These are notable sports leagues which are no longer operating.

Australia

Australian football

Tasmanian Football League The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the "Tasmanian Football League (TFL)" (formerly known as the "Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL)" and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian r ...

(TFL, 1879–2000) *

Victorian Football Association 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 ...

(VFA, 1877–1995)

Baseball

Australian Baseball League (1989–1999) The Australian Baseball League (ABL) was a baseball league, established in 1987 and disbanded in 1999. Formation Before the formation of the Australian Baseball League, the Claxton Shield, established in , was Australia's premier baseball to ...

Rugby league

* Super League (1997) ** merged with the

Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...

in 1998 to form 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 ...

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was contested ...

Rugby union

Australian Rugby Championship The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC and also known as the Mazda Australian Rugby Championship for sponsorship purposes, is a now-defunct domestic professional men's rugby union football competition in Australia, which ...

(2007)

Soccer

* National Soccer League (1977–2004)

Canada

Auto racing

* Canadian Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (CASCAR 1981–2006; replaced by the series now known as the

NASCAR Pinty's Series The NASCAR Pinty's Series (french: Série NASCAR Pinty's), commonly abbreviated as NPS, is a national NASCAR racing series in Canada, and is a continuation of the old CASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981. History In September 2006 NASCA ...

)

Baseball

Canadian Baseball League The Canadian Baseball League was an independent minor league that operated in 2003. The league's only Commissioner was Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame member Ferguson Jenkins. The league featured former maj ...

(CBL 2003) *

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

(1935–1955)

Basketball

National Basketball League (Canada) The National Basketball League was a professional basketball league based in Canada that lasted only one and a half seasons in 1993 and 1994. It rose from the ashes of the World Basketball League which folded after the 1992 season, which had tea ...

(NBL 1993–94)

Ice hockey

Coloured Hockey League The Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes (CHL) was an all-black ice hockey league founded in Nova Scotia in 1895, which featured teams from across Canada's Maritime Provinces. The league operated for several decades lasting until 1930. Hist ...

(1895–1925) *

Federal Amateur Hockey League The Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL) was a Canadian men's senior-level ice hockey league that played six seasons, from 1904 to 1909. The league was formed initially to provide a league for teams not accepted by the rival Canadian Amateur Hock ...

(1903–09) (professional in 1908–09) *

Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) was a men's amateur – later professional – ice hockey league in Canada that played four seasons. It was founded on December 11, 1905 with the top clubs from two other leagues: four ...

(1906–09) (professional in 1908–09) *

Manitoba Professional Hockey League The Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA) was an early men's senior ice hockey league playing around 1900 in Manitoba, Canada. The league started as an elite amateur league in 1892, became professional in 1905, had a professional and an amateur leagu ...

(MPHL 1907–09) *

National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association (NHA), officially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor of today's National Hockey Lea ...

(NHA 1909–17) * Canadian Hockey Association (CHA 1909–10) * Interprovincial Professional Hockey League (IPHL 1910–11) *

Maritime Professional Hockey League Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prin ...

(MaPHL 1911–14) * Eastern Professional Hockey League (EPHL 1914–15) *

Pacific Coast Hockey Association The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) was a professional ice hockey league in western Canada and the western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The PCHA was cons ...

(PCHA 1911–24) *

Western Canada Hockey League The Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925 and disbanded in 1926. The WCHL's Victoria C ...

(WCHL 1921–26) * International Hockey League (IHL 1945–2001) *

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) ...

(WHA 1972–79) – merged with

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) *

Roller Hockey International Roller Hockey International was a professional inline hockey league that operated in North America from 1993 to 1999. It was the first major professional league for inline hockey. History League president Dennis Murphy had been involved in th ...

(RHI 1993–97, 1999)

Soccer

* Canadian Soccer League (CSL 1987–92) *

Canadian National Soccer League The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the foldi ...

(CNSL 1922–97)

New Zealand

Rugby union

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship, o ...

(NPC, 1976–2005; professional from 1996) ** Replaced by the current Bunnings National Provincial Championship (previously Air New Zealand Cup, ITM Cup and Mitre 10 Cup) and

Heartland Championship The Heartland Championship competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the countr ...

in 2006. Although the NPC as a single entity is defunct, its basic structure was largely revived in 2011 with the split of the then-ITM Cup into two divisions. The main difference between the current NPC and its original version is that no promotion from the Heartland Championship to the Bunnings NPC is currently possible. The original NPC featured promotion and/or relegation (or at least the possibility thereof) at all three levels.

Russia

Ice hockey

Russian Super League Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and pe ...

(1996–2008) ** Replaced by the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

in 2008. The KHL also launched with teams from

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

, Latvia, and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. As of the current 2018–19 season, it includes teams in all of its original countries, as well as China,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. At various times in its history, it has also had teams in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

South Africa

Rugby union

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

(1998–2015) ** Second tier of domestic professional rugby, behind the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

, although the competition occasionally included teams from Argentina and Namibia as well. Scrapped after the 2015 season; a one-off expanded Currie Cup was held in 2016 before a successor second-level competition, the Rugby Challenge, was launched in 2017.

United Kingdom

American football

British American Football League The British American Football League (BAFL) was the United Kingdom's primary American football league from 1998 until 2010. It was formerly known as the British Senior League (BSL) until 2005. BAFL was the trading name for Gridiron Football Lea ...

(BAFL) (1986)

Basketball

* National Basketball League (1974–2003)

Association football

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

(1889–1892) (replaced with the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

) *

Athenian League The Athenian League was an English amateur football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football Museum, Preston). but this nam ...

(1912–1984) *

Chiltonian League The Chiltonian League was an English football league, existing from 1984 until its merger with the Hellenic League in 2000. While never having a defined place in the English football league system, successful clubs moved from the Chiltonian Leagu ...

(1984–2000) *

Surrey Senior League The Surrey Senior League was an English regional football league for teams based in Surrey although teams from outside the county were often admitted as well. The league existed from 1922 until 1978, when it was rebranded as the Home Counties Leagu ...

(1922–2003)

United States

Professional athletics

International Track Association The International Track Association (ITA) was a professional track and field organization that existed in the United States from 1972 to 1976. The ITA initially attracted many of the big track and field stars of the day to run in its meets and in ...

(1972–1976)

Professional baseball

* National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (1871–75) * American Association I (1882–1891) * Union Association (1884) *

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

s **

League of Colored Baseball Clubs The National Colored Base Ball League, the National Colored League, or the League of Colored Baseball Clubs was the subsequent attempt, after the Southern League of Colored Base Ballists, to have a league consisting of all-black teams. It predated ...

(1887), minor league ** Negro National League (I) (1920–1931) **

Eastern Colored League The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL), was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated. League history Founding The ECL ...

(1923–1928) **

American Negro League The American Negro League (ANL) was one of several Negro leagues established during the period in the United States in which organized baseball was segregated. The ANL operated on the East Coast of the United States in 1929. History The Easte ...

(1929) ** East-West League (1932) ** Negro Southern League (1932), minor league 1920–1931 and 1933–1940s ** Negro National League (II) (1933–1948) **

Negro American League The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season. Negro American League franchises :''Ann ...

(1937–1950), minor league 1951–1960 **

West Coast Negro Baseball League The West Coast Negro Baseball Association (WCNBA) was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The WCNBA was organized as a minor league in 1946 by Abe Saperstein and Jesse Owens as a mea ...

(1946), minor league * Players' League (1890) *

Atlantic League (1896–1900) The Atlantic League was a minor league baseball league that operated between 1896 and 1900 in the Northeastern United States. It was the successor of the Pennsylvania State League, which had operated from 1892 to 1895. The name has subsequently ...

Union Professional League The Union Professional League was a professional baseball league that played for less than two months in 1908. The league was founded by businessman Alfred Lawson (1869–1954), who had briefly pitched for the Boston Beaneaters and the Pittsbur ...

(1908) *

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

(1914–1915) * American Association II minor league (1902–1962 and 1969–1997) * All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943–1954) *

Blue Ridge League The Blue Ridge League was the name of two minor league baseball organizations that operated in the first half of the twentieth century in the United States. History The first league operated for the better part of sixteen years, from 1915 throu ...

(1915–1918, 1919–1930, 1946–1950) *

Continental League The Continental League of Professional Baseball Clubs (known as the Continental League or CL) was a proposed third major league for baseball in the United States and Canada. The league was announced in 1959 and scheduled to begin play in the 19 ...

(1960, never played) *

Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...

(1989–1990) *

Great Central League The Great Central League was a short-lived baseball league of four teams that played baseball in the upper Midwest of the United States in . The league and four teams were owned by Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota ...

(1994) *

Western Baseball League The Western Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in the Western United States and Western Canada. Its member teams were not associated with any Major League Baseball teams. It operated from 1995 to 2002. The league was founde ...

(1995–2002) *

Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional, independent baseball league with teams in the Northeast United States and Eastern Canada, founded in 2005 as a reorganization of ...

(2005–2019) * Carolina League I (1936–1938) * Eastern League I (1884–1887) * Eastern League II (1916–1932) *

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

(1939–2020) * Southern League I (1885–1899) * South Atlantic League I (1904–1917, 1919–1930, 1936–1942 and 1946–1962)

Professional basketball

Men: * AABA-

All-American Basketball Alliance The All-American Basketball Alliance was formed in 1977, with the intention of competing with the established Continental Basketball Association as the premier basketball minor league in the United States. Eight teams competed in the only season ...

(1977–78) * AAPBL- All-American Professional Basketball League (2005) * ABA- American Basketball Association (1967–1976) – merged with the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball 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 in the United St ...

( NBA) * ABL I- American Basketball League I (1925–1955) * ABL II- American Basketball League II (1961–1963) * GBA-

Global Basketball Association The Global Basketball Association (GBA) was a professional basketball minor league based in the United States. The majority of the league's franchises were based in the Southern United States, with the remaining teams located in the Midwest. The le ...

(1991–92, league folded midway through 1992–93 season) * IBA-

International Basketball Association The International Basketball Association (IBA) was founded in 1995 by a group of businessmen led by Tom Anderson. The original owners of franchises in the league were George Daniel (Black Hills Posse-Rapid City, SD), John Korsmo, Al Gardner, and A ...

(1995–2001) * IBL-

International Basketball League The International Basketball League (IBL) was a semi-professional men's basketball league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States. In 2010 the Albany Legends became the first team in the Northeastern United States to join. The I ...

(1999–2001) * NBL- National Basketball League (1937–1949) * NPBL- National Professional Basketball League (1950–1951) * NRL- National Rookie League (2000–2002) * PBLA-

Professional Basketball League of America The Professional Basketball League of America (1947–1948) was a basketball league in the United States that was started in 1947 in response to the tremendous upsurge in interest in basketball in the era immediately following World War II. T ...

(1947–1948) * WBA-

Western Basketball Association The Western Basketball Association was formed in 1978 and played for one season during 1978–79. Organized by Larry Cregar, a former assistant coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA), and real ...

(1978–79) * WBL-

World Basketball League World Basketball League (WBL) was a minor professional basketball league in the United States and Canada that ran from 1988 to 1992. It was founded as the International Basketball Association in November 1987, before changing its name prior to the ...

(1988–1992) * CBA- Continental Basketball Association (1946–2009) * USBL-

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

(1985–2008) Women: * WBL-

Women's Pro Basketball League 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 ...

(1978–81) * ABL- American Basketball League III (1996–1998) *WABA-

Women's American Basketball Association The Women's American Basketball Association (WABA) is a league that began in 2017 with seven teams. It now has over 20 teams across the country. Season 4 was cancelled in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. There have been previous women's ...

(1993–1995) (2002)

Amateur basketball

* Amateur Athletic Association Basketball (AAU 1897–1982)

Professional football

Competitors to NFL *AFL –

American Football League (1926) The first American Football League (AFL), sometimes called AFL I, AFLG, or the Grange League, was a professional American football league that operated in 1926. It was the first major competitor to the National Football League (NFL). Founded by ...

*AFL – American Football League (1936–1937) *AFL – American Football League (1940–1941) *AAFC – All-America Football Conference (1946–1949, two teams now in NFL) *AFL – American Football League (1960–1969, now the American Football Conference of the major league NFL) Other leagues *AAF – Alliance of American Football (2019) *AFL –

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(1987–2008) ** The AFL returned in 2010, but is a separate legal entity from the original AFL. The current league purchased the assets of the original AFL in a bankruptcy auction, enabling it to brand itself as the first league's successor. *

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

(2000–2009), the Arena Football League's official minor league ** Many of the teams in the revived AFL are former af2 teams. In fact, the original lineup of Arena Football 1, the league that morphed into the revived AFL, included more af2 teams than former AFL teams. *CFL – Continental Football League (1965–1969) *FXFL –

Fall Experimental Football League The Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL) was a professional football minor league that played two seasons in 2014 and 2015. This league's stated goal was to become a professional feeder-system for the National Football League (NFL). The lea ...

(2014–2015) *IFL –

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

(1999–2000) *IPFL –

Indoor Professional Football League The Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL), which started in 1998. Two of its teams (the Madison Mad Dogs and the Green Bay Bombers) left the league and their owner, ...

(1999–2001) *PIFL –

Professional Indoor Football League (1998) The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) was the second league to successfully play indoor football as a paid pro-league sport, after the Arena Football League (AFL). Since the AFL had a patent given in 1990 on the gameplay of "Arena Foot ...

*PSFL –

Professional Spring Football League The Professional Spring Football League (PSFL) was an outdoor american football minor league slated to begin in 1992. The league had a preview show on SportsChannel America in late 1991/early 1992, laying out the ten teams that would play. The ...

(1991 – Training Camp) *UFL – United Football League (2009–2012) *USFL –

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(1983–1985; not to be confused with the current USFL) *WFL – World Football League (1974–1975) * XFL (2001) – Xtreme Football League

Professional hockey

(WHA 1972–1979) – merged with

(NHL) *

(PCHA 1911–1924) * International Hockey League (IHL 1945–2001) *

(RHI 1993–1997, 1999) *

Global Hockey League The Global Hockey League was a proposed intercontinental major professional ice hockey league in 1990, spearheaded by the Winnipeg Jets (1972–96), original Winnipeg Jets former owner, Michael Gobuty and World Hockey Association founder Dennis Murp ...

(Did not play, 1990)

Professional rugby union

PRO Rugby Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retire ...

2016 (succeeded by Major League Rugby 2018 to present)

Professional soccer (association football)

* A-League (1995–2004; succeeded by USL First Division) * American Football Association (1896–1907) * American Professional Soccer League (1990–1994; operated as A-League in 1995–1996) * American Soccer League ( 1921–1933, 1933–1983, 1988–1989) * Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL 1993–97) * Major Soccer League aka Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) * Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL 2001–2008) * North American Soccer League (NASL 1968–1984) *

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

(1984–85) *

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...

(formally 2005–2010, last competitive season was 2009; folded into USL Pro for 2011, USL Pro renamed United Soccer League in 2015 and

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

from 2019) *

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer (t ...

(1990–2010; folded into USL Pro) *

USSF Division 2 Professional League The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding Un ...

(2010 only; compromise between the feuding USL and new NASL) *

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

(WPS, 2009–2011; effectively revived in 2013 as the National Women's Soccer League) *

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...

(WUSA, 2001–2003; effective predecessor to WPS) *

World Indoor Soccer League The World Indoor Soccer League (WISL) was a United States-based indoor soccer league that existed from 1998 to 2001 and consisted of nine teams. History After the demise of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, four of its teams decided to crea ...

(WISL 1998–2001) *

Xtreme Soccer League The Xtreme Soccer League (XSL) was an indoor soccer league that began play in December 2008. Four teams from the former Major Indoor Soccer League participated in the first XSL season: the Chicago Storm, Detroit Ignition, Milwaukee Wave, and Ne ...

(XSL 2008–09)

Professional Softball

National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

(2004–2021)

Professional lacrosse

* National Lacrosse League (1974-75) *

American Lacrosse League (1988) The American Lacrosse League was a professional lacrosse league that played in 1988. It was founded by Terry Wallace and Bruce Meierdiercks, former teammates at Adelphi University. The league folded after five weeks of play. Teams * Baltimor ...

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff ...

(2001–2020) — merged with the

Premier Lacrosse League Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) is an American professional field lacrosse league, composed of 8 teams. The league's inaugural season debuted on June 1, 2019, and included a 14-week tour-based schedule taking place in 12 major-market cities. The le ...

, with the merged league operating under the PLL name

Other

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

(joint Australia–New Zealand women's netball league, 2008–2016) * BeNe League (joint Belgian–Dutch women's football league, 2012–2015) * bj League (Basketball Japan League) (2005–2016) * Champions Tennis League (

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

) (2014–2015) *

Championship Gaming Series The Championship Gaming Series was an international esports league based in the United States, with teams from several other countries. The CGS was preceded by the 2006 Championship Gaming Invitational, a television pilot featuring several fu ...

(CGS 2007–08) *

China Arena Football League The China Arena Football League (), often abbreviated as the CAFL, was a professional arena football league that played its games in the People's Republic of China. It featured players from the now-defunct Arena Football League (AFL) and other ...

(founded 2012, existed between 2016 and 2019) *

China Baseball League The China Baseball League (, CBL) was a professional baseball league under the administration of Chinese Baseball Association, founded in 2002. The league suspended operations in 2012 due to financial troubles after the 2011 season, but returne ...

(2002–2018) * Chinese Basketball Alliance ( Chinese Taipei) (1995–1999) *

Chinese Jia-A League The National Football Jia A League ( simplified Chinese, commonly known as Jia-A, was the highest tier of professional football in the People's Republic of China, during 1994 through 2003, operating under the auspices of the Chinese Football Asso ...

(China) (Association Football) (1994–2003) * DBL – Dutch Basketball League (Netherlands, 1960–2021, though not professional until the 1990s); merged with the Belgian Pro Basketball League to establish the current BNXT League *

Galatama Liga Sepak Bola Utama (English: ''Premier Football League''), commonly known by its acronym Galatama, was a semi professional football league in Indonesia, established in 1979 by the Indonesian Football Association, PSSI. Prior to the establishment ...

(

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

) (Association Football) (1979–1994) *

Garena Premier League The Garena Premier League (GPL) was a professional ''League of Legends'' esports league with teams in Southeast Asia (included teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau before 2015 and Vietnam before 2018). It was founded in 2012. The opening event took ...

( eSports) (2012–2018) *

Intercity Football League Intercity Football League () was the top-ranked division in the Taiwanese football (soccer) league run by Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA), run from 2007 until 2016. From 2017, it was replaced by the Taiwan Football Premier League. His ...

(Chinese Taipei) (2007–2016) *

League of Legends SEA Tour The ''League of Legends'' SEA Tour (LST) was a professional ''League of Legends'' esports tournament in Southeast Asia that was founded in 2018 by Garena as a replacement for the Garena Premier League (GPL). The competition consisted of teams ...

( eSports) (2018–2019) *

League of Legends Master Series The ''League of Legends'' Master Series (LMS) was a professional ''League of Legends'' league with teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau from 2015 to 2019. Eight teams competed over two seasons to qualify for the League of Legends World Cham ...

( eSports) (Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau) (2015–2019) *

Liga Primer Indonesia Liga Primer Indonesia (LPI, sometimes translated to English as ''Indonesian Premier League'') was an Indonesian independent football league held in 2011. It was managed by Konsorsium Liga Premier Indonesia and PT Liga Primer Indonesia and was n ...

(Association Football) (2011) *

Indonesia Premier League Indonesian Premier League (IPL; Indonesian: ''Liga Prima Indonesia'') was the highest level competition for football clubs in Indonesia from 2011 to 2013. This competition was managed by ''PT Liga Prima Indonesia Sportindo'', under supervision ...

(Association Football) (2011–2013) *

Indonesia Soccer Championship Indonesia Soccer Championship (ISC; id, Kejuaraan Sepak Bola Indonesia), also known as Torabika Soccer Championship for sponsorship reasons, was a temporarily professional football competition system in Indonesia, replacing the temporarily-suspe ...

(2016) *

International Premier Tennis League The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL, officially the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League Presented by Qatar Airways pursuant to sponsorship agreements with The Coca-Cola Company and Qatar Airways) was an annual team tennis leagu ...

(2014–2016) *

International Volleyball Association The International Volleyball Association was a short lived co-ed professional volleyball league in the United States from 1975 to 1980. Like other major sports leagues in the United States, it had two geographic divisions. However, its teams wer ...

(IVA 1975–1980) * JBL Super League ( Japan) (Basketball) (2001–2007) * Japan Basketball League (2007–2013) *

Japan Football League The also known as simply the JFL is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League associate membership a ...

(1992–1998) *

Japan Soccer League , or JSL, was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professional ...

(JSL 1965–1992) *

Japan Company Rugby Football Championship The Japan Company Rugby Football Championship (全国社会人ラグビーフットボール大会 ''Zenkoku Shakaijin Ragubi- Futtobo-ru Taikai'') is a former Japanese rugby union competition that ran from 1948 to 2003. Teams from companies or the ...

(

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

) (1948–2003) *

Korea National League The Korea National League was a South Korean semi-professional football league held annually from 2003 to 2019. It was considered the second-highest division of the South Korean football league system before the K League 2 was launched in 2013 ...

(

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

) (Association Football) (2003–2019) *

Korean National Semi-Professional Football League The Korean National Semi-professional Football League was contested between South Korean works teams and military teams from 1964 to 2002. It was the predecessor of the Korea National League which was founded in 2003. History After the introduct ...

(

) (1964–2002) * Liga Semi-Pro (Malaysia) (Association Football) (1989–1993) * Liga Perdana (Malaysia) (Association Football) (1994–1997) * Liga Perdana 1 (Malaysia) (Association Football) (1998–2003) * Liga Perdana 2 (Malaysia) (Association Football) (1998–2003) *

Major League Ultimate Major League Ultimate (MLU) was a North American semi-professional Ultimate (sport), Ultimate league from 2013 to 2016. It was composed of eight member teams, seven in the United States and one in Canada. It was formed in 2012, and began its inaugu ...

(2013–16) *

Major League Volleyball Major League Volleyball (MLV) was a women's professional volleyball league in the United States. It was established in 1987 and disbanded during its third season on March 20, 1989. The league was launched in 1987 with six teams consisting of ni ...

(1987–89) *

Malaysia National Basketball League The Malaysia National Basketball League (Petronas-Molten Malaysia National Basketball League for sponsorship reason), often abbreviated to the MNBL, was the pre-eminent men's basketball league in Malaysia, organised by the Malaysia Basketball As ...

(1981–2013) *

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League ( ms, Liga Premier) was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. The league replaced the former second-tier league, Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier Leag ...

(Association Football) (2004–2022) * Malaysia Pro League (Basketball) (2017–2019) * Metropolitan Basketball Association (Philippines) (1998–2002) *

National Basketball League (Japan) The National Basketball League (NBL) was a professional basketball league in Japan run by the Japan Basketball Association (JBA). The first NBL season started in Autumn 2013, replacing the JBA's previous top-flight league, the Japan Basketball Lea ...

(2013–2016) *

National Bowling League The National Bowling League (NBL) is a defunct professional bowling league that existed from February 24, 1960 to July 9, 1962. The league was formed as an attempt to ride the popularity of bowling television shows, and also to challenge the Profess ...

(NBL 1961–62) * World League of American Football
/ NFL Europe (1991–2007) *

Philippine Premier League The Philippine Premier League (PPL) was a short-lived top-flight association football league in the Philippines sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). It was intended as a successor league to the Philippines Football League (PFL ...

(Association Football) (2019) *

Philippine Super Liga The Philippine Super Liga (PSL; alternatively spelled as Philippine Superliga) was a non-professional corporate club women's volleyball league in the Philippines. It was first organized by SportsCore Event Management and Consultancy, Inc. an ...

(

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

) (2013–2021) * PBL –

Pro Basketball League The Pro Basketball League (PBL), was the highest tier level professional basketball league in Belgium for sports clubs, clubs. In 2021, the league was succeeded by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT League. Through 2014, for sponsorship reasons, the league ...

(Belgium, 1928–2021, though not professional until the 1990s); merged with the Dutch Basketball League to establish the current BNXT League *

Premier Futsal The Premier Futsal League was an Indian franchise-based futsal league conceptualised by Indian entrepreneurs under the entity of Premier Futsal Management Pvt. Ltd. It was founded by Abhinandan Balasubramanian, Dinesh Raj and Nithyashree Su ...

(India) (2016–2017) *

Premier Hockey League Premier Hockey League (PHL) was a professional field hockey league competition for clubs in the top division of the Indian hockey system. There were seven teams in the PHL. The competition was held every year from 2005 until 2008. History The ...

(India) (

Field Hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

) (2005–08) *

Pro Cricket The history of United States cricket begins in the 18th century. Among early Americans, cricket was as popular a bat and ball game as baseball. Though Americans never played cricket in great numbers, the game grew for some time. Around the time ...

(2004) *

Pro Wrestling League The Pro Wrestling League (PWL) is an Indian sport wrestling promotion that was first established in 2015. It was initiated by ProSportify and Wrestling Federation of India. Structure The Pro Wrestling League includes six franchises, which r ...

(India) (

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

) (2015–19) *

(US rugby union league, 2016) *

Professional Slow Pitch Softball League During the late 1970s and early 1980s, several men's professional slow-pitch softball leagues were formed in the United States to build on the growth and talent in the booming men's amateur game during this period. The American Professional Slo-Pi ...

s (1977–82) *

Shakey's V-League The Premier Volleyball League (PVL) is a women's professional volleyball league in the Philippines organized by Sports Vision Management Group, Inc. The league began in 2004 as the Shakey's V-League, a women's collegiate league. Since 2011, th ...

(

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 ...

) (

) (2004–2016) *

Taiwan Major League The Taiwan Major League Professional Baseball (TML; ) was a professional baseball league in Taiwan that operated from 1996 to 2003. It was established by TV tycoon Chiu Fu-sheng after a row over the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) b ...

(

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 ...

) (1996–2003) *

Top Challenge League The Top Challenge League was a professional rugby union competition in Japan. It was the second-highest level of rugby competition in the country and is a companies league; all the teams are owned by major companies and the players are generally ...

( Japan) (

) (2004–2021) * UBA Pro Basketball League (India) (2015–2017) * UCypher (

) ( eSports) (2018) *

Women's American football Women's gridiron football, more commonly known as women's tackle football, women's American football, women's Canadian football, or simply women's football, is a form of gridiron football (American or Canadian) played by women. Most leagues play ...

leagues since 2004 * Women's Western Volleyball League (WWVL 1993–94)

References

{{reflist

External links

North American Pro Sports Teams
Lists every imaginable league that has operated in Canada and / or the United States. Grouped by city. * Leagues