 2023|archive-date=May 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511154836/https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/nba-market-size-nfl-mlb-nhl-nielsen-ratings/|url-status=live}}{{Self-published source|date=June 2023|expert=y}}</ref> Each of these is the wealthiest professional club competition in its sport worldwide, and along with the English [[Premier League]] they make up the top five [[List of professional sports leagues by revenue|sports leagues by revenue]] in the world.<ref name="urlMajor sports leagues all make a lot of money, heres how they do it:, Major sports leagues all make a lot of money, heres how they do it:">{{cite web |url=https://globalsportmatters.com/business/2019/03/07/tv-is-biggest-driver-in-global-sport-league-revenue/ |title=TV is biggest driver in global sport league revenue |first=TJ |last=Mathewson |date=March 7, 2019 |access-date=July 7, 2020 |archive-date=December 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207033032/https://globalsportmatters.com/business/2019/03/07/tv-is-biggest-driver-in-global-sport-league-revenue/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Each of the Big Four leagues, as well as MLS and the CFL, averages at least 15,000 fans in attendance per game {{as of|2023|lc=yes}}. The NFL has the largest stadiums on average in the world, ranging in capacity from just under 60,000 to almost 100,000 spectators, while MLB ballparks generally hold between 30,000 and 50,000 fans. Venues used primarily by MLS and CFL vary more widely in capacity, from about 20,000 to about 60,000.{{Efn|While a few MLS teams play in NFL stadiums, the upper decks of such venues are often partially or entirely closed for MLS matches, leading to an effective capacity closer to that of a typical MLS [[soccer-specific stadium]].}} The two indoor leagues, the NHL and NBA, play mostly in arenas that hold 18,000 to 20,000 seats. There is a significant number of multi-purpose venues that host events in both NFL and MLS (5),<ref name=":1">Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Foxboro and Charlotte</ref> CFL and MLS (2),<ref name=":2">Vancouver and Toronto</ref> MLB and MLS (1),<ref>Yankee Stadium in New York</ref> and NBA and NHL (10).<ref>Los Angeles, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Washington D.C., Toronto, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and New York.</ref> Teams in MLB and the NFL no longer share stadiums, although there are frequent examples of MLB and NFL teams sharing stadiums in the past. The NFL and MLB also play a limited number of annual games in English Premier League stadiums,<ref>Principally [[Tottenham Hotspur Stadium]].</ref> and the NFL plays a limited number of annual games in stadiums of Germany's [[Bundesliga]],<ref>Specifically [[Allianz Arena]] and [[Waldstadion (Frankfurt)|Deutsche Bank Park]].</ref> and less often plays games in stadiums of Mexico's [[Liga MX]],<ref>Specifically [[Estadio Azteca]].</ref> Brazil's [[Campeonato Brasileiro Série A|Brasileirão]],<ref>Specifically [[Arena Corinthians]], which hosted its first NFL game in 2024.</ref> and Spain's [[La Liga]].<ref>Specifically [[Santiago Bernabéu Stadium|Estadio Santiago Bernabéu]], which hosts its first NFL game in 2025.</ref>
The Big Four leagues currently have 30 to 32 teams each, most of which are concentrated in the most populous metropolitan areas of the United States and Canada. Unlike the [[promotion and relegation]] systems used in sports leagues in various other regions around the world, North American sports leagues are [[closed league]]s that maintain the same teams from season-to-season. Expansion of the league usually occurs by adding newly formed teams, though mergers with competing leagues have also occurred.
[[Baseball]], [[American football]], and [[ice hockey]] have had professional leagues continuously for over 100 years; early leagues such as the [[National Association of Professional Base Ball Players]], the [[Ohio League]], and the [[National Hockey Association]] formed the basis of the modern MLB, NFL, and NHL, respectively. [[Basketball]] was invented in 1891, and its first professional league formed in the 1920s. The [[Basketball Association of America]], founded in 1946, formed the basis of the NBA in 1949 and has lasted for over 75 years.
[[Soccer]] was first professionalized in 1894, with past U.S.-based leagues including the [[American Soccer League (1921–1933)]] (ASL) and original [[North American Soccer League (1968–84)|North American Soccer League (1968–1984)]] (NASL). Major League Soccer (MLS) was established in 1996.<ref name="mlssoccer.com">MLSsoccer.com, The expansion, refs, Cascadia: MLS Commissioner Don Garber covers it all in annual address, February 27, 2013, http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/02/27/expansion-refs-cascadia-commissioner-garber-covers-it-all-march-soccer-addre ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322043641/http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/02/27/expansion-refs-cascadia-commissioner-garber-covers-it-all-march-soccer-addre |date=2015-03-22 }}).</ref>
=="Big Four" leagues==
===Major League Baseball===
{{Main|Major League Baseball}}
Major League Baseball is the highest level of play of [[baseball]] in the United States and Canada.<ref name="aboutmlb">{{cite web |title=About MLB |url=https://www.mlb.com/official-information/about-mlb |website=Major League Baseball (MLB) |access-date=26 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240624081509/https://www.mlb.com/official-information/about-mlb |archive-date=24 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>  and the oldest of the major American leagues. It consists of the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (founded in 1876) and the [[American League]] (founded in 1901). With the establishment of the American League in 1901 also came the trademarking of "Major League Baseball". Cooperation between the two leagues began in 1903 inasmuch as the two league champions began playing a "[[World Series]]". In 1904, however, there was no World Series played because one of the league champions refused to play. During the offseason, the owners of each league voted to have the league champions automatically play one another in the World Series and it was 90 years until another World Series was not played, in 1994, due to a work stoppage. The two leagues merged on an organizational level in 2000 with the elimination of separate league offices; they have shared a single [[Commissioner of Baseball|Commissioner]] since 1920. There are currently 30 member teams, with 29 located in the U.S. and 1 in Canada. Traditionally called the "[[national sport|National Pastime]]", baseball was the first professional team sport in the U.S.<ref name="urlGovernment, Community, and Sports Teams: Tax Credits - The Policy Circle">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thepolicycircle.org/minibrief/government-community-and-sports-teams-tax-credits/|title=Government, Community, and Sports Teams: Tax Credits|website=The Policy Circle|access-date=2020-11-26|archive-date=2020-12-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204074909/https://www.thepolicycircle.org/minibrief/government-community-and-sports-teams-tax-credits/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="urlMajor Professional Sports Leagues: The US & Canada | The Daily Gazette, Major Professional Sports Leagues: The US & Canada | The Daily Gazette">{{Cite web|url=https://dailygazette.com/major-professional-sports-leagues-the-us-canada/|title=Major Professional Sports Leagues: The US & Canada|website=The Daily Gazette|access-date=2020-11-26|archive-date=2020-11-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125082823/https://dailygazette.com/major-professional-sports-leagues-the-us-canada/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="urlWhat Is the Oldest Major Sports League in the U.S.?">{{cite web |url=https://www.sportscasting.com/what-is-the-oldest-major-sports-league-in-the-u-s/ |title=What Is the Oldest Major Sports League in the U.S.? |date=February 22, 2020 |access-date=November 26, 2020 |archive-date=December 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205134358/https://www.sportscasting.com/what-is-the-oldest-major-sports-league-in-the-u-s/ |url-status=live }}</ref> MLB consistently draws the largest total attendance of any sports league in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Total sports attendance by league 2019/20 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1120142/total-sports-attendance-by-league/ |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gaines |first=Cork |title=The NFL and Major League Baseball are the most attended sports leagues in the world |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/attendance-sports-leagues-world-2015-5 |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}</ref>
===National Basketball Association===
{{Main|National Basketball Association}}
Josh Martin of [[Bleacher Report]] described the National Basketball Association as "the best [[basketball]] league in the world" in a 2012 power ranking of international leagues,<ref name="urlPower Ranking the Best Basketball Leagues in the World, Outside of the NBA | Bleacher Report | Latest News, Videos and Highlights">{{cite web |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1291287-power-ranking-the-best-basketball-leagues-in-the-world-outside-of-the-nba |title=Power Ranking the Best Basketball Leagues in the World, Outside of the NBA |website=[[Bleacher Report]] |access-date=2020-12-08 |archive-date=2020-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111213011/https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1291287-power-ranking-the-best-basketball-leagues-in-the-world-outside-of-the-nba |url-status=live }}</ref> and it is the youngest of the major American leagues. It was founded in 1949 with the merger of the [[Basketball Association of America]] (BAA) and the [[National Basketball League (United States)|National Basketball League]] (NBL)<ref>{{cite news |title=NBL, BAA merge, end pro net war |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-republic-nbl-baa-merge-end-pro-net/149768648/ |access-date=21 June 2024 |work=The Republic |agency=UP |date=4 August 1949 |page=11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{open access}}</ref> though it later adopted the BAA's founding date in 1946 as its own.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Curtis Harris |title=How the NBA's 75th anniversary sweeps away its early history |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/01/21/nba-history-nbl-baa/ |access-date=23 June 2024 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=21 January 2022}}</ref> Four teams from the rival [[American Basketball Association]] joined the NBA with the [[ABA–NBA merger]] in 1976. It currently has 30 teams, 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. The NBA is watched by audiences both domestically and internationally, and {{as of|2022|lc=y}} it was the most popular league out of the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB worldwide in desktop web traffic.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.similarweb.com/amp/corp/blog/research/market-research/infographic-most-popular-american-sports-leagues-by-country/ | title=INFOGRAPHIC: Most Popular American Sports Leagues by Country }}</ref> While the NBA is the most viewed basketball league in Canada, [[Canada Basketball]] recognizes the [[Canadian Elite Basketball League]] as the country's first-division professional league.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CEBL - Canada Basketball Partnership |url=https://www.cebl.ca/canada-basketball |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=www.cebl.ca |language=en |archive-date=2019-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514160320/https://www.cebl.ca/canada-basketball |url-status=live }}</ref>
===National Football League===
{{Main|National Football League}}
The National Football League is a professional [[American football]] league and was founded in 1920 as a combination of various teams from regional leagues such as the [[Ohio League]], the [[New York Pro Football League]], and the Chicago circuit as a successor to [[Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit]]. For its first two seasons, 1920 and 1921, it was known as the "American Professional Football Association" (APFA) before changing its name to the current name in 1922. The NFL partially absorbed the [[All-America Football Conference]] in 1949 and [[AFL–NFL merger|merged]] with the [[American Football League]] in 1970. It has 32 teams, all located in the United States. {{As of|2015}}, NFL games have the largest per-game attendance among domestic professional leagues in the world,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/attendance-sports-leagues-world-2015-5 |title=The NFL and Major League Baseball are the most attended sports leagues in the world |date=May 22, 2015 |access-date=June 9, 2023 |work=[[Business Insider]] |first=Cork |last=Gaines}}</ref> and is the most popular league in the U.S. in terms of television ratings and merchandising.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} Its championship game, the [[Super Bowl]], is the most watched annual event on U.S. television, with [[Super Bowl XLIX]] being the single most-watched program in U.S. television history.<ref name="SuperBowlXLIXMostWatched">{{cite web |last=Patra |first=Kevin |title=Super Bowl XLIX is most-watched show in U.S. history |url=https://www.nfl.com/news/super-bowl-xlix-is-most-watched-show-in-u-s-history-0ap3000000467823 |website=National Football League |date=February 2, 2015 |access-date=February 2, 2015 |archive-date=October 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007203249/https://www.nfl.com/news/super-bowl-xlix-is-most-watched-show-in-u-s-history-0ap3000000467823 |url-status=live }}</ref> The NFL is the only one of the "Big Four" leagues not to have a team in Canada, where the [[Canadian Football League]] {{see below|{{section link|#Canadian Football League}}}} is the premier professional league in a similar [[gridiron football]] sport of [[Canadian football]].
===National Hockey League===
{{Main|National Hockey League}}
The National Hockey League is widely recognized as the world's premier professional [[ice hockey]] league,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=National Hockey League |first=James |last=Marsh|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/national-hockey-league/ |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |year=2012 |access-date=June 9, 2023}}</ref> and is the only "Big Four" league to have been founded in Canada. It was formed in 1917 as a successor to the Canadian [[National Hockey Association]] (founded in 1909), taking all but one of the NHA's teams. The NHL [[NHL–WHA merger|partially absorbed]] the rival [[World Hockey Association]] in 1979. There are 32 teams, with 25 in the U.S. and 7 in Canada. The most popular sports league in Canada, and widely followed across the northern and northeastern U.S., the NHL has expanded westward and southward in recent decades to attempt to gain a more national following in the United States, in cities such as [[Colorado Avalanche|Denver]], [[San Jose Sharks|San Jose]], [[Dallas Stars|Dallas]], [[Florida Panthers|Miami]], [[Nashville Predators|Nashville]], [[Utah Hockey Club|Salt Lake City]], [[Carolina Hurricanes|Raleigh]], [[Tampa Bay Lightning|Tampa]], [[Vegas Golden Knights|Las Vegas]], and [[Seattle Kraken|Seattle]] with varying success. The NHL has more Canadian teams (seven) than MLB, the NBA, and MLS combined (five).
==Other notable professional leagues==
{{See also|Professional sports leagues in the United States|Professional sports in Canada|Prominent women's sports leagues in the United States and Canada}}
===Major League Soccer===
[[Major League Soccer]] (MLS) is the top-level men's professional [[soccer]] league in the United States. As of the league's 2024 season, MLS has 29 teams, with 26 in the United States and 3 in Canada, with one more U.S. team, [[San Diego FC]], scheduled to start play in 2025. The league began play in 1996, its creation a requirement by [[FIFA]] for awarding the United States the right to host the [[1994 FIFA World Cup|1994 World Cup]]. MLS was the first major Division I outdoor soccer league in the U.S. since the [[North American Soccer League (1968–84)|North American Soccer League]] (NASL) operated from 1968 to 1984. MLS has increased in popularity following the adoption of the [[Designated Player Rule]] in 2007, which allowed MLS to sign stars such as [[David Beckham]] (from whom the rule took its colloquial name 'the Beckham rule'), [[Thierry Henry]], and [[Lionel Messi]].{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} In 2017, MLS reported an average attendance of 22,112 per game, with total attendance exceeding 8.2 million overall, both breaking previous MLS attendance records,<ref>{{cite web|title=2016 MLS Attendance|url=http://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2016-mls-attendance|access-date=February 22, 2017|work=SoccerStadiumDigest.com|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220122236/http://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2016-mls-attendance/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{irrelevant citation|date=June 2023|reason=Citation is for the 2016 season, which includes none of the numbers in the cited statement.}} while 2018 saw [[Atlanta United FC]] break multiple single-game attendance records, with crowd figures of over 70,000 among the highest team attendances worldwide.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
With a total attendance of nearly 11 million and an average of over 22,000, MLS has the fifth-largest and third-largest, total and average attendances respectively, among the sports league in U.S. and Canada {{see below|{{section link|#Attendance}}}}, had the seventh-highest attendance among global professional soccer leagues.<ref name="gannett-mls-attendance">{{cite news |url= https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/2017/11/17/mls-attendance-tv-ratings-lag-us-mulls-future/13851888007/ |title=MLS attendance up, TV ratings lag as U.S. mulls future |date=November 17, 2017 |access-date=June 9, 2023 |work=[[Savannah Morning News]] |first=Ronald |last=Blum}}</ref> The [[Canadian Soccer Association]] does not sanction MLS as a first-division league, with that title going instead to the [[Canadian Premier League]] (CPL). However, Canadian teams in the MLS are regarded as Division I teams, and MLS is generally acknowledged as having a higher quality of play than the CPL, significantly more media coverage and economic success, and has teams based in Canada's three largest metropolitan areas, who together have dominated the [[Canadian Championship]], a multi-league knockout competition which technically decides the national champions of Canada. This makes Canada unusual in awarding its national soccer championship to the winner of its premier knockout tournament, rather than the winners of its highest-level league competition.<ref>{{cite news|last=Molinaro|first=John|date=April 24, 2019|title=Canadian Premier League FAQ: What you need to know|work=Sportsnet|url=https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/canadian-premier-league-faq-need-know/|access-date=May 19, 2019|archive-date=May 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504073340/https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/canadian-premier-league-faq-need-know/|url-status=live}}</ref>
MLS is unique among U.S. and Canada's major sports leagues in that the teams take part in multiple separate tournament outside the MLS regular and playoff season; the knockout [[U.S. Open Cup]] for United States teams and Canadian Championship for Canadian teams, cross-border/regional<ref>Canada, the United States and Mexico form the North American Zone of CONCACAF; the Leagues Cup is the regional clubs championship for the North America Zone, while the Campeones Cup is a zonal super cup between the champions of the two largest leagues, MLS and the Mexican Liga.</ref> [[Leagues Cup]] and [[Campeones Cup]] and the continental [[CONCACAF Champions Cup]] and [[FIFA Club World Cup]].
===Canadian Football League===
The [[Canadian Football League]] is the highest level of play in [[Canadian football]]. The league was organized in 1956 as a cooperative agreement between two regional leagues, the [[Interprovincial Rugby Football Union]] (which dated to 1907) and the [[Western Interprovincial Football Union]] (which was founded in 1936), and became independent from the [[Football Canada|Canadian Rugby Union]]{{efn|Despite its misleading name, the CRU was the governing body for Canadian football, not rugby}} in 1958. The league now consists of nine teams, all based in Canada. The [[Grey Cup]] is awarded annually to the champion every November and is the highest-attended sporting event in the nation. The oldest extant teams, the [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]] and the [[Toronto Argonauts]], trace their origins to the late 1860s and early 1870s, which ranks them amongst the oldest professional sports teams of any kind still in existence on the continent.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} From 1993 to 1995, the CFL attempted [[Canadian Football League in the United States|expansion into the United States]] to cities without NFL teams, but all the clubs folded, while the management structure of the [[Baltimore Stallions]] was moved to a relaunched [[Montreal Alouettes]] franchise. By 2009 the CFL was the second-most-popular league in Canada, after the NHL.<ref name="Canadian Press ">{{cite news|agency=The Canadian Press |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM..wsurvey8/BNStory/Sports/home |title=Survey: Canadian interest in pro football is on the rise |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |location=Toronto |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206114301/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM..wsurvey8/BNStory/Sports/home |archive-date=February 6, 2009 }}</ref> A 2023 study shows that interest in the CFL had dropped over the previous 10 years.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://angusreid.org/nfl-vs-cfl-grey-cup-vs-super-bowl/ |title=Super-ior Bowl? Most Canadian football fans would choose Super Bowl over Grey Cup, but not everywhere |date=February 9, 2023 |access-date=June 9, 2023 |publisher=[[Angus Reid Institute]]}}</ref>
The CFL has the fourth-highest average attendance of leagues in the United States and Canada, behind the NFL, MLB and MLS. {{As of|2024}}, the CFL's average attendance number was 22,795, continuing a slow upward trend for the league.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hodge |first=John |date=October 28, 2024 |title=CFL regular season attendance grows 1 percent from 2023 to 2024 |url=https://3downnation.com/2024/10/28/cfl-regular-season-attendance-grows-1-percent-from-2023-to-2024/ |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=3downnation}}</ref> Its level of play is generally recognized as on the second tier of professional football, with the CFL having a slight advantage in player recruitment compared to second-tier American leagues such as the [[United Football League (2024)|UFL]] due to the CFL's longer established history.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Naylor |first=Dave |date=2024-10-03 |title=Naylor: If the UFL fails, I think it would behoove the CFL to add a team in St Louis |url=https://www.tsn.ca/radio/ottawa-1200/naylor-if-the-ufl-fails-i-think-it-would-behoove-the-cfl-to-add-a-team-in-st-louis-1.2183397 |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=TSN |language=en}}</ref>
==Traits of these major leagues==
===Overview===
Major professional sports leagues are distinguished from other sports leagues in terms of business and economic factors, popularity of the league, and quality of play.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/12/mls-soccer-nfl-nba-mlb-nhl-epl-business "MLS vs the major leagues: can soccer compete when it comes to big business?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119005010/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/12/mls-soccer-nfl-nba-mlb-nhl-epl-business |date=2016-11-19 }}, ''The Guardian'', March 12, 2014.</ref>{{synthesis inline|date=June 2023|reason=Citation source does not support its statement, instead comparing MLS business metrics to NFL/NHL/NBA/MLB. It makes no statements on quality of play. Source does not define the term _major league_ or the stated criteria, nor does it use the term at all beyond the headline. Source also is not WP:IS; the blog post backs many statements solely with links to primary sources, with MLS attendance supported by a link to Wikipedia article titled Average attendances of professional sports teams in the United States and Canada, which had already been deleted on quality concerns in Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Average attendances of professional sports teams in the United States and Canada by the archive date.}} The following table compares the Big Four leagues, plus the CFL and MLS, on certain attributes that collectively attempt to indicate whether the league has "major league" status.{{explain|date=June 2023|reason=How do these criteria define the term _major league_ for status? What is the source of this definition, or of the criteria? How is the status notable?}} The table includes the longevity and stability of the league, as measured by the number of teams in the league, the year founded, the last time the league underwent contraction, expansion, and relocation, and the popularity of the league, as measured by annual revenue and average attendance.{{citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=Table contents and footnotes are unsourced.}}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!League || Sport || Teams || Year <br />founded || Last <br />contraction || Last  expansion
!Last relocation || Revenue <br /> US$ (bn) || Average <br />attendance<br/>per game
|-
| [[National Football League]] || [[American football]] || 32 || 1920{{refn|group=o|The NFL was originally called the American Professional Football Association and adopted its present name in 1922. Other "founding" dates recognized to be of significance by the NFL include the founding of the [[American Football League]] (originally a rival league) in 1960; the 1966 [[AFL–NFL merger|merger agreement]] between the AFL and NFL, which established what eventually became the [[Super Bowl]]; and the completion of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. In particular, 1966 is considered a significant [[epoch]] by football historians as the start of the "Super Bowl era", while the 1970 merger remains the only time a rival North American sports league has fully merged into an established league with all of its teams intact and its playing records fully recognized as part of the history of the older league. The NFL had earlier partially absorbed the [[All-America Football Conference]] (founded in 1947) in 1950, but unlike the latter case with the AFL the NFL did not recognize AAFC records.}} || 1952{{refn|group=o|This date reflects the demise of the [[Dallas Texans (NFL)|original Dallas Texans]], who folded after only one season. However, the Texans were immediately replaced by the [[Baltimore Colts]], meaning the league was not reduced in size for the 1953 season. Although the Colts were awarded the assets (including player contracts) of the Texans, they are considered a separate franchise. The last time the league fielded fewer teams for a subsequent season was after the 1950 season, when the [[Baltimore Colts (1947–1950)|original Baltimore Colts]] (also considered to be unrelated to the modern Colts franchise) folded. Also, the date in the table does not recognize the temporary [[Cleveland Browns relocation controversy|1995 suspension of the Cleveland Browns]] in which the then-extant Cleveland football organization was transferred to what was considered [[Baltimore Ravens|an expansion franchise in Baltimore]] – because the Browns were later restocked via an [[expansion draft]] after a three-year absence, the NFL does not consider this event to be a contraction.}} || 2002
|2020|| $16.9 || {{nts|69,526 (2023)}}
|-
| [[Major League Baseball]] || [[Baseball]] || 30 || 1903{{refn|group=o|This date reflects the year the modern [[World Series]] was first contested, although an earlier version of the Series was contested in the 1880s between the National League and the defunct [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]]. The two component leagues of Major League Baseball, the National and American Leagues, were founded in 1876 and 1901 respectively. MLB also celebrates the anniversary of the start of professional baseball in 1869. MLB underwent a major organizational change following the 1920 season when the office of [[Commissioner of Baseball]], with far more significant powers over both leagues than the earlier National Commission that had preceded this office, was established. The AL and NL commenced regular season [[interleague play]] in 1997 and fully merged on an organizational level, i.e. they abolished their separate league offices and vested all authority in the office of the Commissioner, after the 1999 season. Since its constituent leagues began co-operation in 1903, MLB has never recognized a third major league or absorbed a rival league although the proposed [[Continental League]] of the early 1960s was only forestalled when the AL and NL added two teams each.}} || 1902{{refn|group=o|The elimination of four NL teams following the 1899 season is undoubtedly the most recent occasion where MLB has fielded fewer teams for the following season; however, some baseball historians regard the [[Baltimore Orioles (1901–1902)|original Baltimore Orioles]] to have folded outright following the 1902 MLB season, and replaced by an expansion team that eventually became the [[New York Yankees]] for the following season, in a manner similar to the NFL's last "contraction" as listed in this table.}} || 1998
|2025|| $10.7 || {{nts|29,361 (2024)}}
|-
| [[National Basketball Association]] || [[Basketball]] || 30 || 1946{{refn|group=o|This date reflects the establishment of the [[Basketball Association of America]], which adopted its current name after absorbing the rival [[National Basketball League (United States)|National Basketball League]] in 1950. Although the NBL predated the BAA by nine seasons, the NBA continues to regard the 1946–47 BAA season (as opposed to the 1937–38 NBL season) to be its inaugural one. The NBA has always awarded an internally-created trophy to its champions – the league adopted the trophy's present design in 1977 and its current name (the [[Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy]]) in 1984. The NBA later partially absorbed the rival [[American Basketball Association]] (founded in 1967) in 1976.}} || 1954 || 2004
|2008|| $8.8 || {{nts|18,324 (2024)}}
|-
| [[National Hockey League]] || [[Ice hockey]] || 32 || 1917{{refn|group=o|The [[Stanley Cup]] was first awarded in 1893, but did not become the NHL's ''[[de facto]]'' championship trophy until 1926. Although the NHL recognizes its founding date as 1917, three of its four charter members had previously been members of the [[National Hockey Association]] founded in 1910. Upon its founding, the NHL assumed the NHA's then-extant position as the eastern challenger for the Stanley Cup, which at the time was a trophy contested between the champions of the NHA/NHL and various leagues based in Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. This arrangement continued until 1926 when [[Western Canada Hockey League|the last major western-based league]] folded, after which the NHL took sole possession of the Stanley Cup to be awarded to its playoff champion ever since. The NHL later partially absorbed the rival [[World Hockey Association]] (founded in 1972) in 1979.}} || 1978{{refn|name=UHC|group=o}} || 2021{{refn|name=UHC|group=o|The [[Arizona Coyotes]] were deactivated, and later folded outright, after the [[2023–24 NHL season|2023–24 season]], with its organization relocating to [[Salt Lake City|Salt Lake City, Utah]], to officially begin operations as [[Utah Hockey Club|an expansion team]]. The last time the NHL downsized was in 1978 with the merger of the [[Cleveland Barons (NHL)|Cleveland Barons]] into the [[Minnesota North Stars]], while the last time the league increase in size was 2021 with the launch of the [[Seattle Kraken]].}}
|2011{{refn|name=UHC|group=o}}|| $5.1 ||{{nts|17,101 (2023)}}
|-
|[[Major League Soccer]] || [[Association football|Soccer]] || 29{{refn|name=SDFC|group=o|[[San Diego FC]] will join the league as the 30th team in 2025.}} || 1993 || 2014{{refn|group=o|This date reflects the demise of [[Chivas USA]], which was folded by the league after the 2014 season. However, the only occasion when MLS fielded fewer teams for a subsequent season was after the 2001 season, when the league went from 12 teams to 10 with the folding of both of its Florida teams. The 2015 season, the first after Chivas' demise, saw two new teams enter the league.}} || 2023{{refn|name=SDFC|group=o}}
|2006|| $2.0||{{nts|23,234 (2024)}}
|-
|[[Canadian Football League]] || [[Canadian football]] || 9 || 1958{{refn|group=o|The [[Grey Cup]] was first awarded in 1909. The CFL was formed under its present name by the merger of the [[Interprovincial Rugby Football Union]] and the [[Western Interprovincial Football Union]], founded in 1907 and 1936, respectively, however these leagues had already been the only two competing for the Grey Cup since the 1955 season. For this reason, either this season or the immediately preceding one (when the [[BC Lions]] joined the WIFU) is often reckoned to be the start of the "modern era" of Canadian football. Moreover, although the IRFU and WIFU changed their names to the Eastern and Western Football Conferences (now "Divisions") respectively, they did not begin inter-sectional regular season play until 1961, did not fully harmonize their regular season calendars and lengths until 1974 and did not fully merge on an organizational level until 1981.}} || 2006 || 2014
|1995|| $0.2 || {{nts|22,393 (2023)}}
|}
{{reflist|group=o}}
===Revenues===
{{See also|List of professional sports leagues by revenue}}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;float:right;"
|-
|+ colspan="4"| Annual revenue by league  ''(U.S. dollars)''
|-
! League !! Revenues (bn)  !! TV revenue !! Ref.
|-
| [[National Football League|NFL]]||  $16.9 || [[National Football League on television#Current broadcasting contracts|$9.1bn]] || <ref>[https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2019/07/15/nfl-revenue-owners-players-billions/ "The NFL made roughly $16 billion in revenue last year"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811220702/https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2019/07/15/nfl-revenue-owners-players-billions/ |date=2020-08-11 }}, USA Today, July 15, 2019</ref><ref>[https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/7/20/9006401/nfl-teams-revenue-tv-deal-7-billion "The NFL brought in enough money last year to pay for 10 Pluto missions"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114131401/https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/7/20/9006401/nfl-teams-revenue-tv-deal-7-billion |date=2017-11-14 }}, SBNation, July 20, 2015</ref>
|-
| [[Major League Baseball|MLB]]||  $10.7 || $2.1bn || <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/22/report-mlb-revenue-for-2019-season-a-record-10point7-billion.html|title=Major League Baseball revenue for 2019 season hits a record $10.7 billion|work=[[CNBC]]|date=December 22, 2019|access-date=Aug 9, 2020|archive-date=July 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730123135/https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/22/report-mlb-revenue-for-2019-season-a-record-10point7-billion.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.fangraphs.com/lets-update-the-estimated-local-tv-revenue-for-mlb-teams/|title=Let's Update the Estimated Local TV Revenue for MLB Teams|work=Fangraphs|date=April 16, 2020|access-date=Aug 9, 2020|archive-date=July 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724192400/https://blogs.fangraphs.com/lets-update-the-estimated-local-tv-revenue-for-mlb-teams/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Basketball Association|NBA]]||  $8.8 || $2.6bn || <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2020/02/11/the-business-of-basketball-forbes-releases-22nd-annual-nba-team-valuations/|title=Forbes Releases 22nd Annual NBA Team Valuations|work=[[Forbes]]|access-date=Aug 9, 2020|archive-date=August 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813064827/https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2020/02/11/the-business-of-basketball-forbes-releases-22nd-annual-nba-team-valuations/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=NBA Announces 9-Year Extension With ESPN, Turner, Through 2025|url=http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2014/10/nba-tv-deal-espn-abc-tnt-nine-year-deal-2025-24-billion-lockout/|author=Paulsen|publisher=Sports Media Watch|date=October 6, 2014|access-date=Aug 9, 2020|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112000337/https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2014/10/nba-tv-deal-espn-abc-tnt-nine-year-deal-2025-24-billion-lockout/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Hockey League|NHL]]|| $5.1 || $625m || <ref name=NHL21>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2021/04/28/nhl-espn-turner-broadcast-media-rights-deals-explained/4857987001/ |title=Split Stanley Cup Finals? 'Inside the NHL?' What we know about the NHL's new media rights deals |first=Chris |last=Bumbaca |newspaper=USA Today |date=April 28, 2022 |access-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123182940/https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2021/04/28/nhl-espn-turner-broadcast-media-rights-deals-explained/4857987001/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Television revenue number approximate, due to differences in American and Canadian dollar exchange rates; the league draws US$200 m from American television and C$433 m from Canadian television in its most recent contracts.</ref>
|-
| [[Major League Soccer|MLS]]|| $2.0 || $250m || <ref name="forbes1">{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2019/11/04/major-league-soccers-most-valuable-teams-2019-atlanta-stays-on-top-as-expansion-fees-sale-prices-surge/|title=Major League Soccer's Most Valuable Teams 2019: Atlanta Stays On Top As Expansion Fees, Sale Prices Surge|work=[[Forbes]]|access-date=Aug 9, 2020|archive-date=November 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106182416/https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2019/11/04/major-league-soccers-most-valuable-teams-2019-atlanta-stays-on-top-as-expansion-fees-sale-prices-surge/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/mls-tv-rights-deal-2022-espn-fox-univision|title=MLS preparing comprehensive TV rights deal for 2022|work=Sports Pro Media|date=March 5, 2019|access-date=Aug 9, 2020|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101053859/https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/mls-tv-rights-deal-2022-espn-fox-univision|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Sporting Intelligence">{{Cite web |title=Sporting Intelligence |url=https://www.globalsportssalaries.com/ |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=www.globalsportssalaries.com |archive-date=2022-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520073954/https://www.globalsportssalaries.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="The Athletic">{{cite news |title=How will MLS' Apple TV deal affect the league? Everything we know about the agreement |url=https://theathletic.com/3365616/2022/06/14/mls-media-rights-deal-facts/ |publisher=The Athletic |access-date=29 January 2024 |last1=Stejskal |first1=Sam |last2=Tenorio |first2=Paul }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=MLS 2022 Sponsorships Report |url=https://sponsorunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/MLS-2022-Marketing-Partnerships-Report-1.pdf |access-date=January 29, 2024 |website=sponsorunited.com|date=28 November 2022 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Canadian Football League|CFL]]|| $0.2 || $50m || <ref>Hodgson, Glen and Mario Lefebvre. [http://www.conferenceboard.ca/reports/briefings/bigleagues/briefing-1.aspx The pro sport market in Canada] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910061944/http://www.conferenceboard.ca/reports/briefings/bigleagues/briefing-1.aspx |date=September 10, 2013 }}. ''Conference Board of Canada''. Retrieved June 21, 2013.</ref><ref name=torontosuncfltv>{{cite news|url=https://torontosun.com/sports/football/cfl/barnes-cfl-signs-new-six-year-tv-deal-with-tsn|title=BARNES: CFL agrees to new six-year TV deal with TSN|newspaper=Toronto Sun|access-date=Aug 9, 2020|archive-date=August 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200829001723/https://torontosun.com/sports/football/cfl/barnes-cfl-signs-new-six-year-tv-deal-with-tsn|url-status=live}}</ref>
|}
The "Big Four" leagues each have revenues that can be many times greater than the payrolls of less popular sports leagues in the two nations. In terms of overall league revenue, the NFL, MLB, and NBA rank as the top three most lucrative sports leagues in the world, with the English [[Premier League]] and the NHL ranked at fourth and fifth place.{{dubious|date=June 2023|reason=If this refers to the [[List of professional sports leagues by revenue]], then this statement is at best redundant, and at worst the use of _lucrative_ suggests a conflation of revenue with profit. Without additional sourcing, this statement is dubious per the content of the Guardian article cited in the Overview section, which notes the EPL is a less lucrative business than American leagues.}}
{{clear}}
===Television exposure===
{{See also|List of TV markets and major sports teams}}
Games of the "Big Four" leagues are televised on the four largest U.S. broadcast TV networks—[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], [[CBS]], [[NBC]], and [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]. They enjoy strong TV viewer ratings, and their leagues earn significant revenues from these TV contracts.{{citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=The table cites numbers, but the criteria itself is unsourced.}}
All of the top four major sports leagues have had television contracts with at least one of the original "big three" U.S. broadcast television networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) since those networks' early years, indicative of the sports' widespread appeal since their inception, continuing today additionally with Fox. In Canada, the NHL has been broadcast on the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] since 1952. In Canada, there is only one MLB team and one NBA team, and no Canadian NFL team exists; therefore, the U.S. national telecasts for those three leagues are usually simulcast by a Canadian broadcaster.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;float:right;"
|-
|+ colspan="3"|TV exposure and revenues in the U.S. <br /> ''(Leagues ranked in order of TV ratings)''
|-
! League !! Ratings / viewers !! US TV rev.
|-
| [[National Football League on television|NFL]] || style="text-align:left;"| 10 / 16.6m (aggregate) || $9.0 bn
|-
| [[National Basketball Association Nielsen ratings|NBA]] || style="text-align:left;"| 2.3 / 3.9m (ABC, 16 games)<ref name="NBARating15">{{cite news|url=http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2016/04/nba-ratings-viewership-up-warriors-regular-season-lebron-heat/|title=Warriors Love Boosts NBA, But Not As Much As Heat Hatred|author=Paulsen|publisher=Sports Media Watch|date=April 16, 2016|access-date=June 28, 2016|archive-date=August 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810160433/http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2016/04/nba-ratings-viewership-up-warriors-regular-season-lebron-heat/|url-status=live}}</ref> <br /> 1.1 / 1.7m (TNT, 52 games)<ref name="NBARating15" /> <br /> 1.1 / 1.7m (ESPN, 76 games)<ref name="NBARating15" /> || $2.7 bn
|-
| [[Major League Baseball television contracts|MLB]] || style="text-align:left;"| 1.4 / 2.1m (Fox, 12 games)<ref>[http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2014-09-21/mlb-fox-tv-ratings-2014-record-low-rating "In rough season, MLB on FOX hits historic TV ratings low"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019235638/http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2014-09-21/mlb-fox-tv-ratings-2014-record-low-rating |date=2014-10-19 }}, Sporting News. Retrieved October 29, 2014.</ref> <br /> 0.8 / 1.1m (ESPN, 16 games)<ref name="sportsbusinessdaily.com">[http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2014/10/02/Media/MLB-regular.aspx "MLB TV Partners See Mixed Regular-Season Results During First Year Of New Deal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004061325/http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2014/10/02/Media/MLB-regular.aspx |date=2014-10-04 }}, ''Sports Business Journal'', October 2, 2014.</ref> <br /> 0.3 / 0.4m  (FS1, 40 games)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/09/22/Media/Sports-Media.aspx |title=MLB playoffs give Fox Sports 1 big chance to win viewers – SportsBusiness Daily &#124; SportsBusiness Daily Global |publisher=SportsBusiness Daily |date=September 22, 2014 |access-date=March 6, 2017 |archive-date=May 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525153939/http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/09/22/Media/Sports-Media.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> <br /> 0.2 / 0.3m ([[Major League Baseball on TBS|TBS]], 13 games)<ref name="sportsbusinessdaily.com"/> || $1.5 bn
|-
|[[History of the National Hockey League on United States television|NHL]] || style="text-align:left;"| 1.3m (ESPN, 75 games)<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2019/04/08/nbc-sports-2018-19-nhl-regular-season-coverage-delivers-viewership-increases-across-all-platforms/|title = NBC Sports' 2018–19 NHL Regular-Season Coverage Delivers Viewership Increases Across All Platforms|date = April 8, 2019|access-date = October 28, 2019|archive-date = May 5, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190505183024/http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2019/04/08/nbc-sports-2018-19-nhl-regular-season-coverage-delivers-viewership-increases-across-all-platforms/|url-status = live}}</ref> <br /> 0.3m (TNT, 72 games) || $625 m<ref name=NHL21>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2021/04/28/nhl-espn-turner-broadcast-media-rights-deals-explained/4857987001/ |title=Split Stanley Cup Finals? 'Inside the NHL?' What we know about the NHL's new media rights deals |first=Chris |last=Bumbaca |newspaper=USA Today |date=April 28, 2022 |access-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123182940/https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2021/04/28/nhl-espn-turner-broadcast-media-rights-deals-explained/4857987001/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| [[Major League Soccer on television|MLS]] || style="text-align:left;"| undisclosed (Apple) || $250 m<ref name="The Athletic"/>
|}
The NFL has the largest TV contracts, and earns roughly $9 billion annually from its contracts with [[Amazon Prime Video|Amazon]], CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC, and DirecTV for the 2023 through 2033 seasons.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/nfl-tv-rights-deals-explained/z4rlycwog3jz1f6pqdqoegbxf |title=NFL's new TV rights deals, explained: What $100 billion package means for fans in 2023 and beyond |first=Vinnie |last=Iyer |work=The Sporting News |date=March 19, 2021 |access-date=January 16, 2024}}</ref>
MLB earns $1.5 billion annually from its contracts for the 2014 through 2021 seasons with ESPN, Fox, and Turner Sports (TBS).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/8453054/major-league-baseball-completes-eight-year-deal-fox-turner-sports |title=Major League Baseball completes eight-year deal with Fox, Turner Sports |date=October 2, 2012 |publisher=ESPN |access-date=May 14, 2015 |archive-date=June 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609212129/http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8453054/major-league-baseball-completes-eight-year-deal-fox-turner-sports |url-status=live }}</ref>
The NBA's nine-year television deal beginning with the 2016–17 season with ABC/ESPN and TNT generates annual league TV revenues of $2.7 billion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/11652297/nba-extends-television-deals-espn-tnt |title=NBA extends television deals with ESPN, TNT |publisher=ESPN |date=February 14, 2016 |access-date=March 6, 2017 |archive-date=October 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014065942/http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11652297/nba-extends-television-deals-espn-tnt |url-status=live }}</ref> The NBA's next TV deal, set to take effect in 2025–26 and run through the 2035–36 season, will be with ABC/ESPN, NBC, [[Peacock (streaming service)|Peacock]], and [[Amazon Prime Video|Amazon]], and also covers the [[Women's National Basketball Association|WNBA]] for its 2026–2036 seasons. It is expected to generate total annual revenues of $6.9 billion, with a reported split of roughly $6.7 billion for the NBA and $200 million for the WNBA.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40635523/faq-nba-signed-new-deal-disney-nbc-amazon-prime |title=What NBA's new TV deal means for the league, players, teams and fans |first=Tim |last=Bontemps |website=ESPN.com |date=July 25, 2024 |access-date=September 21, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/40587669/reports-wnba-get-200m-per-year-union-exec-concerned |title=Reports: WNBA to get $200M per year; union exec concerned |website=ESPN.com |date=July 18, 2024 |access-date=November 1, 2024}}</ref> The NHL's current U.S. television deal with ABC/ESPN and Turner Sports took effect with the 2021–22 season and runs through 2027–28. While the NHL did not announce the amount, outside reports indicated that ABC and ESPN parent company Disney was paying a total of about $400 million and Turner about $225 million annually.<ref name=NHL21/> This $625 million annual contract for American rights is in addition to the $433 million annual fee [[Rogers Sportsnet]] pays for Canadian rights.<ref name=gandm-rogersnhl14>{{cite news|title=Rogers reaches 12-year broadcast deal with NHL worth $5.2-billion|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rogers-reaches-12-year-broadcast-deal-with-nhl-worth-52-billion/article15600412/|work=The Globe and Mail|access-date=November 26, 2013|location=Toronto|date=November 27, 2013|archive-date=November 26, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126135920/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rogers-reaches-12-year-broadcast-deal-with-nhl-worth-52-billion/article15600412/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=560238 |title=NHL, NBC sign record-setting 10-year TV deal |website=National Hockey League |access-date=March 6, 2017 |archive-date=February 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201055400/http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=560238 |url-status=live }}</ref>
All four major sports leagues have launched a network of their own—[[NBA TV]] in the U.S. in 1999 and in [[NBA TV Canada|Canada]] in 2001, the [[NFL Network]] in 2003, the [[NHL Network (Canadian TV channel)|NHL Network]] in Canada in 2001 and in the [[NHL Network (American TV channel)|U.S.]] in 2007, and the [[MLB Network]] in 2009. All networks remain in operation today except for the Canadian NHL Network, which was shut down shortly before the league's 2015–16 season.
Teams in MLB, the NBA, and the NHL—which play several days per week—negotiate contracts with local broadcasters to air most of their games, both terrestrial networks and [[regional sports networks]]. Some teams (such as the [[New York Yankees]]) may even partially or fully own the cable network upon which their games are broadcast, and often receive more revenue from local broadcasts than any other source.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} NFL teams, which generally play once per week, do not negotiate local broadcast contracts, but are allowed to negotiate their own television deals for preseason games with syndication and broadcast stations.
The current MLS broadcast deals took effect with the 2023 season. The league's primary media partner is [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], which paid a reported $2.5 billion for exclusive worldwide streaming rights from 2023 to 2032. All league games are streamed on the [[MLS Season Pass]] service on [[Apple TV+]]. English and Spanish commentary are available for all matches, and games involving Canadian teams are also available in French.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ianquillen/2022/12/14/breaking-down-the-new-mls-4-year-tv-deal-with-fox-sport/?sh=112628592787 |title=Breaking Down The New MLS 4-Year TV Deal With Fox Sports |first=Ian Nicholas |last=Quillen |work=Forbes |date=December 14, 2022 |access-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208070618/https://www.forbes.com/sites/ianquillen/2022/12/14/breaking-down-the-new-mls-4-year-tv-deal-with-fox-sport/?sh=112628592787 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37629338/major-league-soccer-apple-tv-agree-10-year-deal |title=Major League Soccer and Apple TV agree 10-year deal |agency=Reuters |website=ESPN.com |date=June 14, 2022 |access-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208070621/https://www.espn.com/soccer/major-league-soccer/story/4685725/major-league-soccer-and-apple-tv-agree-10-year-deal |url-status=live }}</ref> Linear television rights for 2023–2026 are held by Fox Sports in both English and Spanish in the US, and the English-language [[The Sports Network|TSN]] and French-language [[Réseau des sports|RDS]] in Canada.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37634808/fox-signs-four-year-deal-broadcast-major-league-soccer |title=Fox signs new four-year deal to broadcast Major League Soccer games |agency=Associated Press |website=ESPN.com |date=December 13, 2022 |access-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208070624/https://www.espn.com/soccer/major-league-soccer/story/4831532/fox-signs-four-year-deal-to-broadcast-major-league-soccer |url-status=live }}</ref>
Before the Apple TV+ deal, MLS matches were shown in English on ESPN and Fox Sports, and in Spanish on Univision. MLS's eight-year contracts for U.S. rights for the 2015–2022 seasons earned a combined $105 million annually.<ref name=nyt-newcontract>{{cite news|title=M.L.S. and TV Networks Reach Deal to Set Weekly Slots for Games|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/sports/soccer/mls-and-tv-networks-reach-deal-to-set-weekly-slots-for-games.html|work=The New York Times|date=May 12, 2014|access-date=May 13, 2014|last1=Das|first1=Andrew|archive-date=May 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513214511/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/sports/soccer/mls-and-tv-networks-reach-deal-to-set-weekly-slots-for-games.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=mls-newdeal2015>{{cite web|title=ESPN, Fox and Univision promise new emphasis to domestic game, MLS in landmark eight-year TV deal|url=http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/05/12/espn-fox-and-univision-promise-new-emphasis-domestic-game-mls-landmark-eight|work=MLSSoccer.com|access-date=May 13, 2014|archive-date=May 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513163155/http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/05/12/espn-fox-and-univision-promise-new-emphasis-domestic-game-mls-landmark-eight|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Sporting Intelligence"/>
The CFL's current television deal with TSN pays the league at least $50 million per year until 2026.<ref name="torontosuncfltv"/> Its American broadcast contract with [[CBS Sports Network]] pays $1 million per year for 34 of the league's 81 games; prior to its deal with CBS Sports Network, the CFL had bundled its TSN rights with ESPN (a minority owner of TSN), who contributed a negligible $100,000 to the annual rights fees. The remainder of the CFL's games are carried online in the United States for free.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 27, 2023 |title=CFL's American broadcast deal with CBS Sports Network valued at $1 million annually: report |url=https://3downnation.com/2023/04/27/cbs-sports-network-to-air-34-cfl-games-as-new-american-broadcast-partner/ |access-date=May 24, 2024 |work=3 Down Nation}}</ref>
===Attendance===
Major professional sports leagues generally have significantly larger attendance than other sports leagues. The following table shows the average attendance of all professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada that have an average attendance of 15,000 or higher.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!League  || Teams
!Total attendance
!Total games||  Average <br />attendance ||  Games<br /> per team || Ref.
|-
| [[Major League Baseball|MLB]]|| 30
|'''{{nts|71348366}}'''
|{{nts|2430}}||  '''{{nts|29361}}''' [[2024 Major League Baseball season|(2024)]] || 162 || <ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-mlb-finishes-2024-season-with-highest-attendance-in-seven-years |title=MLB Finishes 2024 Season With Highest Attendance in Seven Years |publisher=Major League Baseball |date=October 1, 2024 |access-date=November 1, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Hockey League|NHL]]|| 32
|'''{{nts|22436532}}'''
|{{nts|1312}}|| '''{{nts|17101}}''' [[2022–23 NHL season|(2023)]] || 82 || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2023/04/17/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/nhl-attendance-regular-season.aspx |title=NHL draws regular season attendance of 22.4 million |first=David |last=Broughton |publisher=Sports Business Journal |date=April 17, 2023 |access-date=January 14, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] || 30
|'''{{nts|22538518}}'''
|{{nts|1230}}|| '''{{nts|18324}}''' [[2023–24 NBA season|(2024)]] || 82 || <ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.nba.com/news/nba-sets-records-for-attendance-sellouts-2023-24 |title=NBA sets all-time records for attendance and sellouts in 2023-24
|publisher=National Basketball Association |date=April 15, 2024 |access-date=May 15, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Football League|NFL]]|| 32
|'''{{nts|18911116}}'''
|{{nts|272}}||  '''{{nts|69526}}''' [[2023 NFL season|(2023)]] || 17 || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2023/attendance.htm |title=2023 NFL Attendance Data |website=Pro Football Reference |access-date=January 14, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Major League Soccer|MLS]]|| 29
|'''{{nts|11454205}}'''
|{{nts|493}}||'''{{nts|23234}}''' [[2024 Major League Soccer season|(2024)]]|| 34 ||<ref>{{Cite press release | title=Major League Soccer Completes Record-Setting Regular Season |url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/major-league-soccer-completes-record-setting-regular-season |publisher=Major League Soccer |date=October 21, 2024 |access-date=October 28, 2024}}</ref>
|-
|[[Canadian Football League|CFL]]|| 9
|'''{{nts|1813837}}'''
|{{nts|81}}||  '''{{nts|22393}}''' [[2023 CFL season|(2023)]] || 18 || <ref>{{Cite web |title=Canadian Football League 2023 Attendance on CFLdb Statistics |url=https://stats.cfldb.ca/league/cfl/attendance/2023/ |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=stats.cfldb.ca}}</ref>
|}
===Franchise valuations===
{{see also|Most valuable sports teams}}
Major-league franchises are generally worth very large amounts of money, due in large part to high revenues earned by the league's teams.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/forbes-bloomberg-battle-it-out-on-mlb-team-valuations/ |title=Forbes, Bloomberg Battle It Out on MLB Team Valuations &#124; FanGraphs Baseball |website=Fangraphs.com |date=November 8, 2013 |access-date=March 6, 2017 |archive-date=May 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525150707/http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/forbes-bloomberg-battle-it-out-on-mlb-team-valuations/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{irrelevant citation|date=June 2023|reason=Statement is dubious, particularly with the inclusion of CFL and MLS, and this source is only a list of MLB team valuations and revenues.}} These franchise valuations are reflected in periodic analyses of teams' values, as well as by the expansion fees commanded by the leagues. The highest value franchises in the respective leagues tend to be located in the largest markets (e.g., MLB's [[New York Yankees]], NHL's [[New York Rangers]]), whereas the lowest value franchises tend to be in smaller markets (e.g., NFL's [[Buffalo Bills]], NBA's [[New Orleans Pelicans]]).{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} The NHL has the largest multiples between the highest-value and lowest-value teams, with the New York Rangers worth 5.5 times as much as the Arizona Coyotes.{{context|date=June 2023|reason=Separately of the other preceding unsourced statements, the financial situation of the Coyotes lacks significant context here.}}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! League !! Median value !! High value !! Low value !! Expansion <br /> fee record !! Ref.
|-
| [[National Football League|NFL]] || $2.76bn || $5.5bn || $1.9bn || $700m || <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/consent/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/nfl-valuations/list/|title=Sports Money: 2019 NFL Valuations|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2020-01-30|archive-date=2019-12-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230010611/https://www.forbes.com/consent/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/nfl-valuations/list/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Basketball Association|NBA]]|| $1.56bn || $4.0bn || $1.2bn || $300m || <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/nba-valuations/list/|title=The Business Of Basketball|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2020-01-30|archive-date=2012-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120520034107/http://www.forbes.com/nba-valuations/list/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Major League Baseball|MLB]]|| $1.54bn || $4.6bn || $1.0bn || $130m || <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/mlb-valuations/list/|title=The Business Of Baseball|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2020-01-30|archive-date=2020-02-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207183344/https://www.forbes.com/mlb-valuations/list/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Hockey League|NHL]] || $895m || $2.12bn || $465m || $650m || <ref>{{Cite web |last=Akabas |first=Lev |date=2022-11-01 |title=NHL Franchise Valuations Ranking List: From Maple Leafs to Coyotes |url=https://www.sportico.com/feature/nhl-team-values-ranking-list-1234693065/ |access-date=2022-11-27 |website=Sportico.com |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-11-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127233040/https://www.sportico.com/feature/nhl-team-values-ranking-list-1234693065/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/nhl-valuations/list/#tab:overall |title=The Business of Hockey: The List |work=[[Forbes]] |access-date=December 26, 2019 |archive-date=July 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713093711/https://www.forbes.com/nhl-valuations/list/#tab:overall |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| [[Major League Soccer|MLS]] || $557m || $900m || $390m || $325m || <ref>{{Cite web |last1=Akabas |first1=Lev |last2=Badenhausen |first2=Kurt |date=2022-09-28 |title=MLS Franchise Valuations Ranking List: From LAFC to CF Montreal |url=https://www.sportico.com/feature/mls-soccer-team-value-ranking-1234689586/ |access-date=2022-11-27 |website=Sportico.com |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-11-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127222056/https://www.sportico.com/feature/mls-soccer-team-value-ranking-1234689586/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="MLS 30">{{cite press release|url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/04/18/mls-announces-plans-expand-30-teams |title=MLS announces plans to expand to 30 teams |publisher=Major League Soccer |date=April 18, 2019 |access-date=April 20, 2019}}</ref>
|-
| [[Canadian Football League|CFL]] || ||  || || $7m || <ref name="Lankhof">{{cite web|url=http://www.torontosun.com/2014/07/16/argonauts-off-field-foes-spell-trouble-for-franchise-and-league|title=Argonauts' off-field woes spell trouble for franchise and CFL|first=Bill|last=Lankhof|date=July 16, 2014|access-date=July 19, 2014|newspaper=[[Toronto Sun]]|archive-date=July 24, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724004227/http://www.torontosun.com/2014/07/16/argonauts-off-field-foes-spell-trouble-for-franchise-and-league|url-status=live}}</ref>
|}
Since 2002 expansion franchises have commanded huge entry fees, which represent the price the new team must pay to gain its share of the existing teams' often guaranteed revenue streams.{{citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=The second clause (especially _to gain its share_ and _guaranteed revenue streams_) is either WP:OR or needs significant sourcing to confirm. The subsequent citations do not cover this.}} The Houston Texans paid $700 million to join the NFL in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=100627 |title=Houston's NFL Franchise Called the Texans |publisher=ABC News |date=January 7, 2006 |access-date=March 6, 2017 |archive-date=May 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525150513/http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=100627 |url-status=live }}</ref> By comparison, the Charlotte Bobcats (now the Hornets) paid $300 million to join the NBA. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays (originally Devil Rays) paid $130 million each to join MLB. The NHL's [[Seattle Kraken]] (which started play in 2021), paid $650 million to join the league, a 30% increase from the $500 million paid by the Vegas Golden Knights to join the league in 2017.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25451216/nhl-votes-give-expansion-franchise-seattle |title=Seattle gets NHL expansion team, to debut in 2021–22 season |first=Emily |last=Kaplan |website=ESPN.com |date=December 4, 2018 |access-date=December 4, 2018 |archive-date=December 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204210638/http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25451216/nhl-votes-give-expansion-franchise-seattle |url-status=live }}</ref> The Golden Knights' fee was a dramatic increase from the $80 million paid by each of the previous two teams to enter the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild. Two of the six most recently announced Major League Soccer expansion teams, 2019 entrant [[FC Cincinnati]] and 2020 arrival [[Nashville SC]], each paid a $150 million expansion fee,<ref name="Wahl 2016-12-15">{{cite web |url=https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/12/15/mls-expansion-don-garber-timeline-28-teams-fees-miami |title=MLS sets timetable for expansion to 28 teams, $150M fee for teams No. 25, 26 |first=Grant |last=Wahl |author-link=Grant Wahl |work=Planet Futbol |date=December 15, 2016 |access-date=December 21, 2017 |archive-date=December 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222104830/https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/12/15/mls-expansion-don-garber-timeline-28-teams-fees-miami |url-status=live }}</ref> a significant increase from the $100 million that New York City FC paid to join MLS in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |last=Savino |first=Christopher |url=http://www.businessofsoccer.com/2013/05/22/nycfc-more-about-major-league-soccer-than-new-york/ |title=NYCFC More About Major League Soccer Than New York |publisher=Business of Soccer |access-date=May 14, 2015 |archive-date=December 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225052249/http://www.businessofsoccer.com/2013/05/22/nycfc-more-about-major-league-soccer-than-new-york/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{efn|An identical $150 million fee was paid by the new ownership group of [[Columbus Crew|Columbus Crew SC]] when they purchased the team from [[Anthony Precourt]] in 2018. As part of the deal, Precourt received the rights to [[Austin FC]], which started play in 2021.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/12/06/columbus-crews-proposed-buyers-pledging-645m-total.html |title=Columbus Crew's proposed buyers pledging $645M total investment |first=Emily |last=Bench |newspaper=Columbus Business First |date=December 6, 2018 |access-date=January 3, 2019 |archive-date=May 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515110515/https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/12/06/columbus-crews-proposed-buyers-pledging-645m-total.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2018/12/19/austin-and-psv-finalize-soccer-stadium-deal-mls.html |title=Austin and PSV finalize soccer stadium deal; MLS team likely to kick off in 2021 |first=Daniel |last=Salazar |newspaper=Austin Business Journal |date=December 19, 2018 |access-date=January 3, 2019 |archive-date=June 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621230908/https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2018/12/19/austin-and-psv-finalize-soccer-stadium-deal-mls.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}{{efn|[[Inter Miami CF]], announced in January 2018 as a 2020 entry, only paid a $25 million fee. [[David Beckham]], the public face of the ownership group, received an option for a future MLS team at that specified fee as part of his original MLS playing contract in 2007.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37544133/mls-announces-david-beckham-expansion-team-miami |title=MLS announces David Beckham's expansion team in Miami |publisher=ESPN |date=January 29, 2018 |access-date=February 1, 2018 |archive-date=February 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202012431/http://www.espn.com/soccer/major-league-soccer/story/3361118/mls-finally-announces-david-beckhams-expansion-team-in-miami?src=com |url-status=live }}</ref>}} MLS  announced plans to expand to 30 teams by 2023, and set the expansion fee for the 28th and 29th teams (ultimately Sacramento Republic FC{{context inline|date=June 2023|reason=As of May 2023, Sacramento Republic FC still is not an MLS expansion team. https://www.sacbee.com/sports/article275523431.html}} and St. Louis City SC) at $200 million.<ref name="MLS 30"/> The 30th team, ultimately unveiled as 2022 entry Charlotte FC, reportedly paid $325 million.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/12/17/charlotte-mls-expansion-team-tepper-glick-garber |title=Charlotte Lands MLS Expansion Team as Panthers' Tepper Pays Record Entry Fee |first=Avi |last=Creditor |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated|SI.com]] |date=December 17, 2019 |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> For comparison, the Ottawa Redblacks paid C$7 million to join the Canadian Football League.<ref name="ctv">{{cite news|url=https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/group-pays-millions-to-bring-cfl-back-to-ottawa-1.284858|title=Group pays millions to bring CFL back to Ottawa|date=March 25, 2008|publisher=CTV News Ottawa|access-date=November 24, 2008|quote=A group of investors has agreed to pay the Canadian Football League a $7 million fee to bring a new CFL franchise to Ottawa|archive-date=October 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014181823/http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/group-pays-millions-to-bring-cfl-back-to-ottawa-1.284858|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Franchise stability===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin-left:1em; text-align:center; float:right; width:40%"
|-
|+ League stability
|-
!League
!Last<br />contraction
!Last expansion<br />(size)
!Last<br />relocation
|-
|[[History of the National Football League|NFL]]
| 1952
| 1995–2002 (28→32)
| 2020
|-
|[[History of baseball in the United States|MLB]]
| 1903
| 1998 (28→30)
| 2025
|-
|[[Timeline of the National Basketball Association|NBA]]
| 1954
| 2004 (29→30)
| 2008
|-
|[[History of the National Hockey League|NHL]]
| 1978
| 2017–2021 (30→32)
| 2011
|-
| [[Major League Soccer|MLS]]
| 2014
| 2023 (28→29)
| 2006
|-
| [[Canadian Football League|CFL]]
| 2006
| 2014 (8→9)
| 1995
|}
All of the top four major leagues exhibit stability in most of their [[sports franchising|franchises]]. No team from the top four leagues has collapsed outright since the 1970s. The last team to contract was the NHL's [[Cleveland Barons (NHL)|Cleveland Barons]] in 1978, when financial pressures forced a merger with the [[Minnesota North Stars]]. MLB voted in 2001 to [[2001 Major League Baseball contraction plan|contract from 30 teams to 28]], but ran into opposition and never executed the contraction plan.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Maury |url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=18886 |title=Bizball: Ranking 10 MLB Relocation and Expansion Markets Shows Why Either is Difficult |publisher=Baseball Prospectus |date=November 13, 2012 |access-date=May 14, 2015 |archive-date=May 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518100336/http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=18886 |url-status=live }}</ref> Unlike leagues that use a system of [[promotion and relegation]], franchises in these leagues are stable and do not change annually.
[[relocation of professional sports teams|Relocation of teams]] is generally uncommon compared to minor leagues.{{citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=Without sources or context this is at best WP:SYNTH of the subsequent and also unsourced statements, and at worst inaccurate. (How often do minor league teams relocate, as opposed to fold?)}} However, all of the top four major leagues have had at least one franchise relocate to another city since 2004. Among the Big Four leagues, the NFL has had the most relocations occurring recently, relocating three teams over the course of the late 2010s. The NHL is the most recent of the Big Four to expand, having added the Las Vegas-based [[Vegas Golden Knights]] in 2017 and the [[Seattle Kraken]] in 2021. None of the other Big Four leagues have added expansion teams since 2004.
In the fifty years between 1903 and 1953, MLB experienced no franchise changes—no new franchises, no franchises ceasing operations, and no franchises moving—marking the longest such period of stability of any Big Four league.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pernot |first=Laurent |title=Before the Ivy: The Cubs' Golden Age in Pre-Wrigley Chicago |year=2015 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0252080289 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Jozsa |first1=Frank P. |last2=Guthrie |first2= John J. |title=Relocating Teams and Expanding Leagues in Professional Sports: How the Major Leagues Respond to Market Conditions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGZR0naG7JMC&pg=PA21 |access-date=February 3, 2020 |year=1999 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=978-1567201932 |pages=21–23}}</ref>
In contrast to the Big Four leagues, MLS has operated on a policy of [[Expansion of Major League Soccer|continuous expansion]] since 2005. After bottoming out at 10 teams in 2004, it has never gone more than one season without adding one or two expansion teams, with a further expansion team scheduled for 2025 and no indication that the league will cease awarding expansion teams.{{citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=Last phrase in particular is either missing a citation or is WP:OR/opinion.}} {{As of|2023}}, MLS nearly tripled in size from its 2005 minimum, with 29 teams. The league has contracted three teams in its history: teams in [[Miami Fusion|Miami]] and [[Tampa Bay Mutiny|Tampa Bay]] folded in 2002, and the Los Angeles-based [[Chivas USA]] squad folded in 2014.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} MLS has had one franchise relocate, the [[San Jose Earthquakes]], which became [[Houston Dynamo FC]] in 2006;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.houstondynamo.com/schedule/history |title=Dynamo History |publisher=Houston Dynamo |date=May 12, 2012 |access-date=May 14, 2015 |archive-date=April 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429025407/http://www.houstondynamo.com/schedule/history |url-status=live }}</ref> the Earthquakes returned as an expansion club in 2008, inheriting the pre-relocation history of the original Earthquakes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sjearthquakes.com/club/history#2007 |title=History |publisher=San Jose Earthquakes |access-date=May 14, 2015 |archive-date=September 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140923142115/http://www.sjearthquakes.com/club/history#2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>
All seven CFL franchises between Vancouver and Toronto have been in place since the [[BC Lions]] were founded in 1954. The league has had problems in the two markets east of Toronto; both Montreal and Ottawa have each seen two CFL teams fail since the 1980s, although both cities have active teams as of the 2014 season. The cities are now represented by the [[Montreal Alouettes|Alouettes]] and [[Ottawa Redblacks|Redblacks]], respectively. Among existing teams, none has ever formally relocated from one city to another; the Alouettes, however, inherited a management structure from the [[Baltimore Stallions]], a team from the league's unsuccessful 1990s-era [[Canadian Football League in the United States|South Division]]. The CFL has had either eight or nine teams in operation since its inception except for the 1994 and 1995 seasons in which the league temporarily expanded into the United States.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
===Number and locations of franchises===
{{See also|List of American and Canadian cities by number of major professional sports franchises}}
Each of the Big Four leagues has at least 30 teams (the NFL has had 32 teams since 2002 and the NHL added its 32nd team in 2021), and each has had at least 29 teams since the year 2000. Major League Soccer has 29 teams; it adopted a policy of continuous expansion at a rate of one to two new franchises a year since 2005,and was set to reach its long-range target of 30 teams in 2023 before the Sacramento expansion bid collapsed.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} A 30th team in San Diego is set to join in 2025. The CFL has nine franchises.
All of the top four major leagues grant territorial exclusivity to their owners, precluding the addition of another team in the same market unless the current team's owners consent, to avoid competition for ticket sales and televesion rights.  Agreements to share are market are generally obtained in exchange for compensation, residual rights, or both. For example, to obtain the consent of the [[Baltimore Orioles]] to place an MLB team in Washington (about {{convert|35|mi|km}} away), a deal was struck under the terms of which television and radio broadcast rights to Nationals games are handled by the Orioles franchise.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
{{As of|2022}}, 49 metropolitan areas (42 in the U.S., seven in Canada) have at least one team in the Big Four leagues.<!--This counts New York/New Jersey and L.A./Anaheim as one each while Green Bay and Milwaukee are separate.--> [[Austin FC]], which started play in 2021, is the first and only MLS team in a market not also occupied by at least one Big Four team. The CFL has one team, the [[Saskatchewan Roughriders]], in a market not served by any other major league (the [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]], while having their city to themselves, are on the outskirts of both the [[Niagara Frontier]] (less than 50 miles from Buffalo) and the [[Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area|extended]] [[Greater Toronto Area]]). The newest market any of the Big Four leagues has entered is the [[Las Vegas Valley]], which received the [[Vegas Golden Knights]] in 2017 and the [[Las Vegas Raiders]] in 2020.{{citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=Each statement in this graf either needs to be cited or is WP:OR.}}
====United States====
{{Refimprove-section|date=June 2023|reason=Without citations, this entire section is [[WP:SYNTH]].}}
Each of the current major leagues has franchises placed nationwide, with multiple franchises in each of the United States' four [[U.S. Census Bureau regions|census regions]]—Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.
Major leagues tend to place franchises only in the largest, most populated metropolitan areas.{{According to whom|date=June 2023|reason=Who defines this criteria for the term major league? This is WP:OR or opinion without a citation.}} Most major league teams are in metropolitan areas having populations of more than 2 million. All but 12 continental U.S. metropolitan areas with a population of more than 1 million host at least one major sports franchise.{{efn|The exceptions, in descending order of population, are the [[Inland Empire]] of California, [[Hampton Roads]], [[Providence metropolitan area|Providence]], [[Louisville metropolitan area|Louisville]], [[Greater Richmond Region|Richmond]], [[Birmingham metropolitan area, Alabama|Birmingham]], [[Metropolitan Fresno|Fresno]], [[Grand Rapids metropolitan area|Grand Rapids]], [[Greater Hartford|Hartford]], [[Pima County, Arizona|Tucson]], [[Rochester metropolitan area, New York|Rochester]], and [[Tulsa metropolitan area|Tulsa]].}} All five U.S.-based major leagues each currently have at least two teams in both the New York/North Jersey area and the Los Angeles/Anaheim market. MLB, which historically (as a result of its history as two rival leagues) had a team in each component league in Boston, Philadelphia and St. Louis up until the mid-20th century, and in the San Francisco Bay Area until the [[Oakland Athletics relocation to Las Vegas|Athletics move from Oakland to Las Vegas following the 2024 season]], still has separate AL and NL teams in Chicago. Twelve American metropolitan areas have a complete set of one or more teams in each of the Big Four leagues; of these, only Detroit does not have an MLS team.
MLB, more than any other major league, focuses its teams in the largest markets. MLB is the only major league that does not have any teams in markets with fewer than 1.75 million people; both it and the NFL have teams in every U.S. market with over 4 million people.<!-- READ THE HEADER. This section pertains to the U.S. The largest non-NFL market has 3.1 million people (San Diego). Besides, Montreal is now over 4 million and no longer has a team there. --> The NHL is the major league that least follows the general trend, due to the fact that a disproportionate number of its franchises are in cities with cold winters. The NHL lacks teams in a number of southern metropolitan areas with populations of over 3 million (Houston, Atlanta, San Diego) but has five teams in northern metropolitan areas with fewer than 1.25 million people, all of which are in or adjacent to Canada (the lone American team in a metro area of that size being the [[Buffalo Sabres]]). While only one MLB team, the [[San Diego Padres]], is located in a market that has no other major league teams, six NBA teams are located in cities devoid of any additional "Big Four" franchises: the [[Memphis Grizzlies]], [[Oklahoma City Thunder]], [[Orlando Magic]], [[Portland Trail Blazers]], [[Sacramento Kings]], and [[San Antonio Spurs]]. Four of these six NBA-only cities also lack an MLS team (Memphis, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, San Antonio). The [[Salt Lake City]] market, home to the [[Utah Jazz]] (as well as MLS team [[Real Salt Lake]]), lacked another major-league team before the [[Utah Hockey Club|quasi-relocation of the Arizona Coyotes]] after the 2023–24 season.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:1em; float:right; text-align:center;"
|-
|+ colspan="3"|Franchise locations by population (2023)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf|title=Demographia World Urban Areas – 19th Annual Edition|date=August 2023|access-date=February 11, 2023|publisher=[[Demographia]]}}</ref>
!League
!Largest urban area<br/> without team
!Smallest urban area<br/> with team
|-
| [[National Football League|NFL]]
| San Diego / Orlando (3.1m each)‡
| Green Bay (0.3m)
|-
| [[Major League Baseball|MLB]]
| Montreal (3.8m)
| Milwaukee (1.3m)
|-
| [[National Basketball Association|NBA]]
| Seattle (4.0m)
| New Orleans (0.9m)
|-
| [[National Hockey League|NHL]]
| Houston (6.7m)
| Winnipeg (0.8m)
|-
| [[Major League Soccer|MLS]]
| Phoenix (4.6m)
| Nashville (1.2m)
|-
| [[Canadian Football League|CFL]]
| Quebec City (0.8m)‡
| Regina (0.2m)
|-
|colspan="3"|<span style="font-weight:normal;">‡<small>The NFL and CFL only have teams in the U.S. and Canada, respectively; this list does not count Canadian markets for the NFL nor U.S. markets for the CFL.</small></span><br/>For the full list, see [[List of American and Canadian cities by number of major professional sports franchises|here]].
|}
The NFL has one major exception. The [[Green Bay Packers]] survive in major league sports' smallest metropolitan area (300,000 population) thanks to [[Green Bay Packers Board of Directors|unique nonprofit corporate ownership]],<ref name = "Zirin">{{cite magazine |author=Zirin, Dave |title=Those Non-Profit Packers |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/those-non-profit-packers |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=January 25, 2011 |access-date=December 28, 2014 |author-link=Dave Zirin |archive-date=August 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807140704/https://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/those-non-profit-packers |url-status=live }}</ref> proximity to the neighboring [[Milwaukee]] market (giving a combined metro area of over 2 million), a league business model that relies more heavily on equally distributed television revenue that puts small-market teams at less of a disadvantage,<ref name="Zirin"/> and the loyalty of their [[Cheesehead]] fan base, whose fans and their next of kin typically renew their season tickets every year until their [[issue (genealogy)|issue]] expires, resulting in a centuries-long waiting list for season tickets.<ref name="packtix">{{cite news |url=http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/114877119.html |title=Packers season tickets worth the wait – 955 years for some on the list |author=Gary D'Amato |date=January 19, 2011 |newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]] |access-date=February 24, 2011 |archive-date=January 31, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131162852/http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/114877119.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Green Bay is one of two NFL teams, the other being the [[Jacksonville Jaguars]], that are the only major league franchises in their metropolitan area.<ref>{{Cite web | first=David|last=Bauerlein |url=https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20181130/jacksonvilles-growth-rewards-nfls-surprise-choice | title=NFL's surprise bet pays off |work=[[The Florida Times-Union]] | date=November 30, 2018|access-date=February 8, 2024| quote=But in some respects, Jacksonville remains the exception to the rule for NFL cities. Other than Green Bay, Jacksonville is the only NFL city that does not have another major sports franchise in baseball, basketball or hockey. }}</ref>
Both MLB and the NFL have had two prolonged recent<!--(21st-century)--> exceptions in which the league was absent from one of the U.S.'s ten most populous metropolitan areas; from 1972 to 2004, ninth-place [[History of Washington, D.C. professional baseball|Washington, D.C., had no MLB team]], and from 1995 to 2016, second-place [[History of the National Football League in Los Angeles|Los Angeles had no NFL teams]].
The NHL's national footprint is a relatively recent situation. Historically, the league was concentrated in the northeast, with no teams south of New York City or west of Chicago from 1935 until 1967. The league expanded its footprint westward in a [[1967 NHL expansion|1967 expansion]] but, other than the unsuccessful [[Atlanta Flames]], avoided the South until making a major expansion into the territory in the 1990s.
Both the NBA and MLS have higher concentrations of teams in the western United States than the other major leagues. Whereas the NBA's teams tend to be somewhat more evenly distributed across the United States, MLS's presence in areas of the southern United States has historically been sparse; after MLS folded its two Florida-based teams after the 2001 season, it did not re-enter the South until [[Orlando City SC]] joined the league in 2015, with Atlanta United FC following in 2017. With the addition of [[Minnesota United FC]] in 2017 and [[Inter Miami CF]] in 2020, along with the departure of the NHL's [[Arizona Coyotes]] from Phoenix in 2024, MLS has a team in every market with a complete set of teams in each of the Big Four major leagues except Detroit.
The CFL had a total of six [[Canadian Football League in the United States|teams in the United States]] over a three-year period between 1993 and 1995, all in medium-sized markets that lacked an NFL team at the time. Of the seven markets those teams occupied, three (Baltimore, San Antonio and Sacramento) had other major league franchises at the time, and two later received a major team (Memphis and Las Vegas). The league also played [[List of neutral site Canadian Football League games|occasional games in the United States]] in the 1950s and 1960s.
The largest metropolitan area without a major professional sports franchise depends on the definition of "metropolitan area". Among areas defined by the [[United States Census Bureau]] as [[List of metropolitan statistical areas|Metropolitan Statistical Areas]] (MSAs), California's [[Inland Empire]] is the largest without a major franchise. However, it is part of [[Greater Los Angeles]], a region defined by the US Census as a [[Combined statistical area|Combined Statistical Area]] (CSA), and is thus part of the Los Angeles television market. The largest CSA without a major franchise is the [[Hampton Roads]] area of southeastern Virginia, spilling over into a small part of North Carolina. The [[List of United States television markets|largest TV market]] without a major franchise is the [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]]–[[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]] market, covering all of Connecticut except the former [[Fairfield County, Connecticut|Fairfield County]];{{efn|Since 2022, Connecticut's counties no longer serve as statistical entities, having been replaced by the state's [[Councils of governments in Connecticut|planning regions]]. The territory of Fairfield County has been divided among three planning regions.}} Hartford's last major league squad, the NHL's [[Hartford Whalers|Whalers]], left in 1997.
====Canada====
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2023}}
{{See also|Expansion of North American major sports leagues}}
The [[National Hockey League|NHL]] has been the dominant professional sports league in Canada, and was first established in Canada in 1917.
The NHL was initially based entirely in eastern Canada. By 1925, Hamilton and Quebec City no longer had NHL teams, while Ottawa left in 1934, by which point American teams were slowly being added. The first Canadian expansion launched in 1970 with a team in [[Vancouver]]; the NHL later added teams in [[Edmonton]], [[Winnipeg]] and [[Quebec City]] (through absorption of WHA franchises), [[Calgary]] (via relocation from [[Atlanta]]) and Ottawa (via expansion) to go with the still-extant Toronto and Montreal teams. The distinctive place [[ice hockey]] holds in [[Canadian culture]] allowed these franchises to compete with teams in larger cities for some time. However, the teams in [[Winnipeg Jets (1972–96)|Winnipeg]] and [[Quebec Nordiques|Quebec City]] were eventually moved to larger media markets in the U.S. The NHL returned to Winnipeg in 2011 with the [[Atlanta Thrashers]] relocating to become the current version of the [[Winnipeg Jets]]. Excluding the CFL, the NHL is the only major league to have teams in Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg or Ottawa, all markets with populations of less than 1.25 million, smaller than any U.S. NHL market except Buffalo. However, those Canadian cities benefit from the country's very high level of hockey fandom. A 2013 study by [[Nate Silver]] estimated that all of these markets had roughly the same numbers of avid hockey fans as U.S. markets with several times their total population.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-cant-canada-win-the-stanley-cup/ |title=Why Can't Canada Win The Stanley Cup? |first=Nate |last=Silver |work=FiveThirtyEight |date=May 31, 2013 |access-date=January 14, 2019 |archive-date=December 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204101948/https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-cant-canada-win-the-stanley-cup/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|For example, Silver's study concluded that Edmonton's media market had nearly the same number of avid hockey fans as that of Philadelphia, despite the Philadelphia market having more than four times the population of the Edmonton market.}}
The [[Canadian Football League]] has teams in all seven current NHL markets, in addition to [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats|Hamilton, Ontario]], and [[Saskatchewan Roughriders|Regina, Saskatchewan]]. At least eight of these nine markets have hosted CFL teams every year since the league's officially listed inception in 1958, and no other Canadian market has ever had a CFL team of its own. A conditional expansion franchise was awarded to the [[Atlantic Schooners]] in 1982; it folded before ever playing a game. Another bid for a Schooners franchise by [[Schooners Sports and Entertainment]] in the late 2010s also failed.
The first Major League Baseball team in Canada was the [[Montreal Expos]], who began play in 1969. In 2005, they moved to Washington, D.C., and became the [[Washington Nationals]]. The [[Toronto Blue Jays]], who began play in 1977, became the first team outside the United States to win the World Series in 1992 and 1993.
The [[Toronto Huskies]] were a charter member of the [[Basketball Association of America]] in 1946, but that team only lasted one season.  The NBA expanded into Canada in 1995 when the [[Vancouver Grizzlies]] and the [[Toronto Raptors|Raptors]] joined the league. The [[Vancouver Grizzlies relocation to Memphis|Grizzlies moved]] to [[Memphis Grizzlies|Memphis]] in 2001.
MLS has teams in [[Vancouver Whitecaps FC|Vancouver]], [[Toronto FC|Toronto]], and [[CF Montréal|Montreal]].
The NFL is the only major league to have no team based in a Canadian city; the closest teams to Canada are the [[Buffalo Bills]] and [[Detroit Lions]], both representing cities located on the [[Canada–United States border|U.S.–Canada border]]. The Lions play in [[downtown Detroit]], {{convert|2|km|mi}} from [[Windsor, Ontario]]. The Bills' stadium is located {{convert|21|km|mi}} south of the Canada–U.S. border. From 2008 to 2013, the Bills played 8 games in Toronto as part of the [[Bills Toronto Series]] which included one regular season game per year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nfl.com/news/story;jsessionid=DAFF70E67B4A749C6DBA40480DC08656?id=09000d5d8066be0f&template=with-video&confirm=true |title=Commissioner announces Toronto plan for Bills |agency=Associated Press |website=National Football League |date=February 1, 2008 |access-date=February 8, 2008}}</ref> On August 22, 2019, the [[Oakland Raiders]] played the [[Green Bay Packers]] in a preseason game at the [[Winnipeg]] venue now known as [[Princess Auto Stadium]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.raiders.com/news/raiders-become-first-nfl-team-to-play-in-three-countries-in-one-season |title=Raiders set to become first NFL team to play in three countries in one season |publisher=Oakland Raiders |access-date=June 6, 2019 |archive-date=June 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607032701/https://www.raiders.com/news/raiders-become-first-nfl-team-to-play-in-three-countries-in-one-season |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Ownership restrictions===
{{See also|List of NFL franchise owners}}
All four major leagues have strict rules regarding who may own a team, and also place some restrictions on what other sort of activities the owners may engage in.
The major leagues generally do not allow anyone to own a stake in more than one franchise, to prevent the perception of being in a [[conflict of interest]]. This rule was adopted after several high-profile controversies involving [[Cleveland Spiders|ownership of multiple baseball teams]] in the 1890s. Additionally, the NHL's "[[Original Six]]" period, from 1942 to 1967, was marked by the [[James E. Norris|Norris]] family owning a controlling stake in half of the league's teams, a factor in the league's stagnation during that period.<ref name="Boyle">{{cite news|url=http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1070137/index.htm |date=February 2, 1959 |title=Black Hawks On The Wing |first=Robert H. |last=Boyle |access-date=April 25, 2008 |publisher=CNN |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220080154/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1070137/index.htm |archive-date=February 20, 2009 }}</ref>
With the exception of the NFL, every other major league has had at least one case since 2000 where the league itself has taken ownership or control of a franchise:
* MLB – Purchased the [[Montreal Expos]] in 2001 and moved the franchise to Washington, D.C., as the [[Washington Nationals|Nationals]] in 2005 before selling the team to a local group in 2006. MLB also [[2011 Los Angeles Dodgers ownership dispute|took over the operations]] of the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] in 2011, citing financial and governance issues stemming from the divorce of the team's co-owners,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6397488 |title=Bud Selig says MLB will run Dodgers |work=[[ESPN.com|ESPNLosAngeles.com]] |date=April 20, 2011 |access-date=April 20, 2011 |archive-date=April 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423075547/http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6397488 |url-status=live }}</ref> before [[Frank McCourt (executive)|Frank McCourt]] sold the Dodgers to [[Guggenheim Partners|an ownership group]] in March 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_/id/7180599/frank-mccourt-agrees-sell-los-angeles-dodgers |title=Frank McCourt to sell Dodgers |work=[[ESPN.com|ESPNLosAngeles.com]] |date=November 2, 2011 |access-date=November 12, 2011 |archive-date=November 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110162729/http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_/id/7180599/frank-mccourt-agrees-sell-los-angeles-dodgers |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_/id/7745566/los-angeles-dodgers-selling-team-magic-johnson-group-2b |title=Dodgers sold to Magic Johnson group |agency=Associated Press |work=ESPNLosAngeles.com |date=March 28, 2012 |access-date=March 28, 2012 |archive-date=March 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328051911/http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_/id/7745566/los-angeles-dodgers-selling-team-magic-johnson-group-2b |url-status=live }}</ref>
* NHL – Took over the [[Buffalo Sabres]] in 2002 after owner [[John Rigas]] was arrested for [[embezzlement]], and sold the team to [[Tom Golisano]] in 2003. The NHL also seized the [[Arizona Coyotes|Phoenix Coyotes]] in [[Phoenix Coyotes bankruptcy and sale|2009]] to prevent its owner from selling it to a buyer who intended to relocate the team, and sold the team to a Phoenix-area group in 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title=Coyotes Finally have owner|url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/9540919/icearizona-completes-purchase-phoenix-coyotes|agency=Associated Press|publisher=ESPN|date=August 5, 2013|access-date=September 10, 2013|archive-date=September 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055100/http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/9540919/icearizona-completes-purchase-phoenix-coyotes|url-status=live}}</ref> The league again took over the Coyotes and sold them to a new owner in 2024, facilitating the franchise's inactivation and activation of the [[Utah Hockey Club]].
* NBA – Purchased the [[New Orleans Pelicans|New Orleans Hornets]] from its owner in December 2010,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=5887687 |title=Sources: NBA set to take over Hornets |first=Marc |last=Stein |publisher=ESPN |date=December 6, 2010 |access-date=December 7, 2010 |archive-date=December 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207142447/http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5887687 |url-status=live }}</ref> and sold the team to owner [[Tom Benson]] in April 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/7809655/new-orleans-saints-owner-tom-benson-agrees-buy-new-orleans-hornets |title=Saints owner agrees to buy Hornets |agency=Associated Press |publisher=ESPN |date=April 13, 2012 |access-date=April 13, 2012 |archive-date=April 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413215058/http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7809655/new-orleans-saints-owner-tom-benson-agrees-buy-new-orleans-hornets |url-status=live }}</ref>
* MLS – Purchased [[Chivas USA]] from [[Jorge Vergara]] in 2014 and folded the team after the 2014 season. A new L.A. franchise, [[Los Angeles FC]], began play in 2018 as an expansion team and did not inherit Chivas USA's history.
* CFL – Seized the [[Ottawa Renegades]] from owner [[Bernard Glieberman]] in 2006, suspended the franchise, then sold it to [[Jeff Hunt]], who reactivated it in 2014 as the [[Ottawa Redblacks]]. The CFL also accepted ownership in 2019 of the [[Montreal Alouettes]] from owner [[Robert C. Wetenhall|Robert Wetenhall]] in order to keep it operating until the league announced Sid Spiegel and Gary Stern as the team's new owners in January 2020.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.tsn.ca/steel-industry-entrepreneurs-sid-spiegel-gary-stern-new-owners-of-alouettes-1.1423112 |title=Alouettes announce new ownership |first=Dave |last=Naylor |website=[[The Sports Network|TSN.ca]] |date=January 6, 2020 |access-date=January 18, 2020 |archive-date=January 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112140804/https://www.tsn.ca/steel-industry-entrepreneurs-sid-spiegel-gary-stern-new-owners-of-alouettes-1.1423112 |url-status=live }}</ref> The CFL again assumed ownership of the Alouettes in February 2023 following Spiegel's death,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-14 |title=A statement from the CFL about the Montreal Alouettes |url=https://www.cfl.ca/2023/02/14/a-statement-from-the-cfl-about-the-montreal-alouettes/ |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=CFL.ca |language=en |archive-date=2023-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214171836/https://www.cfl.ca/2023/02/14/a-statement-from-the-cfl-about-the-montreal-alouettes/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and sold the franchise to Québec businessman [[Pierre Karl Péladeau]] the next month.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.cfl.ca/2023/03/10/pierre-karl-peladeau-acquires-the-montreal-alouettes/ |title=Pierre Karl Péladeau Acquires the Montreal Alouettes |publisher=Canadian Football League |date=March 10, 2023 |access-date=April 19, 2023}}</ref>
The NFL (nor any of its predecessors) has not taken over operations of any team since 1962, when the [[American Football League]] took over the nearly bankrupt [[New York Jets|Titans of New York]] in an effort to prevent the team from folding;<ref name="jetsone">{{cite web|url=http://www.newyorkjets.com/team/history?year=1962 |title=Jets history – 1962 |access-date=February 8, 2007 |work=NewYorkJets.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114025135/http://www.newyorkjets.com/team/history?year=1962 |archive-date=November 14, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in 1963, a new ownership group bought the franchise and it became the [[New York Jets]].<ref name="jetstwo">{{cite web|url=http://www.newyorkjets.com/team/history?year=1963 |title=Jets history – 1963 |access-date=February 8, 2007 |work=NewYorkJets.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114025303/http://www.newyorkjets.com/team/history?year=1963 |archive-date=November 14, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The NFL has [[List of NFL franchise owners#Ownership restrictions|stronger ownership restrictions]] than other leagues. The NFL forbids ownership by groups of over 24 people or publicly-traded corporations, except the grandfathered [[Green Bay Packers]]. Additionally, the league requires that at least one member of the ownership group hold a 30% interest, with stringent limits on the amount of debt that a new ownership group can take on.<ref name="NFL limits lifted">{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-nfl-meetings-20181016-story.html |title=NFL owners vote to allow cross-ownership in cities with football teams |first=Sam |last=Farmer |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=October 16, 2018 |access-date=April 20, 2019 |archive-date=April 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420044702/https://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-nfl-meetings-20181016-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The NFL also forbids its owners from owning any other professional American football teams; this rule has not always been in place (as the NFL owners previously owned [[minor league]] teams in the 1940s) but was in place by the 1980s, when the DeBartolo family was scrutinized for owning both the [[San Francisco 49ers]] and [[United States Football League|USFL]]'s [[Pittsburgh Maulers (1984)|Pittsburgh Maulers]] (as different members of the family owned each team, the league allowed the DeBartolos to keep the 49ers).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1121180/2/index.htm |title=The strike is history, but for Pete Rozelle the headaches – 09.01.83 – SI Vault |access-date=December 26, 2019 |archive-date=November 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102075630/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1121180/2/index.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Arena Football League]] teams playing in the NFL team's home market were exempt from this rule during that league's existence. NFL owners were long prohibited from owning major league baseball, basketball and hockey teams unless they were in the NFL team's home market, or not located in other NFL cities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nfl.com/static/content/public/static/html/careers/pdf/co_.pdf|title=Constitution and Bylaws of the National Football League|year=2006|website=[[National Football League]]|access-date=July 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909075157/http://www.nfl.com/static/content/public/static/html/careers/pdf/co_.pdf|archive-date=September 9, 2015|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> This last set of restrictions was lifted in October 2018; many owners believed that cross-ownership restrictions had outlived their purpose, and they had largely been disregarded since [[Stan Kroenke]], who purchased the then-St. Louis Rams and moved them to Los Angeles while simultaneously owning assets in Denver, became a majority NFL owner in 2010. Additionally, media reports theorized that the cross-ownership ban materially reduced the sale price of the [[Carolina Panthers]] earlier in 2018, with several NBA team owners reportedly interested in bidding but barred by then-current NFL rules.<ref name="NFL limits lifted"/> The cross-ownership restrictions originally covered soccer, but a 1982 federal court decision in a lawsuit filed against the NFL by [[North American Soccer League (1968–84)|the original NASL]] went in favor of the NASL, thereby exempting soccer from these restrictions.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=North American Soccer League v. National Football League |vol=670 |reporter=F.2d |opinion=1249 |court=[[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit|2d Cir.]] |year=1982 |url=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/670/1249/118084/ |access-date=July 3, 2015}}</ref>
MLS has adopted a different league structure and operates as a single-entity league, a structure that survived a lawsuit from the players in ''[[Fraser v. Major League Soccer]]''. During the first few years of the league, MLS for the sake of stability allowed individuals to operate multiple teams. MLS ownership arrangements have evolved, however; each of the league's current 29 teams is now controlled by a separate ownership group, and no group member has a stake in more than one team.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.socceramerica.com/article/66997/aeg-sells-remaining-interest-in-houston-dynamo.html|title=SoccerAmerica – AEG sells remaining interest in Houston Dynamo 12/15/2015|website=Socceramerica.com|date=15 December 2015 |access-date=May 18, 2016|archive-date=May 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524160415/http://www.socceramerica.com/article/66997/aeg-sells-remaining-interest-in-houston-dynamo.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Five out of nine clubs in the CFL are held by some form of partnership or corporation; of those, one ([[Saskatchewan Roughriders]]) is a publicly held corporations in and of themselves, two ([[Toronto Argonauts]] and [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]]) are partially owned by public conglomerates, and two ([[Calgary Stampeders]] and [[Ottawa Redblacks]]) are held by closely held partnerships. Three ([[BC Lions]], [[Montreal Alouettes]], and [[Edmonton Elks]]) are held by an individual owner. The ninth team, the [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]], operates under the shell of the Winnipeg Football Club, a nonprofit [[sports club]] with no clear ownership structure or share capital.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com/sports/argos/2014/09/17/toronto_argonauts_could_become_communityoperated_team.html |title=How CFL community ownership could work for Argos |last=Rush |first=Curtis |date=17 September 2014 |website=TheStar.com |publisher=[[Toronto Star]] |access-date=1 May 2020 |quote=The Roughriders and Eskimos are the only two community-owned teams in the CFL who sell shares to the public. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a not-for-profit, community organization, but they do not sell shares to the public. The Winnipeg Football Club governs the team through a 13-member volunteer board of directors. [...] The Roughriders have copied the NFL’s Green Bay Packers ownership model. |archive-date=5 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605110606/https://www.thestar.com/sports/argos/2014/09/17/toronto_argonauts_could_become_communityoperated_team.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Challenges from rival leagues===
{{Original research|section|date=June 2023|reason=MLB, NFL, NBA are unsourced, and lede makes [[WP:SYNTH]] statements based on the unsourced content.}}
{{See also|AFL–NFL merger|ABA–NBA merger|NHL–WHA merger}}
All of the majors have bested at least one rival league formed with the intention of being just as "big" as the established league, often by signing away star players and by locating franchises in cities that were already part of the existing league. In many cases, the major leagues have absorbed the most successful franchises from their failing rivals, or merged outright with them.
Baseball's [[National League (baseball)|National League]] withstood three challenges in its first quarter century of existence. The [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]] began in 1882 in several lucrative markets without an NL team. For several years, the AA was a viable competitor to the NL, and the NL and AA champions competed in an informal [[World Series]]. Four of the AA's teams defected to the NL in its later years, before the AA expired in 1891. Labor problems led to the formation of the [[Players' League]] for the 1890 season; it attracted a significant percentage of the baseball talent and caused the NL and AA significant financial harm,{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} but it lacked financial backing and folded after only one season. The minor [[Western League (1885–1899)|Western League]] moved several franchises in NL cities and cities abandoned by the NL for the 1900 and 1901 seasons, and renamed itself the [[American League]] in direct competition with the NL. The NL and AL made peace in 1903; the resulting agreement formed what today is known as [[Major League Baseball]]. MLB withstood the challenge of the [[Federal League]] in 1914. Various [[Negro leagues]] peaked from the 1920s to the 1940s, and on [[barnstorm (sports)|barnstorming]] tours the Negro league players showed themselves to be MLB players' competitive equals, but after [[Jackie Robinson]] broke the [[baseball color line|color barrier]] in 1947, the influx of black stars into the major leagues drained the Negro leagues of talent. MLB prevented the [[Continental League]] from getting off the ground in 1961–62 by placing teams in four of that league's proposed cities by either expansion or relocation.
The NFL has fought off the most rivals throughout the years, and to this day faces a competing start-up league every few years. One strong rival to the NFL was the [[All-America Football Conference]] of 1946–1949; three of their seven teams merged with the NFL for the 1950 season, and two of the three still exist in the NFL. Four (all unrelated) rivals were named ''American Football League;'' the last [[American Football League]] existed from 1960 to 1970, winning the last two of the four pre-merger [[Super Bowl]] games, before merging with the NFL in 1970. The NFL has beaten back other significant rival football leagues, often placing expansion or relocation teams in those cities following that league's demise: the [[World Football League]] of 1974–1975 (the NFL added two teams in 1975), the [[United States Football League]] of 1983–1985 (the NFL relocated one team to a USFL market in 1988), and the [[Canadian Football League]]'s [[Canadian Football League in the United States|American franchises]] of 1993–1995 (the NFL added three teams in the mid 1990s, including one in the CFL's most successful U.S. market). All told, 13 of the NFL's current 32 franchises were absorbed from a rival league—all 10 AFL franchises of the 1960s, two from the AAFC, and one from the 1936 AFL.
The NBA was formed in 1949 after three years of competition between the large-market [[Basketball Association of America]] (from which the NBA traces its existence) and the industrial-based [[National Basketball League (United States)|National Basketball League]].  The NBA also had to fend off two incarnations of the American Basketball League, the [[American Basketball League (1925–55)|first]] being an Eastern circuit that predated the NBA, and the [[American Basketball League (1961–63)|second]] existing from 1961 to 1963, after [[Abe Saperstein]] was repeatedly denied an NBA expansion team. The NBA later fought off the challenge of the [[American Basketball Association]] from 1967 to 1976, in part by expanding from nine to eighteen teams. The NBA then absorbed four of the ABA's most successful franchises [[ABA–NBA merger|in a 1976 merger]], and adopted several of the ABA's rule variations, most notably the [[three-point field goal|three-point shot]].
The NHL began its existence competing with the [[Western Canada Hockey League]] and its predecessor, the [[Pacific Coast Hockey Association]]; both had folded by 1926, leaving the NHL as the sole major North American hockey league. The NHL fended off two challenges in the 1960s and 1970s. The NHL prevented the [[Western Hockey League (1952–1974)|Western Hockey League]] from achieving parity in the quality of players, salaries and attendance by [[1967 NHL expansion|doubling in size]] from six to twelve teams in 1967, including into the WHL markets of Los Angeles and San Francisco, and added two more teams in 1970, including a former WHL team in Vancouver. During its existence from 1972 to 1979, the [[World Hockey Association]] challenged the dominance of the NHL. The WHA initially attracted stars by offering higher salaries than the NHL and successfully invalidating the NHL's [[reserve clause]], forcing NHL teams to keep up. The bidding war brought financial distress to both leagues. With the WHA and several NHL teams faced with collapse, the NHL negotiated a [[NHL–WHA merger|merger of the leagues]] whereby the four strongest WHA teams joined the NHL.
The CFL has been historically protected from the competing leagues that the NFL faced, in part because of threats of parliamentary legislation to stop any CFL competitor from being allowed to play in Canada. The [[Canadian Football Act]], proposed in 1974 but never passed, would have given the CFL a government-endorsed monopoly on professional [[gridiron football]] in Canada by prohibiting any other league from playing its games in the country; the mere introduction of the bill in [[Parliament of Canada|Parliament]] prompted the [[World Football League|WFL]]'s [[Toronto Northmen]] to move to the United States before playing a single game and later the first [[United States Football League|USFL]] was discouraged from establishing teams in Canada with the threat to reintroduce the Act in 1982.<ref>{{cite news|title=USFL thwarted by Davey|date=1983-02-02|first=Marty|last=York|newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]]}}</ref>  In the context of the modern North American sports market as a whole, however, CFL has faced and survived numerous challenges from upstart US-based leagues seeking to establish themselves as a second-tier gridiron football league relative to the NFL and thus competing with the CFL for player talent and consumer exposure.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-aaf-players-competition-1.4848655 |title=CFL already facing competition from nascent Alliance of American Football |author=[[The Associated Press]] |date=3 October 2018 |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=1 May 2020 |archive-date=20 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220134418/https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-aaf-players-competition-1.4848655 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://calgarysun.com/sports/cfl-coaches-gms-acknowledge-xfl-is-impacting-off-season |title=CFL coaches, GMs acknowledge XFL is impacting off-season |last=Austin |first=Daniel |date=8 January 2020 |publisher=[[Calgary Sun]] |access-date=1 May 2020 |archive-date=29 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129224703/https://calgarysun.com/sports/cfl-coaches-gms-acknowledge-xfl-is-impacting-off-season |url-status=live }}</ref> The vast majority of these leagues (such as the first and [[United States Football League (2022)|second USFL]], [[United Football League (2009–2012)|second]] and [[United Football League (2024)|third UFL]], [[XFL (2001)|XFL]] and its [[XFL (2020)|later reincarnation]], and [[Alliance of American Football|AAF]]) have all been short-lived; all but the current UFL have folded, with that league having formed in advance of the 2024 season by the merger of the 2020s incarnations of the USFL and XFL.<ref>{{cite press release |date=December 31, 2022 |title=United Football League ("UFL") Set to Launch As the Premier Spring Football League |url=https://www.theufl.com/news/united-football-league-set-to-launch-as-the-premier-spring-football-league |access-date=December 31, 2023 |website=theufl.com}}</ref> Similarly, the CFL itself played the role of a competitor to the NFL during [[Canadian Football League in the United States|its mid-1990s expansion out of Canada and into the US market]], which was also short-lived.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nationalpost.com/sports/football/cfl/the-true-and-strong-and-free-why-the-cfls-humiliating-expansion-to-the-united-states-was-actually-a-force-for-good |title='The true and strong and free': Why the CFL's humiliating expansion to the United States was actually a force for good |last=Farus |first=Nick |date=30 June 2017 |newspaper=[[National Post]] |access-date=1 May 2020 }}</ref>
===Fixed league membership===
{{main|Closed league|Promotion and relegation#Historical comparisons|l2=Promotion and relegation: Historical comparisons}}
In general, sports leagues in the United States and Canada are [[closed league]]s that never developed any system of [[promotion and relegation]] like those in Europe. A major professional sports team stays at the top level of the sport, regardless of their performance.
A major factor in this development was the greater distances between cities, with some teams separated by at least half the continent, which in turn resulted in higher traveling costs. When the [[National League (baseball)|National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs]] was established in 1876, its founders judged that in order to prosper, they must make baseball's highest level of competition a "closed shop", with a strict limit on the number of teams, and with each member having exclusive local rights. This guarantee of a place in the league year after year permitted each club owner to monopolize fan bases in their respective exclusive territories and give them the confidence to invest in infrastructure, such as improved ballparks. This in turn guaranteed the revenues needed to support traveling across the continent.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cain|first1=Louis P.|last2=Haddock|first2=David D.|date=2005|title=Similar Economic Histories, Different Industrial Structures: Transatlantic Contrasts in the Evolution of Professional Sports Leagues|journal=[[Journal of Economic History]]|volume=65|issue=4|pages=1116–1147|doi=10.1017/S0022050705000422|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |s2cid=154506974}}</ref> With the introduction of TV exposure and other sources of increased revenue during the 20th century, team owners have no incentive to risk giving up this annual income in favor of establishing an "open shop system" where they could be relegated to a lower league that does not generate that kind of lucrative money. There has been discussion of [[Major League Soccer]] adopting promotion and relegation, but MLS is not pursuing the option.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/8/5/5972507/mls-promotion-relegation |title=MLS confirms the obvious, promotion-relegation will 'never' happen |date=August 5, 2014 |publisher=SBNation.com |access-date=May 14, 2015 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924153919/http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/8/5/5972507/mls-promotion-relegation |url-status=live }}</ref> Eight current MLS teams—[[Seattle Sounders FC]], [[Portland Timbers]], [[Vancouver Whitecaps FC]], [[CF Montréal]], [[Orlando City SC]], [[Minnesota United FC]], [[FC Cincinnati]], and [[Nashville SC]]—were promoted from lower leagues through the traditional expansion process, without regard to on-pitch record; instead new teams are brought into MLS based on the financial strength of their ownership and market. [[Sacramento Republic FC]] was scheduled to become the ninth such MLS team in 2023 until [[Ron Burkle|its lead investor]] pulled out of the expansion deal.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37614595/sacramento-mls-team-indefinite-hold-main-investor-pulls-deal |title=Sacramento MLS team on indefinite hold after investor pulls out of deal |first=Jeff |last=Carlisle |website=ESPN.com |date=February 26, 2021 |access-date=March 23, 2021 |archive-date=June 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603180553/https://www.espn.com/soccer/major-league-soccer/story/4324773/sacramento-mls-team-on-indefinite-hold-after-main-investor-pulls-out-of-deal |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Relevance inline|date=June 2023|reason=The Sacramento bid is relevant elsewhere in this article (and unsourced in those places), but not here, and its cited source doesn't mention promotion or relegation.}}
===Player development===
{{Multiple issues|section=yes|
{{more citations needed section|date=May 2014}}
{{synthesis|date=June 2023|reason=Even if the content is sourced, considering these traits to be specific to, or criteria for being, a "major league" would also be synthesized from the content.}}
}}
All of the major North American professional sports leagues use a [[draft (sports)|draft]] system to assign prospective players to teams. The NFL, NHL and NBA all use their respective drafts to ensure a certain measure of parity between franchises, so that teams with losing records pick early in the draft, while the league champions pick last in each round. (In the NFL, the relationship is directly linear, so that the worst team always gets the first overall pick; MLB, the NHL and the NBA, in efforts to thwart [[match fixing|tanking]], use a [[NBA draft lottery|draft lottery]] to determine the early draft order.)
Three of the top four major leagues possess sophisticated player development systems.
The vast majority of MLB players are developed through the [[minor league baseball]] system. Prospective players generally are drafted, and are then assigned to the appropriate minor league level for development. With the growth of [[college baseball]], more players opt to play at the collegiate level and delay entry into the MLB draft; college baseball players with professional aspirations will usually also play [[collegiate summer baseball]] to gain experience and exposure while maintaining their college eligibility. Individual teams' large scouting staffs have given way to smaller staffs and subscriptions to commercial player scouting services. [[List of baseball players who went directly to Major League Baseball|Entering the majors directly]] from high school or college is rare, and most of the few that have were quickly reassigned to the minors. MLB clubs also sign many players from [[Latin American]] countries, and have also recruited many players from the [[Nippon Professional Baseball|Japanese leagues]].
Most of the NBA's talent comes from [[College basketball|college]] and [[high school basketball]], although minimum age rules have ended the NBA's practice of drafting players directly from high school beginning in [[2006 NBA draft|2006]]. The NBA's developmental league, now known as the [[NBA G League|G League]], was implemented in 2001 by the NBA to perform the role of a [[farm system]] in helping with player development and market reach, but NBA teams more frequently recruit talent from overseas professional leagues, mostly in Europe with a few players being recruited from leagues in Latin America, China, and Australia.  Prior to the development of the G League, the [[Continental Basketball Association]] had served as a minor league to the NBA.
The National Football League is the only one of the four major sports leagues that does not have a [[Minor league football (gridiron)|formalized farm system]]. The source for almost all NFL players is [[college football]], but NFL also has [[International Player Pathway Program]] for potential international prospects. Drafted players from college immediately join the main team; if they fail to make the regular season roster, a limited number of players may be assigned to the [[practice squad]]. NFL teams rarely recruit players from other gridiron football leagues.  American football also has the least global reach for prospects, with one exception being several [[List of players who have converted from one football code to another|players from other codes of football]] primarily as kickers and punters.  The league's teams backed the [[World League of American Football|World League]] (later known as [[NFL Europe]]) in the 1990s and 2000s, and purchased teams in the [[Arena Football League]] for a period in the 2000s. As of 2019, the [[National Football League Players Association]] explicitly opposes having an official minor league in the same model as the other major sports, mainly because of the risk of injury.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2019/03/27/alliance-of-american-football-aaf-tom-dundon-future-nflpa/3287922002/ |title=Majority investor: Alliance of American Football in danger of being discontinued without NFLPA help |first1=Kevin |last1=Allen |first2=Mike |last2=Jones |website=[[USA Today]] |date=March 27, 2019 |access-date=March 27, 2019 |archive-date=March 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327172827/https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2019/03/27/alliance-of-american-football-aaf-tom-dundon-future-nflpa/3287922002/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The current version of the [[United Football League (2024)|United Football League]] has positioned itself as a ''de facto'' minor league and opportunity for players to reach the NFL<ref name="xfl-axios">{{Cite news |date=March 29, 2023 |title=Why this time might be different for the XFL |work=[[Axios (website)|Axios]] |url=https://www.axios.com/2023/03/29/football-xfl-nfl-viewership-highlights?s=08 |access-date=March 29, 2023}}</ref> while asserting its independence as an organization.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schneider |first=Joey |date=2024-01-03 |title='St. Louis was all in' – UFL leader Daryl Johnston speaks on Battlehawks and new merger |url=https://fox2now.com/sports/battlehawks/st-louis-was-all-in-ufl-leader-daryl-johnston-speaks-on-battlehawks-and-new-merger/ |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=FOX 2 |language=en-US}}</ref> The NFL does operate two overseas [[youth academy|youth academies]], one in England at [[Loughborough University]] and the other in Australia at [[A. B. Paterson College]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.nflacademy.com/ |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=NFL Academy |language=en-GB}}</ref>
Each NHL team has an affiliate in North America's top-tier [[minor hockey league]], the [[American Hockey League]], and most have an affiliation with teams in the [[ECHL]]. For decades, the traditional route to the NHL has been through [[junior ice hockey|junior hockey]] and the [[Canadian Hockey League]] (CHL). Beginning in the 1970s, NHL teams began drafting and signing prospects from Europe, and a growing number of NHL hopefuls are forgoing the CHL in favor of NCAA Division I college hockey.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}} Additionally, [[USA Hockey]] also sanctions junior hockey leagues, such as the [[United States Hockey League]] and [[North American Hockey League]], that allow players to develop while also retain NCAA eligibility in order to make the NHL. Almost all draft picks are initially assigned to an affiliate in their NHL team's minor league system for development.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
MLS teams sign players from their [[youth academy|youth academies]], from the [[MLS SuperDraft|MLS college draft]], and from overseas. MLS teams rely on their youth academies, which are now a requirement for all MLS clubs. MLS clubs can operate youth teams as young as 13–14 years old. Some youth academy teams participate in lower-tier leagues. MLS also holds an annual draft in which top [[College soccer in the United States|college soccer]] players are selected. MLS has in the recent past had a formal relationship with the [[United Soccer League]], which operates (among other leagues) the Division II [[USL Championship]] (USLC) and Division III [[USL League One]] (USL 1). For several years in the 2010s, MLS teams were nominally required to field a reserve team in a USL league, either by direct ownership or affiliation with a separately owned team, although this requirement was never strictly enforced.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} MLS relaunched its reserve league in 2022 as [[MLS Next Pro]], a third-level league that initially featured 20 MLS reserve teams and one independently owned team ([[Rochester New York FC]], which folded after Next Pro's first season). Of the nine current and then-future MLS teams that did not field a side in Next Pro's first season, all but [[CF Montréal]] and [[D.C. United]] field reserve sides in Next Pro in 2023. This setup allows developing MLS players to gain playing experience.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
The CFL's draft is limited to Canadian citizens, plus non-citizens who were raised in Canada. In addition to university/college football, the CFL draft also draws players from the long-established [[Canadian Junior Football League]] and its component leagues. The league also draws from the same pool of free agents as the NFL, with players who do not make the NFL often going north to seek work in the CFL. The CFL requires free agents to sign contracts, and thus stay in the league, for a minimum of two years. Unique to the CFL is the concept of the ''negotiation list'', which allows CFL teams to unilaterally declare exclusive rights to any given player. Described as an "enduring mystery", the negotiation list forces players to accept the offer they are given, usually at league minimum, with no leverage to negotiate with other teams; there is no order or limits to the negotiation list, and teams can add or remove players to a 45-position negotiation list without their permission and at any time, regardless of age. Since [[2018 CFL season|2018]], ten of the 45 players must be publicly announced.<ref>{{cite web|first=Dave|last=Naylor|url=https://www.tsn.ca/the-enduring-mystery-of-cfl-negotiation-lists-1.981621|title=The enduring mystery of CFL negotiation lists|publisher=[[The Sports Network]]|date=January 29, 2018|access-date=June 9, 2018|archive-date=June 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143053/https://www.tsn.ca/the-enduring-mystery-of-cfl-negotiation-lists-1.981621|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ftw/2018/02/20/the-cfl-team-that-owns-johnny-manziels-rights-now-owns-rg3s-and-tua-tagovailoas-rights/110639092/|title=CFL teams put Kaepernick, RG3 on negotiation lists|website=[[USA Today]]|access-date=2018-06-09|archive-date=2018-06-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613110724/https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ftw/2018/02/20/the-cfl-team-that-owns-johnny-manziels-rights-now-owns-rg3s-and-tua-tagovailoas-rights/110639092/|url-status=live}}</ref>
===High player salaries===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:1em; float:right; text-align:center;"
|+ Player salaries
|-
!League
!Average salary
!Team salary cap
|-
|[[Major League Baseball|MLB]]
| $4.36 mil
| $210 mil*
|-
|[[National Football League|NFL]]
| $2.7 mil
| $198.2 mil<ref name="urlBuilding the best NFL team money can buy under the 2020 salary cap">{{cite web |url=https://www.nfl.com/news/building-the-best-nfl-team-money-can-buy-under-the-2020-salary-cap |title=Building the best NFL team money can buy under the 2020 salary cap |website=[[NFL.com]] |access-date=2020-07-08 |archive-date=2020-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711214258/https://www.nfl.com/news/building-the-best-nfl-team-money-can-buy-under-the-2020-salary-cap |url-status=live }}</ref> + $40 million per team in player benefits<ref name="urlHow Can the NFL Prevent a Salary Cap Crisis? - The Ringer">{{cite web |url=https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/7/23/21335270/nfl-salary-cap-revenue-loss-coronavirus |title=How Can the NFL Prevent a Salary Cap Crisis? – The Ringer |date=July 23, 2020 |access-date=September 5, 2020 |archive-date=September 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919100730/https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/7/23/21335270/nfl-salary-cap-revenue-loss-coronavirus |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|[[National Basketball Association|NBA]]
| $7.7 mil
| $109.14 mil<ref name="2019NBAcap">{{cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/article/2019/06/29/nba-salary-cap-2019-20-season-set-10914-million|title=NBA Salary Cap set at $170 million for 2019–20|publisher=NBA|access-date=July 6, 2019|archive-date=July 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706201851/https://www.nba.com/article/2019/06/29/nba-salary-cap-2019-20-season-set-10914-million|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|[[National Hockey League|NHL]]
| $2.78 mil
| $81.5 mil
|-
|[[Major League Soccer|MLS]]
| $0.423 mil
| $13.38 mil<ref name="inquirer">{{cite news |last1=Stejskal |first1=Sam |date=October 20, 2021 |title=MLS salary breakdown top spenders struggling in 2021 as new signings add to wage bills. |work=[[The Athletic]] |url=https://theathletic.com/2901548/2021/10/20/mls-salary-breakdown-top-spenders-struggling-in-2021-as-new-signings-add-to-wage-bills/ |access-date=October 20, 2021 |archive-date=October 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020155451/https://theathletic.com/2901548/2021/10/20/mls-salary-breakdown-top-spenders-struggling-in-2021-as-new-signings-add-to-wage-bills/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|[[Canadian Football League|CFL]]
| $0.113 mil
| $5.70 mil<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.athleticbusiness.com/more-news/strike-threatens-canadian-football-league-2014-season-br.html |title="Strike Threatens Canadian Football League 2014 Season" |access-date=December 8, 2014 |archive-date=May 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526031515/http://www.athleticbusiness.com/more-news/strike-threatens-canadian-football-league-2014-season-br.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|}
{{See also|Salary cap}}
The average annual [[salary]] for players in the four major leagues is about US$2.9 million in 2008, although player salaries can range from $500,000 for backup players to as much as $40 million (up to around $60 mil in the NFL and the NBA by 2021, not counting endorsements and sponsorship deals) for [[superstar]]s.
NFL, MLB, and NBA have the [[List of largest sports contracts|biggest and longest contracts]] in the history of professional sports.{{citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=Statement would also need additional context to update since 2017, even if it was cited.}}
NBA players have the highest average player salaries of the four leagues; however, their teams also have the smallest rosters.
The NFL has the highest average team [[payroll]]. However, 55-player NFL rosters are far larger than the other three leagues'. Many players on NFL rosters see little actual game play, and teams play far fewer games, making their players on average the lowest paid of the Big Four leagues. After a brief lockout during the 2011 off-season, league owners and the [[NFLPA|players' union]] signed a new [[collective bargaining agreement]] that imposed a hard salary cap of $120 million in the 2011 season, but temporarily suspended the salary floor, which returned in the 2013 season at 89% of the cap.{{citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=Statement would also need additional context to update, even if it was cited.}}
MLB is now alone among the major leagues in that it lacks any form of a [[salary cap]] and has enacted only modest forms of [[revenue sharing]] and [[luxury tax (sports)|luxury taxes]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/26/sports/baseball/mlb-salary-cap.html |title=M.L.B. Has Labor Peace, but Also Plenty of Posturing |date=February 26, 2023 |first=James |last=Wagner |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Compared to the other leagues, there is a far greater disparity between MLB payrolls. The [[New York Yankees]] had the highest payroll of any American sports team in 2006 when they paid $194 million in players' salaries – nearly twice the NFL salary cap and nearly thirteen times the payroll of the [[Miami Marlins|Florida Marlins]] who spent about $15 million (significantly less than the mandatory minimum team payrolls in the NFL and NHL).{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
For the [[2010–11 NHL season]], the average player salary was slightly above the pre-lockout level of US$1.8 million. In the same season, the league's salary cap was US$59.4 million per team, with the salary floor set at US$16 million under the cap. For the {{NHL Year|2018|app=season}}, the cap has been set as US$79.5 million, with the floor at US$58.8 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-salary-cap-expected-to-increase-next-season/c-299141082 |title=NHL salary cap will be $79.5 million next season |publisher=NHL |date=June 1, 2018 |access-date=December 13, 2018 |archive-date=July 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709215758/https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-salary-cap-expected-to-increase-next-season/c-299141082 |url-status=live }}</ref>
MLS has lower average salaries and smaller payrolls than the other leagues. MLS kept a strict rein on player salaries until 2007, when MLS introduced the [[Designated Player Rule]], which allows MLS teams to pay higher wages for star players. David Beckham was the first player signed under this rule. The highest MLS payroll in 2019 was Toronto FC, with $24.5 million.<ref name="forbes_mls">{{Cite web|date=2020-03-02|title=MLS Players 2020 Salaries Payouts (All Teams Wage Budget)|url=https://www.sportekz.com/football/mls-players-2020-salaries/|access-date=2020-07-09|website=Sportekz|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709183025/https://www.sportekz.com/football/mls-players-2020-salaries/|url-status=live}}</ref> The league's average salary is about $423,232 per year. MLS' minimum player salary will increase{{when|date=June 2023}} from $63,542 to $85,502 for most players.<ref>{{cite web|date=February 6, 2020|title=MLS and players reach labor deal with time to spare, gains to trumpet and no hard feelings|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/02/06/mls-cba-salary-free-agency-travel/|access-date=July 9, 2020|publisher=Major League Soccer|archive-date=February 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228132318/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/02/06/mls-cba-salary-free-agency-travel/|url-status=live}}</ref>
The CFL has a relatively smaller annual player salary and salary cap compared to the other leagues. The average salary in 2018 is $113,000 and the salary cap in 2018 is CAD $5.2 million.<ref name=bolevi>{{Cite news|url=https://3downnation.com/2019/02/12/details-of-bo-levi-mitchells-contract-with-the-stampeders/|title=Details of Bo Levi Mitchells contract with the stampeders – Article – 3downnation|date=February 19, 2018|work=3downnation|access-date=February 19, 2018|archive-date=April 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413213926/https://3downnation.com/2019/02/12/details-of-bo-levi-mitchells-contract-with-the-stampeders/|url-status=live}}.</ref> As recently as the 1990s, loopholes in the salary cap allowed CFL teams to pay select marquee players a salary comparable to their NFL counterparts, but financial problems forced the league to close those loopholes. Starting quarterbacks, typically the highest paid players on a CFL roster, can make as much as CAD$750,000.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.tsn.ca/the-manziel-contract-situation-just-got-complicated-1.963001|title=The Manziel contract situation just got complicated – Article – TSN|date=January 9, 2018|work=TSN|access-date=January 9, 2018|archive-date=January 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109172404/https://www.tsn.ca/the-manziel-contract-situation-just-got-complicated-1.963001|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://leaderpost.com/sports/football/cfl/saskatchewan-roughriders/zach-collaros-signs-restructured-contract-with-the-saskatchewan-roughriders|title=Zach Collaros signs restructured contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders|date=January 19, 2018|work=Regina Leader-Post|access-date=January 19, 2018|archive-date=January 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120065947/http://leaderpost.com/sports/football/cfl/saskatchewan-roughriders/zach-collaros-signs-restructured-contract-with-the-saskatchewan-roughriders|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=bolevi/>
===Dominance of the sport===
{{Multiple issues|section=yes|
{{more citations needed section|date=June 2023}}
{{Time-context|date=June 2023|reason=Describes trends or statuses without describing timeframes, and lacks citations that would clarify timeframes.}}
}}
Each of the top four major leagues are the premier competitions of their respective sport on the world stage. Major League Baseball is increasingly [[Posting system|attracting the stars]] from the [[Nippon Professional Baseball|Japanese pro leagues]], the European pro hockey leagues have become a source of star talent for National Hockey League clubs, and the National Basketball Association frequently attracts talent from professional leagues in Europe, Latin America, Australia and China.<ref name=":0"/><ref name="urlMajor sports leagues all make a lot of money, heres how they do it:, Major sports leagues all make a lot of money, heres how they do it:"/>
Each of the Big Four leagues is considered the top league in their respective sports, not only in revenue but also in quality of talent, player salaries, and worldwide interest.{{according to whom|date=June 2023}} However, of the four major leagues, the NFL has the least presence outside both countries; it is mainly an American and Canadian interest.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} Basketball is a strong spectator and participation sport in parts of the world, and the NBA is unquestionably the top basketball league.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jack|last=Rathborn|title=NBA Draft 2020: What time does it start in the UK, who has the No 1 pick and how can I watch it?|date=November 18, 2020|newspaper=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/us-sport/nba/draft-2020-what-time-start-uk-b1725070.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/us-sport/nba/draft-2020-what-time-start-uk-b1725070.html |archive-date=June 18, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=December 10, 2020|quote=The 2020 NBA Draft is here after days of juicy gossip surrounding trades as the world's greatest basketball league dominates the headlines during its offseason.}}</ref> Ice hockey (Europe) and baseball (East Asia, Latin America, Caribbean) have loyal followings in some of the world's other regions as well. Selling league broadcasting rights to foreign markets is another way for the leagues to generate revenue, and all the leagues have tried to exploit revenue streams outside of their home market.
The NHL is the top professional hockey league in the world, and the NHL attracts top players from European leagues. The NHL played [[exhibition game]]s against European teams in the "NHL Premiere" series (2007–11), the [[NHL Challenge]] (2000–10), and the [[Victoria Cup (ice hockey)|Victoria Cup]] (2008–09), and NHL teams have won 24 games to the European teams' four.
[[Major League Soccer]] is not the premier soccer competition in the world, or even in the Americas, in terms of competition success, revenues, and players. MLS teams compete with top teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean in the [[CONCACAF Champions League]]; before [[Seattle Sounders FC]] won in [[2022 CONCACAF Champions League|2022]], every edition since the current format was introduced in the 2008–09 season was won by a Mexican club. MLS has annual revenues of 1.2 billion{{Ambiguous|date=June 2023|reason=1.2 billion USD? Uncited nnumber can't be clarified without a source.}}, the Big five European soccer leagues ([[Premier League|England]], [[Bundesliga|Germany]], [[La Liga|Spain]], [[Serie A|Italy]], and [[Ligue 1|France]]) have annual revenues in excess of $1 billion as well. The top players from MLS often move to Europe in search of tougher competition and higher salaries. However, MLS has steadily improved in international stature in recent years. The league implemented the [[Designated Player Rule]] in 2007, allowing MLS to attract and retain international stars such as [[David Beckham]].{{citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=The preceding part of the paragraph needs citations. A replaced Guardian source was non-IS and did not cover any of this content. The next sentence's citation also does not.}} MLS attendance has increased to the point where MLS average attendance is among the top ten soccer leagues worldwide.<ref name="gannett-mls-attendance"/> The introduction of [[soccer-specific stadium]]s had improved revenue growth.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
In the late 1940s and 1950s, the [[Canadian Football League]] (CFL) and the U.S. [[National Football League]] (NFL) operated on roughly equal footing financially,{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} with even some U.S.-born star [[Football player|players]] joining CFL teams. The situation changed along with the rise of the [[American Football League]] (AFL) founded in 1959. By the end of the 1960s, revenue from the U.S. television market and [[AFL–NFL merger|absorption of the AFL]] helped the NFL become much more successful than its Canadian counterpart. By the 1980s, the CFL became virtually unknown outside of Canada. Attempts to promote the CFL included the failed [[CFL USA]] experiment in the 1990s. In 2009, a record 6.1 million viewers watched the CFL's annual [[Grey Cup]] championship game,<ref>[http://ca.news.yahoo.com/average-audience-4-6-million-viewers-watch-lions-234244576.html]{{dead link|date=May 2012}}</ref> while 151.6 million viewers watched the NFL's annual [[Super Bowl]] championship game that same year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/02/03/super-bowl-xliii-now-most-watched-ever/12044/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110121195306/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/02/03/super-bowl-xliii-now-most-watched-ever/12044 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 21, 2011 |title=Super Bowl XLIII now most-watched EVER? Yes! – Ratings &#124; TVbytheNumbers |publisher=Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com |date=February 3, 2009 |access-date=May 9, 2012}}</ref>
====Use of the phrase "world champions"====
The perceived lack of competition from the rest of the world has contributed to the long-standing but controversial practice of the North American media referring to the major sports league champions as ''[[Champion|world champions]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2008/nov/18/american-sports-nfl-nba-mlb?view=desktop | title=Dear America: you can't be world champions if no one else takes part | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=November 18, 2008 | access-date=January 8, 2014 | archive-date=January 7, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107223134/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2008/nov/18/american-sports-nfl-nba-mlb?view=desktop | url-status=live }}</ref> Today, the phrase is more popular in the United States but it retains some acceptance in Canada. However, this practice is usually mocked by non-Americans.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nfl-superbowl-world-idUSTRE71295820110203 | title=Super Bowl contenders happy with 'world champions' title | work=Reuters | date=February 3, 2011 | access-date=January 8, 2014 | archive-date=January 19, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119090928/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nfl-superbowl-world-idUSTRE71295820110203 | url-status=live }}</ref>
Usage of the phrase in baseball started with organization of championship series between the National League and the earlier American Association in the 1880s, later to be known as the [[World Series]]. Major League Baseball later set up the [[World Baseball Classic]], a quadrennial international competition, to crown a world champion among national teams.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibaf.org/en/infopage-detail.aspx?id%3D72ac735a-33d5-45b6-a99d-23e44243f427 |title=IBAF introduces new Format of International Tournaments – IBAF.com (English Site) |access-date=October 4, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006155744/http://www.ibaf.org/en/infopage-detail.aspx?id=72ac735a-33d5-45b6-a99d-23e44243f427 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 }}</ref> By the 1950s, the phrase ''World Champions'' was also being used by the newly formed NBA. The [[Super Bowl]], the interleague championship between the NFL and American Football League, was explicitly named a "World Championship Game" for its [[Super Bowl I|first iteration]].
In ice hockey, the [[Stanley Cup]] was initially open only to Canadian teams, but in 1914 the Cup's trustees allowed American teams to compete, with the provision that the Stanley Cup winners were to be recognized as ''World's Champions''. The phrase was repeatedly [[Chronology of Stanley Cup engravings|engraved on the Cup]], and continued to be used when the NHL began admitting American franchises. When the NHL assumed formal control of the Cup in 1947, the resulting agreement required "that the winners of this trophy shall be the acknowledged World's Professional Hockey Champions" (in contrast to the [[International Ice Hockey Federation|IIHF]]'s [[Ice Hockey World Championships]], at the time nominally contested by amateurs, although [[Eastern Bloc]] nations violated the rules and used ''[[de facto]]'' professionals).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/21/archives/soviet-amateur-athlete-a-real-pro-dr-john-nelson-washburn-is-an.html|title=Soviet Amateur Athlete: A Real Pro|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=J. N. Washburn|date=July 21, 1974|access-date=December 31, 2020|archive-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419153414/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/21/archives/soviet-amateur-athlete-a-real-pro-dr-john-nelson-washburn-is-an.html|url-status=live}}</ref>{{irrelevant citation|date=June 2023|reason=Citation is relevant only to the Soviet shamateurism claim, and not to any of the other preceding statements.}} When the [[World Hockey Association]] commenced play in the 1970s, they sought to challenge for the Stanley Cup, referring to the 1947 agreement. Both the NHL and the Cup trustees rejected the WHA's challenges; nevertheless, the NHL stopped calling its champions the ''World Champions'', as by this time, the [[Soviet Championship League]] was regularly beating the NHL in interleague competitions and the IIHF World Championship was officially opened up to professionals in 1976. Since then, the NHL has called their champions the ''Stanley Cup Champions''.
<!-- removing as irrelevant; this practice is not unique to sports leagues, much less only prominent sports leagues, and the only citation does not support the assertion, only the existence of specific events in one league.
===Holiday showcases===
Several major sports leagues are showcased on a major holiday. The NFL has always played on [[NFL on Thanksgiving Day|Thanksgiving Day]] since its inception in 1920. The NBA has played on [[National Basketball Association Christmas games|Christmas Day]] since 1947. And since 2008, the NHL has had the [[NHL Winter Classic|Winter Classic]] on [[New Year's Day]]. Furthermore, the CFL has two longstanding holiday events: the [[Labour Day Classic]] and [[Thanksgiving Day Classic]].<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/21845508/nhl-league-play-games-holidays-christmas-thanksgiving|title = Should the NHL play on holidays?|date = December 22, 2017|access-date = July 29, 2019|archive-date = July 29, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190729104430/https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/21845508/nhl-league-play-games-holidays-christmas-thanksgiving|url-status = live}}</ref>
Baseball and soccer are not particularly associated with any holidays; however, in baseball's case, teams generally play on the major summer holidays since MLB teams play almost every day during their season, and currently themes special uniforms and ceremonies for [[Memorial Day]], [[Canada Day]] (for the [[Toronto Blue Jays]]), American [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]], and the American/Canadian [[Labor Day (United States)|Labor Day]].
-->
==History and expansion of major leagues==
{{Main|Expansion of major sports leagues in the United States and Canada}}
{{See also|Timeline of Major League Baseball|Timeline of Major League Soccer|Timeline of the National Basketball Association|Timeline of the National Football League|Timeline of the National Hockey League}}
===United States===
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2014}}
Professional sports leagues as known today evolved during the decades between the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] and World War II, when the [[railroad]] was the main means of intercity transportation. As a result, virtually all major league teams were concentrated in the northeastern quarter of the United States, within roughly the radius of a day-long train ride, within the [[Great Lakes]] and the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]] regions. Early professional soccer activity was concentrated almost entirely on an East Coast corridor from Baltimore to Boston, [[Soccer in St. Louis|except for]] the [[Greater St. Louis|St. Louis metropolitan area]].
There were very few major league teams in the far west until after [[World War II]]. As travel and settlement patterns changed, so did the geography of professional sports. The NFL attempted to establish [[traveling team]]s representing the west and other far-flung regions in [[1926 NFL season|1926]] and [[barnstorm (sports)|barnstormed]] in Los Angeles that season; the experiment did not last beyond that year. The first [[West Coast of the United States|west coast]] major-league franchise was the NFL's [[Los Angeles Rams]], who moved from [[Cleveland]] in 1946. The same year, the [[All-America Football Conference]] began play, with teams in [[Los Angeles Dons|Los Angeles]] and [[San Francisco 49ers|San Francisco]]. Baseball  extended west in 1958 in the move of the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] and [[New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]]. The NBA followed in 1960 with the move of the [[History of the Los Angeles Lakers|Minneapolis Lakers]] to Los Angeles, while the NHL did not have a west coast presence until it [[1967 NHL expansion|expanded]] in 1967. Almost all of the NHL's initial franchises in the Southern and Western United States were unsuccessful and relocated. From 1982 until 1991, the Kings were the only U.S.-based NHL franchise south of St. Louis and/or west of [[Minneapolis–Saint Paul|the Twin Cities]]. Since then, as newer, fast-growing [[Sunbelt]] areas such as [[Phoenix metropolitan area|Phoenix]], [[Tampa Bay Area|Tampa]], and [[Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex|Dallas]] became prominent, the major sports leagues have expanded or franchises have relocated to service these communities.
===International expansion===
The Big Four sports leagues have looked to expand their revenues by playing overseas games in attempt to develop a wider international fan base. There has been increasing cooperation between the NBA and the [[Euroleague Basketball|Euroleague]]. In 2005, the two bodies agreed to organize a summer competition known as the [[NBA Europe Live Tour]] featuring four NBA teams and four Euroleague clubs, with the first competition taking place in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.euroleague.net/noticia.jsp?temporada=E04&jornada=33&id=130|title=Euroleague, NBA announce 2006, 2007 tournaments |access-date=May 7, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060420233048/http://www.euroleague.net/noticia.jsp?temporada=E04&jornada=33&id=130 |archive-date=April 20, 2006 }}</ref> The NBA has also played teams from [[Australia]]'s [[National Basketball League (Australia)|National Basketball League]], and since 2015, the league has played [[NBA Africa Game (disambiguation)|all-star games]]<!--intentional link to DAB page--> in the [[Johannesburg]], [[South Africa]], area against squads composed of NBA players who were either born on or whose parents were born on the African continent.
The NFL has attempted to promote its game worldwide by scheduling selected pre-season games abroad since 1976.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nfl.com/international/story/ |title=NFL News |website=National Football League |access-date=February 19, 2011 }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The NFL had promoted the game abroad through [[NFL Europe]], but the latter was unprofitable and ceased operations in 2007. The NFL began its [[NFL International Series|International Series]], holding at least one regular-season game at [[Wembley Stadium]] in London every year since 2007.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/american_football/.stm |title=NFL has game at Wembley Stadium }} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neworleanssaints.com/Articles/2008/2/London%20Calling.aspx|title=London Calling |access-date=February 9, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207065606/http://www.neworleanssaints.com/Articles/2008/2/London%20Calling.aspx |archive-date=February 7, 2008 }}</ref> The NFL held three games at Wembley in the 2014 season.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-adds-third-london-game-in-2014-regular-season-0ap2000000259208 |title=NFL adds third London game in 2014 regular season |first=Chris |last=Wesseling |work=Around the League |publisher=National Football League |date=October 8, 2013 |access-date=October 8, 2013 |archive-date=October 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010055328/http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000259208/article/nfl-adds-third-london-game-in-2014-regular-season |url-status=live }}</ref> Since then, [[Twickenham Stadium]], the home of [[England national rugby union team|English rugby union]], has been added as a second London venue. The primary venue for London NFL games is set to switch to [[Tottenham Hotspur Stadium]], opened in 2019 by the [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|soccer club of that name]]. The new stadium hosted two of the four London games in the 2019 season. The original contract between the NFL and [[The Football Association]], owners of Wembley Stadium, expired after the 2020 season, though was renewed for another term. The NFL has a contract with Tottenham Hotspur (aka Spurs) for games through 2027. The Spurs stadium, in which the NFL made a modest investment, is designed to be capable of hosting both forms of football on a single weekend if necessary. NFL regular season games have also been played in Canada, Mexico, Germany, and Brazil{{citationneeded|date=November 2024}}.
MLB has played regular season games outside of the United States and Canada, but in the 1990s and 2000s, games were initially limited to [[Mexico]] and [[Japan]] due to baseball's popularity in both countries. However in recent years, regular season games have been played in [[Australia]], the [[United Kingdom]], and [[South Korea]] with further plans for expansion. Spring training and postseason all star games have also been played in countries like the [[Dominican Republic]], [[China]], and [[Taiwan]]. Prior to the [[Cuban Revolution]] in 1959, MLB teams had previously played some spring training and exhibition games in [[Cuba]], but the [[Baltimore Orioles]] and [[Tampa Bay Rays]] would play exhibition games in the country in 1999 and 2016 respectively as part of efforts to improve relations between the two countries.
The NHL has played games overseas as early as 1938 with most games being limited to exhibition games in [[Western Europe|Western]] and [[Central Europe]] as well as the [[Nordic countries]] due to ice hockey's popularity in those countries. As the [[Cold War]] came to an end, exhibition games were played in [[Czechoslovakia]] and the [[Soviet Union]]. During the [[1997–98 NHL season]], the first regular season games were played overseas in Japan. Since 2007, regular season games have been played in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Finland, and Czechia. Some preseason games have been played in Latvia, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, Russia, China, and Australia.
==Relations between leagues==
Although they are competitors, at times the "Big Four" leagues also cooperate. Some owners have teams in multiple leagues. In the early years of professional basketball, the [[American Basketball League (1925–1955)|American Basketball League]], the ''de facto'' major league of the 1920s, was backed primarily by NFL owners.
There are common business and legal interests; the leagues will often support one another in legal matters since the [[United States antitrust law#Scope of antitrust law|courts' decisions might establish precedents]] that affect them all. One recent example was the [[Supreme Court of the United States|US Supreme Court]] decision in 2010 in ''[[American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League]]'', in which the NFL (which ultimately lost the case) received ''[[amicus curiae]]'' briefs from the NBA, NHL, and MLS.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/24/american-needle-supreme-c_n_587277.html |title=American Needle Supreme Court Ruling: NFL Loses Lawsuit |work=HuffPost |date=May 24, 2010 |access-date=February 19, 2011 |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607102728/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/24/american-needle-supreme-c_n_587277.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The leagues' commissioners occasionally meet in person, most recently in 2009.<ref name=everson20090507>{{cite news |author=Darren Everson |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124166336985294745 |title=The Four Sports Commissioners Weigh In |pages=D9 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=May 7, 2009 |access-date=March 29, 2011 |archive-date=September 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925104725/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124166336985294745 |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition, the Big Four have also partnered together on community initiatives such as working together in the "Time Out Against Hate" campaign (alongside Major League Soccer, the Women’s National Basketball Association, the National Women’s Soccer League, and NASCAR) which aims to address and tackle hatred and racism, and the "Love, Your Mind" campaign which encourages fans to take care of their mental health.<ref>https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/10/pro-sports-leagues-join-forces-with-campaign-against-antisemitism.html</ref><ref>https://www.adcouncil.org/learn-with-us/press-releases/star-athletes-share-their-mental-health-rituals-encouraging-fans-to-prioritize-their-mental-health</ref>
The leagues also cooperate in the construction and use of facilities. Many NBA and NHL teams share arenas, and, in years past, such sharing was very common for MLB and NFL teams. [[Multi-purpose stadium]]s were built to accommodate multiple sports in the later half of the 20th century; the last multi-purpose stadium in the NFL, what is now [[Oakland Coliseum]], hosted its last NFL game in [[2019 Oakland Raiders season|2019]]. Even in situations where separate stadiums have been constructed for each team (as is generally the norm in the 21st century{{according to whom|date=June 2023}}), the individual stadiums may be constructed adjacent to each other and share parking space and other infrastructure.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} More recently, MLS teams have used NFL and CFL stadiums as either full-time home fields (much less so now, due to the league's insistence on [[soccer-specific stadium]]s) or for special event games; in reverse, in at least one case, an NFL team (the [[Los Angeles Chargers]]) used a soccer-specific MLS stadium on a temporary basis from 2017 to 2019 while a larger stadium was built for them. In recent years, two MLS teams have shared stadiums permanently with NFL teams that were explicitly built to host both sports. [[Seattle Sounders FC]] share [[Lumen Field]] with the [[Seattle Seahawks]]; the Seahawks were owned by [[Paul Allen]], also a member of the Sounders ownership group, until his death in 2018. [[Atlanta United FC]] shares [[Mercedes-Benz Stadium]] with the [[Atlanta Falcons]], with both teams under the ownership of [[Arthur Blank]]. [[Charlotte FC]] shares [[Bank of America Stadium]] with the [[Carolina Panthers]]; both teams are owned by [[David Tepper]]. In Canada, [[Vancouver Whitecaps FC]] share [[BC Place]] with the CFL's [[BC Lions]]. The Seattle, Atlanta, and Vancouver stadiums are designed to have reduced seating capacity for most MLS games. Charlotte's stadium was renovated to allow for lower capacity soccer crowds before the MLS team debuted in 2022. Additionally, the [[New England Revolution]] shares [[Gillette Stadium]] with the [[New England Patriots]], [[New York City FC]] shares [[Yankee Stadium]] with the [[New York Yankees]] MLB team, which also owns part of NYCFC, and [[Toronto FC]] shares [[BMO Field]] with the CFL's [[Toronto Argonauts]], with both teams now owned by [[Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment]], the company that also owns the [[Toronto Raptors]] and the [[Toronto Maple Leafs]].
Also notable in recent years have been the [[NHL Winter Classic|NHL's Winter Classic]] and [[NHL Heritage Classic|Heritage Classic]], which have been held in NFL, CFL, and MLB, as well as college football, stadiums. A unique situation is the [[Lansdowne Park|TD Place Complex]] in [[Ottawa]]; the same structure serves as the indoor [[Ottawa Civic Centre]] (which hosted the NHL's [[Ottawa Senators|Senators]] in the 1990s), while on the roof of that arena was seating for Frank Clair Stadium (at that time home of the CFL's [[Ottawa Rough Riders]]; by 2014 the stadium was renovated into [[TD Place Stadium]] and is now home to the CFL's [[Ottawa Redblacks]]).
In the early years of the NFL and to a lesser extent the NHL, it was not uncommon for teams to share nicknames with their MLB counterparts. For example, [[Major League Baseball relocation of 1950s-1960s|until 1957]] New York City played host to [[History of the New York Giants (baseball)|baseball]] and [[New York Giants|football]] Giants. MLB's [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] shared its nickname with an NFL team (which ultimately became the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]]) as well as a [[Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL)|now-defunct early NHL team]], while the Canadian football team [[Hamilton Tigers (football)|Hamilton Tigers]] shared a team name with an [[Hamilton Tigers|NHL team]]. The most recent example of two major teams sharing a franchise name was between 1960 and 1987; when the NFL's [[History of the Chicago Cardinals|Chicago Cardinals]] relocated to [[St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]], it was allowed to [[History of the St. Louis Cardinals (NFL)|keep the Cardinals name]] despite the established existence of a [[St. Louis Cardinals|baseball team of the same name]].
In 1997, the NFL loaned $3 million to the CFL after the latter's failed expansion into the United States market in the early 1990s left it in financial danger.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19971130&slug=2575429|title=NFL Loan Helps CFL with Another Season|date=November 30, 1997|author=Bloomberg News Service|publisher=The Seattle Times|access-date=October 25, 2021|archive-date=October 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025160428/https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19971130&slug=2575429|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2015, the NHL partnered with MLB's digital arm [[Major League Baseball Advanced Media]] (MLBAM) to assume the operations of its digital properties; the league's television network [[NHL Network (American TV channel)|NHL Network]] was also taken over by the staff of [[MLB Network]] and re-located to its facilities.<ref name="Ben Popper">{{cite web|author=Ben Popper|date=4 August 2015|title=The Change Up: How baseball's tech team built the future of television|url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/8/4/9090897/mlb-bam-live-streaming-internet-tv-nhl-hbo-now-espn|work=The Verge|publisher=Vox Media|access-date=30 December 2021|archive-date=1 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101020825/https://www.theverge.com/2015/8/4/9090897/mlb-bam-live-streaming-internet-tv-nhl-hbo-now-espn|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="recode-mlbnhl">{{cite web|date=4 August 2015|title=Pro Baseball's Streaming Video Unit Gets Ready for a $3 Billion Spinoff by Adding Pro Hockey|url=http://recode.net/2015/08/04/pro-baseballs-streaming-video-unit-gets-ready-for-a-3-billion-spinoff-by-adding-pro-hockey/|access-date=4 August 2015|website=Re/code|publisher=Vox Media|archive-date=7 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807064419/http://recode.net/2015/08/04/pro-baseballs-streaming-video-unit-gets-ready-for-a-3-billion-spinoff-by-adding-pro-hockey/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="wsj-mlbamnhl">{{cite news|title=MLB's Tech Unit Wins NHL Streaming Business|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/mlbs-tech-unit-wins-nhl-streaming-business-1438715135|access-date=4 August 2015|archive-date=7 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807015254/http://www.wsj.com/articles/mlbs-tech-unit-wins-nhl-streaming-business-1438715135|url-status=live}}{{subscription required}}</ref>
The [[NBA Finals]] of the NBA and the [[Stanley Cup Finals]] of the NHL are the championship series of their respective leagues, which occur in June.
===Sports equinox=== <!-- "Sports equinox" redirects here -->
To date there have been 31 occasions in which all of the Big Four leagues played games on the same day, an occurrence popularly termed a '''sports equinox'''. Typically occurring on a Sunday, [[Monday Night Football|Monday]] or [[Thursday Night Football|Thursday]] due to the NFL's scheduling windows, the first sports equinox occurred on October 17, 1971, when the [[1971 World Series]] went to a Game 7 and landed on a Sunday with a full slate of 12 NFL games, three NHL games and six NBA games. Including that day, ten sports equinoxes occurred between 1971 and 1985, but only one between then and 2009. The phenomenon became a regular occurrence from 2010 onward, and at least annually since 2015. Additionally, MLS is beginning the [[MLS Cup Playoffs]]; it has scheduled playoff games on the day of the sports equinox since 2021. The most recent sports equinox is occurring on October 28, 2024, with two MLS Cup Playoff games, Game 3 of the [[2024 World Series]] in MLB, a ''Monday Night Football'' game in the NFL, 11 NBA games and 8 NHL games.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-28 |title=Yahoo Sports AM: Happy Sports Equinox! |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/yahoo-sports-am-happy-sports-equinox-123422429.html |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Yahoo Sports |language=en-US}}</ref> The CFL is near the end of its regular season and beginning the playoffs during this window. As for a super sports equinox where a single city's teams in each league all play on the same day, only two have happened so far: November 4, 2001 in the [[Phoenix metropolitan area|Phoenix area]] for the Big Four (which involved the [[Arizona Diamondbacks]] at the [[2001 World Series]], and regular season games involving the [[Arizona Cardinals]], [[Phoenix Suns]], and [[Arizona Coyotes|Phoenix Coyotes]]) and October 28, 2018 in the [[Greater Los Angeles|Los Angeles area]] for the Big Four and MLS (which involved the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] at the [[2018 World Series]], and regular season games for the [[Los Angeles Kings]], [[Los Angeles Rams]], [[LA Galaxy]], and [[Los Angeles Clippers]]).<ref>https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-sports-equinox-is-upon-us/</ref><ref>https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2018/10/30/five-leagues-one-day-sports-equinox-los-angeles-dodgers-rams-galaxy-kings-clippers</ref> Notably, the Los Angeles super sports equinox is currently the only one where all teams played at home, as the Phoenix Coyotes were on the road during the Phoenix super sports equinox in 2001.
==See also==
{{Portal bar|Sports|Canada|United States}}
* [[Sports in the United States]]
* [[Major professional sports teams of the United States and Canada]]
* [[Prominent women's sports leagues in the United States and Canada]]
* [[Professional sports leagues in the United States]]
* [[List of U.S. and Canadian cities by number of major professional sports teams]]
* [[List of professional sports teams in the United States and Canada]]
* [[U.S. cities with teams from four major league sports]]
* [[Sports in Canada]]
* [[Sports in Mexico]]
* [[List of professional sports leagues]]
* [[List of attendance figures at domestic professional sports leagues]] – a summary of total and average attendances for the major sports leagues from around the world.
* [[List of professional sports leagues by revenue]]
==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{Citations broken|section|date=June 2023}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
==External links==
*[http://content.usatoday.com/sportsdata/baseball/mlb/salaries/team ''USA Today'' Salary Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824215728/http://content.usatoday.com/sportsdata/baseball/mlb/salaries/team/ |date=2011-08-24 }} – Lists and sorts team payroll by year for all teams in [[MLB]], [[National Football League|NFL]], [[National Basketball Association|NBA]], [[National Hockey League|NHL]], and [[Major League Soccer]].
{{Major Leagues|state=expanded}}
{{North American sports heads}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Major Professional Sports Leagues In The United States And Canada}}
[[Category:Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada| ]]
[[Category:Professional sports leagues in Canada|^]]
[[Category:Professional sports leagues in the United States| ]]