regular season

Information about regular season

In an organised sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April to September; in European football (soccer), it is generally from August until May (although in some countries, especially those in Scandinavia, the season starts in the spring and finishes in the autumn due to the weather conditions encountered during the winter). A year can often be broken up into several distinct sections (sometimes themselves called seasons). These are:

Pre-season

Most team sports have a period of training and exhibition games or friendly matches prior to the official start of the season. The games' results have no meaning for the upcoming season, but serve as a way to prepare the players and the team, and to raise the team profile through lucrative overseas tours.

Regular season

The terms season (UK) or regular season (North America) are used to denote the time when the bulk of games are played. In North America, it is common for a set number of games to be played in the regular season, before a playoff in the post-season. Elsewhere, a league and/or cup competitions are played during this time. Depending on the sport and league, all teams may or may not play against each other. There is normally a predetermined number of games. Typically, a team will play half the matches at their "home" ground and the other half "away".

Post-season

Main article: Playoff


In sports with playoffs, they generally occur after the regular season is finished. A select number of teams, generally the ones with the best overall record (most wins, fewest losses) from the regular season, enter into a playoff tournament. Each sport may use one of many playoff systems to determine the champion. The teams compete against each other for the top prize of their league.

Off-season

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

Seasons by League

Regular seasons of certain leagues occur usually during these months:
  • NFL — September through December, sometimes early January
  • English Premier League — August through May
  • NBA — November through April
  • Euroleague — October through February
  • This Europe-wide competition for elite basketball clubs is unusual in that its "Regular Season" (an official term) is only the first of four phases of competition. The Regular Season is followed by a second group phase known as the Top 16, a quarterfinal round, and a Final Four.
  • NHL — October through April
  • MLB — April through September, sometimes early October
  • WNBA — May through August
  • MLS — April through November
  • NASCAR — February - November

See also

A sports league is an organization that exists to provide a regulated competition for a number of people to compete in a specific sport. At its simplest, it may be a local group of amateur athletes who form teams among themselves and compete on weekends; at its most complex, it can
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A year (from Old English gēr) is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. By extension, this can be applied to any planet: for example, a "Martian year" is the time in which Mars completes its own orbit.
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game is a structured or semi-structured , usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes also used as an educational tool. (The term "game" is also used to describe simulation of various activities e.g., for the purposes of training, analysis or prediction, etc.
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Sport Baseball
Founded 1876
No. of teams 30
Country(ies)  United States
 Canada

Most recent champion(s) St. Louis Cardinals

TV partner(s) FOX, ESPN, and TBS
Official website MLB.
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Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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Association football, commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players. It is the most popular sport in the world.
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Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centred on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe which includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
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An exhibition game (also known as an exhibition match or simply exhibition, or a demonstration or demo event) is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor (such as tournament or season rankings, or
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An exhibition game (also known as an exhibition match or simply exhibition, or a demonstration or demo event) is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor (such as tournament or season rankings, or
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For the term referring to a single game, see .
A playoff in sports (North American professional sports in particular) is a game or series of games played after the regular season is over with the goal of determining a league champion, or a similar
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The acronym CUP could be used to mean:
  • Cambridge University Press
  • Canadian University Press, the press association of Canadian student newspapers
  • The Committee of Union and Progress: a Turkish political party

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For the term referring to a single game, see .
A playoff in sports (North American professional sports in particular) is a game or series of games played after the regular season is over with the goal of determining a league champion, or a similar
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A tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a single sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:

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A sportsperson (British and American English) or athlete (principally American English) is any person who participates regularly in a sport.

Athletes can be professional (paid) or amateur (unpaid).
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Vacation is a term used in English-speaking North America to describe a lengthy time away from work or school, a trip abroad, or simply a pleasure trip away from home, such as a trip to the beach that lasts several days or longer.
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In association football, a transfer is the action taken whenever a player moves between clubs. It refers to the transferring of a players registration from one club to another.
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NFL free agent redirects here.
In professional sports, a free agent is a team player whose contract with a team has expired, and the player is able to sign a contract with another team.
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Sport American football
Founded 1920
CEO Roger Goodell (Commissioner)
No. of teams 32, divided into two sixteen-team conferences, each of which consists of four four-team divisions.
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Founded
1992
Nation
 England
Relegation To
The Championship
Number of Teams
20
Level on Pyramid
Level 1
European Qualification
Champions League
UEFA Cup
Intertoto Cup
Domestic Cups
FA Cup
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Sport Basketball
Founded 1946
No. of teams 30
Country(ies)  United States
 Canada

Most recent champion(s) San Antonio Spurs

TV partner(s) ABC, ESPN, TNT, NBA TV
Official website NBA.
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Sport Basketball
Founded 1957
CEO Jordi Bertomeu
Motto Devotion
No. of teams 24 (group stage)
Country(ies) FIBA Europe members
Continent Europe
Most recent champion(s) Panathinaikos

TV partner(s)
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Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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Sport Ice hockey
Founded 1917
No. of teams 30
Country(ies)  Canada
 United States

Most recent champion(s) Anaheim Ducks

TV partner(s) CAN: CBC, TSN, RDS, RIS, RSN (regional)
USA:
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Sport Baseball
Founded 1876
No. of teams 30
Country(ies)  United States
 Canada

Most recent champion(s) St. Louis Cardinals

TV partner(s) FOX, ESPN, and TBS
Official website MLB.
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Sport Basketball
Founded 1996
Inaugural season 1997
No. of teams 14
Country(ies)  United States

Most recent champion(s) Phoenix Mercury

TV partner(s) ABC, ESPN, NBA TV
Official website WNBA.
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Sport Soccer
Continental FIFA Confederation CONCACAF
National Confederation U.S. Soccer Federation and Canadian Soccer Association
League Founded 1994
Inaugural season 1996
No.
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Sport governing body

Category Stock cars
Area of jurisdiction Canada,United States,Mexico
Formation date 1948
Headquarters Daytona Beach, Florida
Charlotte, North Carolina
New York City, New York

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Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey in Canada and the United States, is a team sport played on ice. It is a speedy and physical sport. Ice hockey is most popular in areas that are sufficiently cold for natural, reliable seasonal ice cover, though with the advent
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