List of professional sports leagues

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

This is a list of professional sports leagues.

A sports league is a professional body that governs the competition of its teams.[clarification needed] They make the rules for competition and behavior and disciplines its members as necessary. This is done through a structure that varies by league. Some are made up of a board of governors that have a commissioner or president, while others are single entity organizations where the league owns the franchises and therefore does not have a board of governors.[clarification needed]

This list attempts to show those sports leagues for which all players and teams are paid to play. In other words, these players can be considered to play their chosen sport as their profession. Some leagues do not pay well enough to allow players to use them as their primary or only source of income, but because the players are paid, it is still considered professional, or semi-professional. As such, some leagues listed here may not be fully professional.

Auto racing[edit]

Badminton[edit]

 England

 India

 Indonesia

Bandy[edit]

 Finland

 Russia

 Sweden

Baseball[edit]

Northern Hemisphere Summer[edit]

Americas[edit]

 United States,  Canada,  Cuba,  Venezuela, and  Argentina

 Mexico

 Argentina

Asia-Pacific[edit]

 Japan

 South Korea

 People's Republic of China

Taiwan Taiwan

 Philippines

Europe[edit]

 Europe

 Italy

 Ireland

 Netherlands

 Czech Republic

 France

  • Division Élite (officially semi-professional but contains several professional teams)

 Germany

 Spain

 Sweden

 Poland

 Portugal

 Turkey

  • Turkish Baseball League (semi-professional)

Northern Hemisphere Winter[edit]

Americas[edit]

 Argentina

 Colombia

 Curaçao

 Dominican Republic

 Mexico

 Nicaragua

 Panama

 Puerto Rico

 United States

 Venezuela

Asia-Pacific[edit]

 Australia,  New Zealand and  South Korea

 Japan,  South Korea and  Taiwan

Basketball[edit]

Bowling[edit]

Boxing[edit]

Major promotions

Major sanctioning bodies

 India

Chess[edit]

 Philippines

Cricket[edit]

Africa[edit]

 South Africa

 Zimbabwe

North America[edit]

Canada Canada

United States United States

Cricket West Indies West Indies

Asia[edit]

 Afghanistan

 Bangladesh

 India

 Pakistan

 Sri Lanka

   Nepal

Europe[edit]

 England

 Scotland

 Netherlands

 Ireland

Oceania[edit]

 Australia

 New Zealand

Curling[edit]

Cycling[edit]

 United States

 India

  • International Cycling League
  • Pro Cycle Cycling

 Italy

Competitive eating[edit]

Football: Association football[edit]

Football: Futsal[edit]

 Austria

 Argentina

 Belarus

 Brazil

 Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Czech Republic

 China

 Germany

 France

 India

 Indonesia

 Israel

 Iran

 Italy

 Latvia

 Malaysia

 Myanmar

 Kyrgyzstan

 Japan

 South Korea

 Serbia

 Poland

 Portugal

 Spain

 Sweden

  Switzerland

 Russia

 Thailand

 Turkey

 Uzbekistan

 United States

 United Kingdom

 Vietnam

 Ukraine

Football: Beach soccer[edit]

 Ukraine

Football: Indoor soccer[edit]

 United States

Football: Australian rules football[edit]

Asia[edit]

Europe[edit]

Oceania[edit]

 Australia

International[edit]

Football: Gridiron football[edit]

Includes American and Canadian Football and their variants.

Americas[edit]

 United States

 Brazil

 Canada

 Mexico

Europe[edit]

 Europe

 Austria

 Belgium

 Croatia

 Czech Republic

 Denmark

 Finland

 France

 Germany

 Hungary

 Ireland

 Israel

 Italy

 Netherlands

 Poland

 Portugal

 Russia

 Slovakia

  • Slovak Football League

 Slovenia

 Spain

 Sweden

  Switzerland

 Turkey

 UK

Asia[edit]

 China

 India

 Japan

Oceania[edit]

 Australia

Football: Rugby league[edit]

Americas[edit]

Europe[edit]

Oceania[edit]

Football: Rugby union[edit]

Intercontinental

Africa

Americas

Asia-Pacific

Europe

Pro clubs in an amateur league

Fencing[edit]

Field hockey[edit]

Asia[edit]

Europe[edit]

Australia[edit]

Golf[edit]

Men's[edit]

Top-level tours[edit]

Senior tours[edit]

Developmental tours[edit]

Women's[edit]

Top-level tours[edit]

Senior tours[edit]

Developmental tours[edit]

  • Epson Tour (second-tier US tour, operated by the LPGA)
  • Ladies European Tour Access Series, LETAS,[18] the official feeder tour to the Ladies European Tour, has been formed to give players not part of a major tour an opportunity to compete and progress on to the Ladies European Tour.
  • Step Up Tour (second-tier Japanese tour, operated by the LPGA of Japan)
  • Swedish Golf Tour (women's version is a second-tier tour in Sweden, feeding to the Ladies European Tour)

Handball[edit]

 Belgium  Netherlands

Ice hockey[edit]

North America[edit]

 Canada and  United States

 Canada only

 United States only

 Mexico

Asia[edit]

 Japan,  South Korea, and  Russia

 Kazakhstan

 Mongolia

 Taiwan

 China

 Israel

Europe[edit]

 Austria,  Croatia,  Slovakia,  Hungary,  Czech Republic, and  Italy

 Austria,  Italy, and  Slovenia

 Estonia  Latvia  Lithuania

 Belgium,  Netherlands

 Belarus

 Bulgaria

 Scotland Republic of Ireland

 Czech Republic

 Croatia

 Serbia

 Denmark

 France

 Finland

 Germany

 Austria,  Hungary and  Romania

 Latvia

 Lithuania

 Estonia

 Netherlands and  Belgium

 Norway

 Italy

 Poland

 Romania

 Russia,  Belarus,  China,  Finland,  Kazakhstan,  Latvia, and  Slovakia

 Russia only

 Slovakia,  Hungary

 Slovenia

 Switzerland

 Sweden

 Turkey

 Ukraine

 United Kingdom ( England,  Scotland,  Wales, and  Northern Ireland)

Oceania[edit]

 Australia

 New Zealand

Indoor hockey[edit]

Inline hockey[edit]

Roller hockey (quad)/Rink hockey[edit]

 Spain

Kabaddi[edit]

International Tournaments

Kabaddi Leagues

Kho kho[edit]

Kickboxing[edit]

Korfball[edit]

Lacrosse[edit]

Box / Indoor lacrosse[edit]

 United States and  Canada

Field lacrosse[edit]

Mixed martial arts[edit]

Motorcycle racing[edit]

Netball[edit]

Pesäpallo[edit]

 Finland:

Shooting[edit]

 Germany

Speedway[edit]

Professional wrestling[edit]

United States
Japan
Mexico
Australia

Racquetball[edit]

Roll Ball[edit]

 India

 United States

  • Roll Ball One

 United Kingdom

  • Pro Roll Ball One

 European Union

  • Roll Ball League

Snooker[edit]

Softball[edit]

 United States

 United Kingdom

 Japan

Table tennis[edit]

Tennis[edit]

Asia[edit]

 India

Track and field[edit]

Ultimate[edit]

 United States

Video gaming/Electronic sports[edit]

 United States

 Turkey

  • ESL Turkey Premiership
  • League of Legends Championship League

Asia[edit]

 China

 India

 South Korea

 Taiwan/ Hong Kong/ Macau

 Japan

 Philippines

Southeast Asia

Multiple regions[edit]

Volleyball[edit]