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There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in
sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...
s and
game A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...
s to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly known as ''on aggregate'', and the ''
round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Me ...
''.


Single elimination

A
single-elimination A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...
("knockout") playoff pits the participants in one-game matches, with the loser being dropped from the competition. Single-elimination
tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
s are often used in individual sports like
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
. In most tennis tournaments, the players are seeded against each other, and the winner of each match continues to the next round, all the way to the final. When a playoff of this type involves the top four teams, it is sometimes known as the
Shaughnessy playoff system The Shaughnessy playoff system is a method of determining the champion of a sports league that is not in a divisional alignment. This format is also known as the Argus finals system. It involves the participation of the top four teams in the league ...
, after
Frank Shaughnessy Francis Joseph "Shag" Shaughnessy (April 8, 1883 – May 15, 1969) was an American athlete and sports executive. Shaughnessy played both baseball and football and was an executive in baseball, football and ice hockey. He was born in the United S ...
, who first developed it for the
International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...
of minor league baseball. Variations of the Shaughnessy system also exist, such as in the promotion playoffs held by League 1 of the British rugby league. The League 1 playoff does not involve the top four teams; the team that tops the table after the Super 8s phase, which follows a single round-robin phase involving all league teams, is crowned champion and receives automatic promotion to the second-tier
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
, while the next four teams contest a knockout playoff for the second promotion place. A nearly identical format, with the only difference being that the knockout stage followed a full home-and-away league season, was used by the second level of France's rugby union system,
Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was i ...
, through the 2016–17 season. Since then, Pro D2 uses a six-team playoff with the winner earning automatic promotion to the
Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...
and the runner-up entering a playoff with the 13th-place team in Top 14 for the final place in the next season's Top 14. Some knockout tournaments include a third place playoff, a single match to decide which competitor or team will be credited with finishing in third and fourth place. The teams that compete in such third place games are usually the two losing semifinalists in a particular tournament. Although these semifinalists are still in effect "eliminated" from contending for the championship, they may be competing for a
bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receiv ...
, like some tournaments in the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...
.


In major sports leagues

Of the big four American sports leagues, only the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
(NFL) uses a single-elimination system for all rounds of its postseason. Since the season, seven teams are seeded from each conference (
AFC AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...
and NFC), with the top team from each conference getting a first-round " bye". The remaining six teams in each conference play against each other in the Wild Card round. The lowest-seeded winner plays the lone "bye" team, and the other two winners play against each other in the Divisional round; the winners of those games facing each other in the Conference Championships. In all cases, the higher-seeded team plays at home. The winners of the Conference Championships then face each other in the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...
for the league championship. Like the NFL, the
Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...
(CFL) also uses one-game single -elimination playoffs, and has used them almost exclusively since the 1973 season. In the CFL, six teams qualify for the playoffs, divided into two divisional brackets of three teams each. The second-place teams in each division host the Division Semi-Final, while the division winners each receive a bye to the Division Final. The Division Final winners play in the
Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...
. The only exception to a strict single-elimination format since the early 1970s was in 1986 (for that season only), when the league amended its playoff format to allow a fourth-place team in one division to qualify in place of a third-place team with a worse record. That year, when only two East Division teams qualifiedcompared to four Western teamsthe rules mandated the two Eastern teams play a two-game total-points series over two weekends (the two-game total point series was used as the CFL's playoff format prior to 1973), while the four Western teams played a single-elimination playoff over the same timeframe. The CFL eventually amended this format into the present "crossover rule" in 1997 so as to allow a qualifying fourth-place team to compete as the third-place team in the other divisional bracket, thereby preserving the first-place byes.
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
expanded its
playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...
in 2022, going from 10 teams to 12 by adding a third wild-card team in each league ( AL and NL). The three wild-card teams & the division winner with the worst record now play a best-of-three playoff round at the higher seed (third game if needed) to determine which clubs advance to the best-of-five division series to meet the two teams with the best overall records in their respective league. In both the men's and
women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
tournaments, 64 teams are seeded into four brackets of 16 teams each. In the first round, the No. 1 team plays the No. 16 team in each bracket, the No. 2 plays the No. 15, and so on. Theoretically, if a higher-ranked team always beats a lower-ranked team, the second game will be arranged No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, etc.; the third will be arranged No. 1 vs. No. 4, No. 2 vs. No. 3; the fourth will be arranged No. 1 vs. No. 2. The brackets are fixed, meaning teams are not re-seeded between rounds. In
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, the World Cup uses single-elimination knockout rounds after a round-robin group stage. The Champions League and Europa League do the same, except each single-elimination round consists of a
two-legged tie In sports (particularly association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum ...
, with the winner determined by aggregate score. Most European domestic cups (e.g. the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...
in England or the DFB Pokal in Germany) use hybrid systems with various round-robin and single-elimination stages.
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...
(MLS) uses a single-elimination format for their
playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...
; since
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, all rounds are conducted as single games.
Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...
in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
, which splits its season into two phases, uses playoffs known as the ''Liguilla'' to determine the champions of each phase. Unlike the MLS system, all ''Liguilla'' matches are two-legged ties.
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
's
A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
introduced a six-team knockout playoff, known locally as a "finals series", in the 2012–13 season. Unlike the MLS playoffs or Liga MX ''Liguilla'', the A-League finals series uses one-off matches throughout, culminating in the
A-League Grand Final The A-League Men is the premier professional men's association football league in Australia. It is currently consists of twelve teams; ten based in Australia and one based in New Zealand. The league has been contested since 2005, when it was foun ...
. This format is a departure from norms in football codes in Australia; previously, the A-League used a hybrid elimination system that allowed top teams in the regular season to lose one finals match but still win the tournament. The Philippines Football League's 2017 season also featured as playoff finals known as the final series. The Pro Kabaddi League also uses a type of single elimination where the top two teams get byes into the semifinals while the other four teams play in two eliminators like this: econdary sources needed/sup> Eliminator 1: Rank 3 vs Rank 6 Eliminator 2: Rank 4 vs Rank 5 Semifinal 1: Rank 2 vs Winner of Eliminator 1 Semifinal 2: Rank 1 vs Winner of Eliminator 2 Final: Winner of Semifinal 1 vs Winner of Semifinal 2 The WNBA, since 2022, does their playoffs this way: the top eight clubs, no matter the conference, qualify. The quarterfinals are best-of-three and in a 2–1 format; thereafter, all rounds are best-of-five in a 2-2-1 format.


Example

The
2007 AFC Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its h ...
knockout stage:


Stepladder

The "stepladder", named because the bracket resembles a step ladder, is a variation of the single-elimination tournament; instead of, in a 16-team tournament, the No. 1 seed facing the No. 16 seed in the first round, the bracket is constructed to give the higher seeded teams byes, where the No. 1 seed has bye up to the third round, playing the winner of game between the No. 8 seed and the No. 9-versus-No. 16 winner. This setup is seldom used in a best-of-''x'' series, as it may yield long waits for the teams winning the bye, while the teams that played in the earlier rounds would be spent when they reach the later rounds.


In sports leagues

The Big East men's basketball tournament used this format in a 16-team, five-round format. The
PBA Tour The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional profess ...
uses a four-player, three-round format (sometimes a five-player, four-round format). College leagues in the Philippines use this format (four teams, three rounds) only if there is an undefeated team, and if there are seven teams or more participating. Otherwise for tournaments of seven or more teams where no team won all games, it uses a single-elimination two-round, four teams format. While
Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...
's Climax Series has been called a "stepladder" playoff with only three participating teams (in two rounds), it functions mostly as a single-elimination tournament with three teams, and is structurally the same as a six-team, three-round playoff. The
KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...
's
Korean Series The Korean Series is the final championship series of the KBO League. It has been held since the KBO League's first season in and is the final series of the post-season play-offs. From to 2013, the winner of the Korean Series went on to play in ...
, on the other hand, is considered a stepladder system: the teams that finish fourth and fifth place play a best-of-three series (the fourth-place team automatically given a 1–0 series lead), meaning that the fourth-place team need to win only one game to advance while the fifth place have to win two. The winner of that round faces the team that finished in third place. The winner then plays the second-place team in a best-of-five series, whose winner in turn plays the first-place team in a best-of-seven series for the title. The WNBA, from 2019 to 2021, used to have their playoffs done this way: the No. 5 seed plays No. 8, and No. 6 plays No. 7 in the first round. The top two seeds got double byes, and the next two seeds first-round byes. The first two rounds are single-elimination; all others are best-of-five. The video game
League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by '' Defense of the Ancients'', a custom map for ''Warcraft III'', ...
has a competition that often uses the stepladder system. The
League of Legends Pro League The ''League of Legends'' Pro League (LPL) is the top-level professional league for '' League of Legends'' in China. The first season of the LPL was the 2013 Spring season. The top three finishers of the playoff tournament receive automatic bid ...
uses a double stepladder for its playoffs, giving the first seeds of each conference (Western and Eastern) a bye to the semifinals, the second seeds of each conference a bye to the quarterfinals, and the third seeds a one-game advantage against the fourth seeds in the first round. The
League of Legends Pro League The ''League of Legends'' Pro League (LPL) is the top-level professional league for '' League of Legends'' in China. The first season of the LPL was the 2013 Spring season. The top three finishers of the playoff tournament receive automatic bid ...
,
League of Legends Championship Series The League Championship Series (LCS) is the top level of professional '' League of Legends'' in the United States and Canada. The esports league is run by Riot Games and has ten franchise teams. Each annual season of competition is divided ...
, and League of Legends Master Series also use a stepladder bracket (in this case referred to as "The Gauntlet") to determine each league's third representative at the
League of Legends World Championship The ''League of Legends'' World Championship (commonly abbreviated as Worlds) is the annual professional '' League of Legends'' world championship tournament hosted by Riot Games and is the culmination of each season. Teams compete for the cham ...
.


Example

The 2012 Big East men's basketball tournament:


Double elimination

A double-elimination format is one in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost two matches. The exact schedule shape will change depending on the number of teams per bracket.


In sports leagues

In the United States, a double-elimination format is used in most
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
and high school
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
and
softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
tournaments. Starting in
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, the
Little League World Series The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the Wor ...
in baseball also adopted this format. Teams are eliminated from contention after incurring two losses in each round of play. Most major collegiate baseball conferences with a double-elimination format send only the top eight teams, or a mix of top teams plus the winners of a single-elimination qualifier tournament, to their conference tournament. The NCAA baseball and softball tournaments have used the format since its inception for regional and
College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...
play. The
Little League World Series The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the Wor ...
adopted a new format in 2010 that involves four double-elimination brackets. In 2010, the U.S. division and the International division were split into two four-team pools, with each pool conducting a double-elimination tournament to determine its winner. After the end of double-elimination play, the U.S. pool winners play one another in single games, as do the International pool winners, with the losers playing a third-place game and the winners playing a final. This was altered in 2011 so that all eight U.S. teams and all eight international teams played in one large bracket each, with each bracket's winner playing each other for the championship, and each bracket's runner-up playing each other for third-place. All teams are guaranteed at least three games; the first team eliminated from each pool plays a "crossover game" that matches an eliminated U.S. team with an eliminated International team. Many
esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional sports, professional players, individually or as ...
, such as Counter-Strike and
StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance a ...
, use a double-elimination bracket in competitions to determine the top two teams in a four-team group. In this usage, the format is referred to as "GSL", after the Global StarCraft II League.
Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to '' Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota ...
competitions often use a GSL or round-robin group stage to seed teams into a double-elimination bracket. Super Smash Bros. tournaments, as well as other
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining atta ...
competitions, typically use an open double-elimination bracket with no preceding group stage or qualifiers.


Example

The Mideast regional of the 1975 NCAA Division I baseball tournament:


Hybrid elimination systems

Some playoff systems combine the features of single- and double-elimination tournaments. In these systems, one or more higher-ranked teams have an opportunity to skip a round of the playoffs by winning their first match. Even if they lose that match, they can still advance to the championship final. Lower-ranked teams receive no such break. These are variations of systems developed by Australian lawyer Ken McIntyre for the Victorian Football League (VFL), the historic predecessor to today's
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling ...
(AFL), starting in 1931.


Page–McIntyre system

This system, also bearing the name of its promoter Percy Page, is a four-team playoff first developed for
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
. It has been used in many competitions in that sport and in
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
, but is most prominent in
softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
and
curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...
(which use the name "Page playoff system"). The
Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
and
Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league contested during February and March of every year by six teams representing six cities of Pakistan. The league was founded on 9 September 2015 with five teams by the P ...
in
Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
uses this system as well. In this system, the first round (sometimes called the "quarterfinals") matches No. 1 against No. 2 and No. 3 against No. 4. The winner of the match advances directly to the final. The next round, known as the semifinal, pits the loser of the match against the winner of the match.


Example

The 2006 Tim Hortons Brier, Canada's national men's
curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...
championship:


Top five system

McIntyre's first modification was an expansion to five teams. In this format, the first round matches No. 2 v No. 3 and No. 4 v No. 5, with the No. 1 seed receiving a bye into the second round. The 4–5 match is played to eliminate one team, while the 2–3 match is played to determine which match they will play in the second round. In the second round, the loser of the 2–3 match plays the winner of the 4–5 match, while the winner of the 2–3 match plays the No. 1 seed. From this point forward, the tournament is identical to the Page playoff system. The
SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...
is the only league to this system today, it has been used in the past by the VFL and several rugby league competitions, most notably the short-lived
Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...
of Australia and the present-day
Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...
. Many lower-level leagues in both Australian rules and rugby league still use the system. There Is Also Other Variation Of 5 Team Playoff System . However Less Popular System . The No 4 And No 5 Will Play A Match Between Them The Loser Will Be Eliminated,The Winner Moves To Next Round And Will Be Considered As 4th The Loser Will Be Eliminated, Winner Will Be Considered As 4 th Then 4 Way Playoffs Will Start ( 1 vs 2 and 3 vs winner 4–5 match )And Then It Will Work Like A 4 Way Playoffs System Said Above This system is only used In
Big Bash League The Big Bash League (known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, often abbreviated to BBL or Big Bash) is an Australian professional club Twenty20 cricket league, which was established in 2011 by Cricket Australia. The Big Bash Le ...
The System Started From Big Bash League 2019-20 Season


Example

As used in the
2006 Bartercard Cup The 2006 New Zealand rugby league season was the 99th season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the seventh season of the Bartercard Cup competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. Th ...
, the championship of New Zealand rugby league:


Top six system

McIntyre next developed two slightly different systems for six-team playoffs. In each system, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds played to determine the specific semifinal match in which they would compete, while the other four teams played knockout matches in the first week to eliminate two teams and determine the other two semifinal participants. The semifinal in which the winner of the 1–2 match competes directly determines one place in the championship final (often called a "Grand Final", especially in Australia). The other semifinal is an elimination match, with the winner advancing into a "Preliminary Final" to determine the other Grand Final place. This system was further refined into the top-six system used by the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
and League 1 of European rugby league until being abandoned from the 2015 season forward. A slightly modified version of this system was used in the
A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
of Australian soccer starting in
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
before a pure knockout format was adopted beginning in
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
. In the modern top-six system, the first round consists of knockout matches involving No. 3 vs No. 6 and No. 4 vs No. 5, with the No. 1 and No. 2 teams receiving a bye into the next round. After those matches, the format is identical to the Page playoff system. The A-League's former system had the top two teams participating in a two-legged match instead of the single-elimination matches that the other four teams faced. It did not affect the teams' eventual playoff paths.


Example

As used in the
2010–11 A-League The 2010–11 A-League was the 34th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the sixth season of the Australian A-League soccer competition since its establishment in 2004. The home and away season began on 5 August 2010 and concluded on 13 ...
:


Top eight system

McIntyre's final development expanded the concept to an eight-team playoff. This expansion meant that no team received a "second chance" after the first week of the playoffs.


McIntyre Final Eight

The original McIntyre Final Eight system is notable in that it uses the regular-season league table to eliminate two teams in the first week of the playoffs. The procedure is: ;Week 1 * 1st Qualifying Final: 4th seed vs 5th seed * 2nd Qualifying Final: 3rd seed vs 6th seed * 3rd Qualifying Final: 2nd seed vs 7th seed * 4th Qualifying Final: 1st seed vs 8th seed The fates of the teams in this round depend on whether they won or lost their Qualifying Final, and on their regular-season position. The four winners and the two losers that finished highest on the regular-season table advance to later rounds, with the two other losers eliminated. ;Week 2 * 1st Semi-final:Under finals systems traditionally used in Australian sport, the term "semi-final" has different usage from that in a traditional knockout tournament. The two games played immediately before the Grand Final, which would be known as semi-finals in a knockout tournament, are called "preliminary finals". The semi-finals refer to the two games preceding the preliminary finals. This terminology was used by the AFL under the McIntyre System from 1931 until 1993, and continues to this day in the AFL and most other Australian leagues. The main exception is the A-League, which adopted a pure knockout finals series in 2013 and uses "semi-final" for the games immediately preceding its Grand Final. 4th highest-ranked winner vs 2nd highest-ranked loser * 2nd Semi-final: 3rd highest-ranked winner vs 1st highest-ranked loser The two losing teams are eliminated, and the two winning teams progress to Week 3. ;Week 3 * 1st Preliminary Final: Highest-seeded Qualifying Final winner vs winner of 1st Semi-final * 2nd Preliminary Final: Second-highest-seeded Qualifying Final winner vs winner of 2nd Semi-final The two losing teams are eliminated, and the two winning teams progress to the Grand Final. ;Week 4 * Grand Final: winner of 1st Preliminary Final vs winner of 2nd Preliminary Final Due to perceived weaknesses of this system, the AFL adopted a modified top-eight playoff in
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. The
National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
(NRL), Australia's top rugby league competition (also with a team in New Zealand), used this system from 1999 through 2011, after which it changed to the AFL system.


AFL system

The current AFL finals system breaks up the eight participants into four groups of two teams, ranked by their league position after regular-season play. Each group receives an advantage over the teams directly below it on the league table. These advantages are the so-called "double-chance", where a loss in the first week will not eliminate a team from the finals, and home ground finals. Note, however, that "home" designations are often irrelevant if a finals match involves two teams from the same state. The finals format operates as follows: ;Week 1 * 1st Qualifying Final: 1st seed hosts 4th seed * 2nd Qualifying Final: 2nd seed hosts 3rd seed * 1st Elimination final: 5th seed hosts 8th seed * 2nd Elimination final: 6th seed hosts 7th seed The top four teams play the two Qualifying Finals. The winners get a bye through to Week 3 of the tournament to play home Preliminary Finals, while the losers play home Semi-Finals in Week 2. The bottom four teams play the two Elimination finals, where the winners advance to Week 2 away games and the losers' seasons are over. ;Week 2 * 1st Semi-final: Loser of 1st QF hosts winner of 1st EF * 2nd Semi-final: Loser of 2nd QF hosts winner of 2nd EF ;Week 3 * 1st Preliminary Final: Winner of 1st QF hosts winner of 2nd SF * 2nd Preliminary Final: Winner of 2nd QF hosts winner of 1st SF ;Week 4 *
AFL Grand Final The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league at that time was the Victori ...
: Winners of the two Preliminary Finals meet at the MCG. The specific advantages gained by finishing in higher positions on the league table are as follows: First and second — These teams receive the double-chance, and play their first two finals matches at home—their Qualifying Final, and then either a Semi-final (should they lose the QF) or Preliminary Final (should they win the QF). They must win two finals matches to reach the Grand Final. Third and fourth — Like the top two teams, they receive the double-chance, and must win two finals matches to reach the Grand Final. However, they only get to play one finals match at home—a Semi-final if they lose their QF, or Preliminary Final if they win the QF. Fifth and sixth — These teams do not receive a double-chance. They must win three matches to reach the Grand Final—an Elimination final, Semi-final, and Preliminary Final. They do get to host their EF. Seventh and eighth — These teams receive neither a double-chance nor a home finals match, and must also win three finals matches to reach the Grand Final. The
National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
and
Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...
operate the same finals system.


Super League system

From
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...
through to
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...
, the Super League used a top-eight playoff system. The expansion to an eight-team bracket coincided with the league's expansion from 12 to 14 teams. Like the AFL system, the Super League system eliminated two teams in each week leading up to the Grand Final. However, it had a number of differences from the AFL system, most notably the feature known as "Club Call" (explained below). As in the AFL, the participants were ranked by league position in the regular season. Unlike in the AFL, the team receiving home advantage in each match leading up to the Grand Final was guaranteed the right to host the match at a ground of its choosing, either its regular home stadium or (rarely) a larger nearby alternative. ;Week 1 * Qualifying Play-Offs: ** 1st vs 4th ** 2nd vs 3rd The winners of these matches advanced directly to Week 3, in which they received home advantage. The higher-seeded winner received Club Call immediately after Week 2. The losers had another chance in Week 2, when they were at home to the winners of the Week 1 Elimination Play-Offs. * Elimination Play-Offs ** 5th v 8th ** 6th v 7th The winners of these matches advanced to Week 2, with the losers being eliminated. ;Week 2 * Preliminary Semi-Final 1: Highest-seeded QPO loser (1, 2, or 3) vs lowest-seeded EPO winner (6, 7, or 8) * Preliminary Semi-Final 2: Lowest-seeded QPO loser (2, 3, or 4) vs highest-seeded EPO winner (5, 6, or 7) The winners of these matches advanced to Week 3 and Club Call, with the losers being eliminated. ;Club Call Club Call, a unique feature of the Super League system, took place on the second weekend of the playoffs, shortly after the winners of the two PSFs were known. The highest-seeded winning club from Week 1 was required to choose which of the two PSF winners they would play in Week 3. ;Week 3 * Qualifying Semi-Final 1: Highest-seeded QPO Winner v Club Call selected PSF winner * Qualifying Semi-Final 2: Second-seeded QPO Winner v Club Call non-selected PSF winner The winners advanced to the Grand Final the following week. ;Week 4 * Super League Grand Final at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...
,
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
Super League XX in 2015 introduced a radical change to the league system, under which the 24 clubs in Super League and the second-tier
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
are split into three groups of eight after each club has played 22 matches. The top eight clubs in Super League at that point will enter a new play-off structure, beginning with a single round-robin mini-league followed by a Shaughnessy play-off involving the top four teams. Another six team playoffs goes like this:


Best-of formats

The "best-of" formats refer to a head-to-head competition where the two competitors compete to first win the majority of the games allotted to win the "series". If a competitor wins a majority of the games, the remaining games are not played (unless the maximum number of games in the series are played). This is a modification of the single-elimination tournament to allow more matches to be held. Moreover, if it can be said that if one competitor has a higher probability of winning a single game (and game results are i.i.d.), the likelihood that this competitor wins the series increases when more games are played. For example, if team A has a 70% chance of defeating team B in a single game, its probability of winning a best-of-three series against B is 78.4%, and its probability of winning a best-of-seven series is about 87.4%.


Best-of-three playoff

A best-of-three playoff is a head-to-head competition between two teams in which one team must win two games to win the series. Two is chosen as it constituted a majority of the games played; if one team sweeps both of the first two games, game 3 is ignored. When a best-of series is tied (each team having won the same number of games), the bracket is sometimes said to be a "best-of-(number of games left)." This is because for all practical purposes, the teams are starting over. For instance, if a best-of-seven series is deadlocked at , the series can be referred to as a "best-of-three", since the first team to win the next two games advances. Game 7 would only be played if two teams split Games 5 and 6. In
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
, matches are usually decided with a best-of-three-sets format. Some major tournaments are played in a best-of-five-sets format, most notably the Grand Slam men's singles and doubles. Also, the 35-and-over Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles and the 35-and-over Ladies' Invitation Doubles at Wimbledon are both round-robin tournaments.


In North American competitions

The first use of the best-of-three playoff was in
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
. The
National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
authorised a
playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
to be held if two teams ended the season in a tie for first place; the
American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...
used a single game in this situation. From to , both leagues have used only a one-game playoff as a tie-breaker if only one team can advance; since , a criteria based on regular-season performance is used. Since , a tie-breaker based on regular-season performance can be used only to seed teams. Since , the
Wild Card Series The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason. A single wild card game was first instituted in 2012; best-of-three ...
sees the 3rd seed hosts the 6th seed & the fourth playing the 5th, and the two higher seeds play at home for all three games, the third if needed. Both the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
(NBA) and
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
(NHL) once used best-of-three playoffs (often referred to as a "mini-series"), but today neither league does. Professional basketball first adopted the best-of-three playoff for first-round play starting with its inception as the
Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...
in
1946 Events January * January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones. * January 10 ** The ...
, before changing its name to the NBA three years later. Basketball retained the format through the 1959–60 season; the league resumed its use of the best-of-three first-round series in 1974–75, but abolished it again in 1983–84 when the number of teams qualifying for its postseason tournament was increased to 16 (10 teams had qualified during the first two years of the aforementioned period, this number being expanded to 12 in 1976–77; in both instances some of the highest-ranking teams did not participate in the best-of-three round, drawing byes and automatically advancing to the second round, which was best-of-seven, as were all subsequent rounds). In
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...
, the best-of-three format was one of two possible types of series that could be held to determine the winner of the
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
(the other being a two-legged playoff series). It was used in lower rounds in the NHL up until the
Original Six The Original Six () are the teams that comprised the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1942 and 1967. The six teams are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leaf ...
era. The best-of-three series in the modern era was first used in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs beginning with the 1974–75 season. At that time, the number of NHL playoff teams had been increased to twelve from the previous eight. The format which then took effect called for the first three finishers in each of the league's four divisions to enter the postseason, but the four division winners earn first-round byes and advanced to the best-of-seven quarterfinals, and so didn't play any best-of-three series. The postseason then proceeded as the NBA's did, with the second round onwards being best-of-seven. This remained the case until the 1979–80 season, when the NHL expanded its playoff field to sixteen after absorbing four teams from the defunct
World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...
in a semi-merger, whereupon the byes were abolished and all 16 qualifying teams participated in the first round, which was lengthened to best-of-five. In both the NBA and NHL, the team ranked higher in the standings during the regular season played the first and (if necessary) the third games of the series at home, with the lower-ranked team hosting the second game. The World Cup of Hockey, organized by the NHL, used a best-of-three format in the final round in
1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...
and
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
, as did the
Canada Cup The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true worl ...
. Until 2009, the WNBA forced the team with the higher record to travel to the lower seed's home court for game 1, then played the final game(s) at home. Because of this perceived inequity, in
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, the league switched to a more traditional odd-even format, where the higher seed will play the first and (if needed) third games at home. Come 2022, this will be used in the league quarterfinals. In
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
, the league changed the
WNBA Finals The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the offici ...
to a best-of-five format. By
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
, the league semifinals matched this format. NCAA Division I baseball uses the best-of-three format in the second round and the final round of its 64-team championship tournament. Starting in 1999, when the tournament expanded from 48 teams (eight regionals of six teams each) to 64 teams (sixteen regionals of four teams each), the NCAA introduced the "super regional", in which the 16 regional winners play in eight best-of-three series, with the eight series winners advancing to the
College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...
. If a regional winner is also a national seed (one of the top eight seeds of the 64 first-round teams), it is guaranteed to host the super regional. If no national seed makes a particular super regional, the NCAA puts hosting rights up for bidding between the competing schools. In 2003, the College World Series changed from a one-game final to a best-of-three series. From approximately the founding of the
Western Interprovincial Football Union The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the West Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagu ...
in 1936 until the early 1970s, multi-game playoffs series were a regular fixture of professional
Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...
playoffs. Over the years, both the WIFU (later the
Western Football Conference Western Football Conference may refer to: * Canadian Football League West Division, one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League * Western Football Conference (United States) The Western Football Conference was an NCAA Divisi ...
) and the
Interprovincial Rugby Football Union The East Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League, its counterpart being the West Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the East Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagues. T ...
(later the Eastern Football Conference) used a combination of best-of-three series, three-game total points series, and two-game total points series to determine both conference final participants and conference champions. The
Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...
championship itself has always consisted of a single game. The last best-of-three playoff series (in what by then had evolved into the present-day
Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...
in 1958) consisting of two autonomous conferences was the 1971 Western Conference Final. Since 1972, the West has used one-game playoffs. The Eastern Conference (which by that time had abolished the best-of-three format in favor of two-game total points series) adopted one-game playoffs for the 1973 season.


Competitions held outside North America

The Euroleague, the primary
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
-wide club competition in basketball, introduced a quarterfinal round for the 2004–05 season which originally employed a best-of-three format. Starting with the 2008–09 season, the quarterfinal round became best-of-five. This is the only point in the Euroleague where a playoff series is used; all earlier rounds are conducted in a league format, and the quarterfinal winners advance to the Final Four, where all games are one-off knockout matches. In the
FIBA Oceania Championship FIBA Oceania Championship was the Oceania basketball championships that took place every two years between national teams of the continent. Through the 2015 edition, the Oceania Championship was also a qualifying tournament for the Basketball ...
, the best-of-three series is used if only both
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
play in the tournament. If a team wins the first two games, the last game may still be played. If other teams participate, a regular round-robin or multi-stage tournament is used. In
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...
, a
two-legged tie In sports (particularly association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum ...
was used, but it was reverted to a best-of-three series in
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...
. The best-of-three playoff system was also used in the
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...
for the 1998 and 1999 quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. The Brazilian model was unique in that extra time was not used (meaning matches could end in a draw). If neither team won two games, the team with the most victories would qualify (for instance, if one team won the first match before drawing the next two). If the both teams had one victory, the team with the best
goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches a ...
would qualify. If the goal difference was the same, the team with the best regular-season campaign would qualify. The Philippine Premier Volleyball League, uniquely, uses a best-of-three series to determine the third-place team at the end of its conferences' playoffs rather than one game, as did its predecessor Shakey's V-League.


Twice-to-beat advantage

In a modification of the best-of-three format, leagues in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
award a ''twice-to-beat advantage'' to the top seeds; in this case, the team with this advantage needs to be beaten twice by its opponent, a unilateral double elimination. In essence, one team is given a ''de facto'' 1–0 lead in a best-of-three series. First applied in the Finals of the scholastic UAAP basketball and volleyball championships in 1979, then currently applied in the semifinals since 1994, it was later adopted by their NCAA counterparts and other associations in their mandatory scholastic competitions. The professional
Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...
, its semi-professional
D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...
, and volleyball's inactive Philippine Super Liga have adopted the format only in the quarterfinal rounds of their conference playoffs. An amendment to the UAAP rules in 2008 gave the undefeated team (the team that won all regular season games) a bye up to the finals, possessing an automatic 1–0 lead in a best-of-five series, or the ''three-times-to-beat advantage''. This was adopted by the Philippine NCAA in 2009, but was abolished by both leagues in 2016, when the undefeated team has a finals berth, but the finals are played in a regular best-of-three format. A similar situation also existed in later versions of the
Argus finals system The Argus finals systems were a set of related systems of end-of-season championship playoff tournament used commonly in Australian rules football competitions in the early part of the 20th century. The systems generally comprised a simple four-tea ...
used commonly in
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
competitions in the early part of the 20th century: later versions of the system had a "right of challenge" for the minor premier (the team on top of the ladder) if they lost the Semi-Final or the Final, meaning the minor premier had to be beaten twice for another team to win the premiership. In the event that the same team played the minor premier in the Semi-Final or the Final and in the Grand Final, the right of challenge became equivalent to the minor premier holding a 1–0 lead in a best-of-three series. In
Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...
, the Climax Series second stage, where the top team in the regular season faces the winner of the playoff between the second and third place teams, uses a similar format for a six-game playoff. In this case, the top seed needs only to win three games, while the lower seed must win four games to advance to the
Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...
. It is a "four times to beat advantage" with the top team needing only to win three games. In the
KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...
in South Korean baseball, the No. 4 team in the Wild Card game, or the first round of its postseason, has 1–0 lead in the best-of-three series, and can advance with a single win or tie, while the No. 5 team has to decisively win in order to advance. Described as a "best-of-two" series in the resumption the
2019–20 NBA season The 2019–20 NBA season was the 74th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 22, 2019, and originally was supposed to end on April 15, 2020. However, the season was suspended on March 11 as a resul ...
, if the ninth-ranked team is within four
games behind In most North American sports, the phrase games behind or games back (often abbreviated GB) is a common way to reflect the gap between a leading team and another team in a sports league, conference, or division. Example In the below standings fr ...
of the eighth-ranked team after the seeding games are done, play-in games will be held between the two teams. Here, the ninth-ranked team has to beat the eighth-ranked team twice, while the eighth-ranked team has to win just once to qualify to the playoffs proper. The Memphis Grizzlies finishing ninth, half-a-game behind the Portland Trail Blazers, necessitated the play-in game. The Blazers eliminated the Grizzlies in game one to advance to the playoffs.


Best-of-five playoff

A best-of-five playoff is a head-to-head competition between two teams, wherein one must win three games to win the series. Three is chosen as it constituted a majority of games played. If one team wins the series before reaching game 5, all others are ignored. At present, only one of the
major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada The major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada commonly refer to the highest men's professional competitions of team sports in those countries. The four leagues traditionally included in the definition are Major League Base ...
— Major League Baseball — uses the best-of-five playoff, doing so in its second round, known as the Division Series. At one time, however, the League Championship Series (semifinals) was best-of-five, from its birth with both leagues' realignment into two divisions in , continuing until the round was lengthened to best-of-seven in . (This change would have immediate ramifications: In the American League, in each of the first two years where the LCS used the best-of-seven format, the
Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
in
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
and the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
in
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...
fell behind 3–1, which previously would have eliminated them, before coming back to win the series.) When the wild card was first used in (it was created for the season, but that year's entire postseason was cancelled due to a players' strike), the best-of-five format was authorized for the new Division Series, in which eight teams participated. During the time that the League Championship Series was best-of-five, a "2–3" format was used, with one team hosting the first two games, the other the last three (the respective roles alternating between the Eastern and Western Division champions, regardless of which one finished with the better regular-season record). This procedure was repeated when the best-of-five Division Series was added in 1995 (except that two of each league's now three division winners hosted three games, and the wild card never do so), but starting in , the home-field advantage was awarded to the two division winners in each league that had the best regular-season records. Also in 1998, the "2–2–1" format was instituted: the team with the home-field advantage was given Games 1, 2, and 5 at home, not Games 3–5. Also, that format gives ''both'' teams have the home-field advantage in a sense. While one team gets to host three games (including the critical first and last game), the other team does get two chances out of three (games 3 and 4) of winning the series at home. For the 2012 postseason only, the Division Series reverted to "2–3". (This decision was made after the 2012 schedule had been released; due to the addition of a second Wild Card team and the subsequent extra
Wild Card Game The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason. A single wild card game was first instituted in 2012; best-of-three ...
, the "2–3" format was used that year to minimize the disruption of the schedule by giving the Division Series one off-day instead of two.) With the Wild Card playoff now established and schedules adjusted accordingly, the "2–2–1" format was restored in 2013. The National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Hockey League (NHL) both formerly used best-of-five series. The NBA did so in its second-round playoff prior to the season, and in the first round from through , and again from until , when it was lengthened to a best-of-seven series. The NHL did so for its first-round series beginning with the season and lasting until increasing its first round to best-of-seven in . The best-of-5 format was reinstated for the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifying Round between seeds 5–12. Unlike in baseball, in both NBA and NHL, in a best-of-five series the higher regular-season finisher always hosts the first, second, and (if necessary) fifth games. The AHL has used the best-of-five series in the first round since the
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
postseason. As of
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) now uses a best-of-five format for its
championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
series. The league semifinals matched this format starting in
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
. Historically, most European domestic basketball leagues have used a best-of-five format in their championship series. The main long-standing exceptions are the
Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...
and
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
leagues, which have historically used one-off finals, the
Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North M ...
(former Yugoslavia), which has changed from a one-off final to a best-of-three final back to a one-off final in recent years, and the Lithuanian, Polish and Turkish leagues, which use a best-of-seven format.
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
has gone to a best-of-seven final effective with its 2008–09 season. The Euroleague quarterfinal round expanded to best-of-five from best-of-three starting in the 2008–09 season. France changed its final from a one-off match to a best-of-five series in 2012–13.
The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...
, a
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
series played between
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
and
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
is a five-match series. If the series is tied, the team holding the trophy keeps until the next series. Most
test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...
matches are played under this format, but others extend up to seven matches. Test cricket is typically hosted by one team throughout the entire series. While series such as this have five matches, it is not exactly "best-of-five", as draws and other results, are possible.


Best-of-seven playoff

A best-of-seven playoff is a head-to-head competition between two teams, wherein one must win four games to win the series. Four is chosen as it constitutes winning a majority of the seven games played. If one team wins the series before reaching game 7, all others are ignored. It is not necessary for the four games to be won
consecutive {{Short pages monitor