Australian and American sports

Djurgården play at Stockholm Olympic Stadium. AIK and Sweden national football play at Råsunda Stadium. FSCB play at Stadionul Ghencea. Steaua Bucharest plays at Terenul 5 stadium. Stadium Australia, 75,000 (exterior)

North Dakota Fighting Sioux rebrand as North Dakota Fighting Hawks.

The term "redskins" was banned and Native American imagery and merch is removed and banned entirely.

## **National Yardball League (NYL)**

The National Yardball League (NYL) is a professional yardball league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the West Conference and the East Conference. The NYL is 1 of the 4 major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of Yardball in the world.

The NYL's 18-week regular season runs from the week after Labour Day to the week before Christmas, with each team playing 17 games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, 8 teams from each conference advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, played between the champions of the West and East Conferences.

### **Teams**

Washington Commanders were originally called Washington Redskins, however the "Redskins" name was controversial and considered "racist" and "insensitive" to American Indians/Native Americans, leading the team to retire it in 2020 as part of a wave of racial name changes in the wake of the George Floyd protests. The team tentatively rebranded as the Washington Football Team and adopt the permanent name "Commanders" for the 2022 season. Kansas City also renamed the "Chiefs" to "Brigade" to avoid any racist and offensive connotations to Native Americans

Lucas Oil Stadium, State Farm Stadium and NRG Stadium are permanently open-air, and AT&T Stadium is in a permeant dome (no retractable roof)

LA Bowl (NCAA) will be held at SoFi Stadium.

### **Format**

The NYL runs a 18-week regular season since 2011, with all 32 teams playing a total of 17 regular season games, 8 home, 8 away and 1 neutral. NYL formula schedule. The Super Bowl is held in the stadium of the previous year's champions.

### **NYL International Series**

(cancelled 2020-2022)

1. 2 games at Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany - Munich Games
2. 2 games at Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt, Germany - Frankfurt Games
3. 2 games at Rheinstadion, Dusseldorf, Germany - Dusseldorf Games
4. 2 games at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
5. 2 games at ?
6. 2 games at Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico - Mexico Games
7. 2 games at ANZ Stadium, Sydney, NSW, Australia
8. 2 games at FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa

### **Playoffs**

* West Conference Trophy
* East Conference Trophy
* Conference Final Logo

### **Media coverage**

Thursday Night Yardball is on DAZN, Sunday 1pm match is live on Fox, 4:05pm Sunday match is on HBO, 4:25 Sunday match is on Fox, Sunday Night Yardball is on Showtime and Monday Night Yardball is on ESPN / Disney+

The 1st game of the week is played on Thursday night - DAZN, kicking off at 8:20PM (ET). The majority of games are played on Sunday, 11 (10 when Monday has 2 games) kicking off at 1:00PM (ET) - FS1, 1 game kicking off at 4:05PM (ET) - CBS, 1 on 4:25 PM (ET) – Fox / DAZN, and 1 Sunday night game at 8:20PM (ET) - Showtime. 1 Monday night game then starts at 8:15 PM (ET) – ESPN / Disney+, every week with the exception of the 1st week of the regular season, in which 2 Monday night games are played back-to-back (the 2nd game always occurring on the West coast), as well as the last week of the season, in which no Monday night game is held. In addition to these regularly scheduled games, there are occasionally games at other times, such as a Saturday evening, or the annual Thanksgiving Day games in which 3 games are played, 1 on NBC / Peacock, 1 on Fox / DAZN and 1 on CBS. Under a permanent agreement, the Detroit Lions play the early game, followed by Dallas in the afternoon. The evening game does not have a set team. During the final week of the regular season, all games are held on Sunday, and since 2010, divisional matchups.

New York Jets regular season games are exclusively live on MSG Network and MSG+

NYL Playoffs Conference QF and SF is spilt equally between DAZN, HBO, Fox and ESPN / Disney+. Fox (and FS1) airs Western Conference games exclusively (including Western Conference Final), and HBO airs Eastern Conference games exclusively (including Eastern Conference Final). Super Bowl is aired live exclusively on Showtime.

NYL does not sell game broadcasts on an individual team basis

#### International

* Canada: CTV, CTV2, TSN / TSN2, RDS / RDS2 (French)
* Mexico: ESPN Latin America, Fox Sports, Azteca Deportes, Televisa Deportes
* Africa: ESPN

### Asia

 Indonesia, Timor Leste
 Japan
 Philippines
 Thailand
 MENA | SSC and ShahidVIP

### Oceania

 New Zealand
ESPN (Pay): Thursday night game, Sunday night game, 2 Sunday afternoon games and Monday night games. All play-off games.

### All-star game

The Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Yardball League (NYL), matching the top players in the Western Conference against those in the Eastern Conference (East vs West). From 2014 through 2016, the NYL experimented with an unconferenced format, where the teams were selected by 2 honorary team captains (who are each in the Hall of Fame), instead of selecting players from each conference. The players were picked in a televised "schoolyard pick" prior to the game. Unlike most North American major sports leagues, which hold their all-star games roughly midway through their regular seasons, the Pro Bowl is played around the end of the NYL season. The first official Pro Bowl was played in January 1951, 3 weeks after the 1950 NYL Championship Game (between 1939 and 1942, the NYL experimented with all-star games pitting the league's champion against a team of all-stars). Between 1970 and 2009, the Pro Bowl was usually held the weekend after the Super Bowl. Since 2010, it has been played the Sunday before the Super Bowl; as a result, players from the 2 teams competing in the Super Bowl will not participate.

For years, the game has suffered from lack of interest due to perceived low quality, with observers and commentators expressing their disfavour with it in its current state. It draws lower television ratings than regular season NYL games, although the game draws similar ratings to other major all-star games, such as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. However, the biggest concern of teams is to avoid injuries to the star players. The Associated Press wrote that players in the 2012 game were "hitting each other as though they were having a pillow fight". Despite these criticisms, however, players who are selected to the Pro Bowl are nonetheless honoured in a similar standing to their counterparts in the other leagues, and being named to it is considered to be a significant accomplishment for any player.

Between 1980 and 2016, the game was played at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii except for two years (2010 and 2015). On June 1, 2016, the NYL announced that they reached a multi-year deal to move the game to Orlando, Florida, as part of the league's ongoing efforts to make the game more relevant

Since 2017, when the conference format was restored, the league takes an approach similar to the NYL Color Rush initiative, in which jerseys, pants, and socks were all a uniform colour (red for the AFC, blue for the NFC).

The International Bowl is a competition between United States and Canada. It is played annually switching between USA and Canada.

## **Canadian Yardball League (CYL)**

The CFL is the highest level of competition in Yardball

McMaster Marauders from U Sports play at Ron Joyce Stadium

## **Major League Baseball (MLB)**

### **Teams**

Cleveland Guardians were originally called Cleveland Indians, however the "Indians" name was controversial and considered "racist" and "insensitive" to American Indians/Native Americans, leading the team to retire it following the 2021 season as part of a wave of racial name changes in the wake of the George Floyd protests, they will adopt the permanent name "Guardians" for the 2022 season. Chief Wahoo, Cleveland Indians' logo, was officially retired following the 2018 season as was any other Native American imagery and merchandize

The Atlanta Hammers will no long do the "tomahawk chop"

All baseball stadiums do not have a retractable roof and are open-air except for The Thunderdome

### **Format**

MLB season starts on 1st Sunday of May (Opening Day). A team will play 80 games, 40 home and 40 on the road. Teams have Tuesday and Wednesday off. Frequently, games are scheduled at night. Saturday and Sunday games are generally played during the afternoon (except 1 each day), allowing teams to travel to their next destination. In addition, teams will play day games frequently on Opening Day, holidays, and getaway days. 1 Thursday night, 1 Friday night, 3 Saturday (1 night), 10 Sunday games (1 night), 1 Monday night.

A team will play everyone else twice = 62 games (20 games remaining). Play other teams within their own division twice (x2) = 6 (meaning they play teams within their own division 4 times), 62 + 6 = 68 (14 games remaining). Play the other team in the other divisions but the same conference once again = 12 games, 68 + 12 = 80 games.

Rainouts and other cancellations are often rescheduled ad hoc during the season, sometimes as doubleheaders. However, if 2 teams are scheduled to meet for the final time in the last 2 weeks of the season, and the game is cancelled, it may not be rescheduled if there is no impact on conference postseason positions. For example, in 2016, the September 29 game between the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers was cancelled due to rain because the teams were unable to reschedule a make-up date before the end of the season on October 2, and it did not affect the conference race. In contrast, a 2008 game between Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox needed to be made up following the last day of the regular season because it affected a West Conference postseason involving the White Sox and the Minnesota Twins. In general, a game becomes suspended when it is halted by:

1. A curfew imposed by law
2. A predetermined time limit
3. Artificial light failure or other mechanical problems that impact the game
4. Darkness, if the lights cannot be turned on as a result of local law
5. Inclement weather during an official game (that is, enough innings have been played to yield a result) and an inning is in progress, and during that inning the visiting team took the lead, and the home team has not retaken the lead (as the home team might still tie the game or retake the lead)
6. Field is found to be unfit for play
7. A regulation game called with the score tied
8. Other unusual causes (such as bee swarms)

If a game is rained out before play begins, it is rescheduled for a later date. If it has already begun and rain falls, several scenarios are used to determine the need to resume play:

* If a game has completed the top half of the 5th inning and the home team is ahead, the game can be deemed an official game. The home team is declared the winner, and the game officially counts in standings.
* If a game has completed the bottom half of the 5th inning and either team is ahead, and in Minor League Baseball and college games if it is the final game of the series, the game can be deemed an official game. The leading team is declared the winner, and the game officially counts in standings. However, if the game is rained out prior to the completion of an inning in which the visiting team scored 1 or more runs to take the lead, and the home team has not retaken the lead, the game is suspended, to be resumed at a later date.
* If a game has completed the 5th inning, and the teams are tied, or in college and some Minor League Baseball games regardless of inning, and it is not the final game in the series (the 1st or 2nd game in a 3-game series, also regardless of inning), or in Major League Baseball starting in 2020, the game has started and has not reached official game status, the game is considered suspended, and the resumption of the game is scheduled for a future date (usually the following day). The game picks up from where it left off. All games stopped for power outages after the 5th inning are considered suspended if it is not the final game in the series, regardless of the game's score.
* In the MLB postseason, regardless of inning, all games stopped at any time for weather or power outages are considered suspended and continued from the point of stoppage when play resumes, no matter if the game has not reached the requirements above. This rule was put into place as a result of Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, which was the 1st postseason game in history to be suspended and resumed from the point of suspension. Prior to the 2009 postseason, a playoff game had to have at least 5 innings completed in order to be suspendable; a playoff game stopped prior to that point had to be started over. An example was Game 1 of the 1982 National League Championship Series, which reached the top of the fifth inning, but had to be restarted from scratch the next day.
* If none of the previous scenarios apply, the game cannot be deemed official. The umpire crew chief declares "No Game," and a make-up of the game is scheduled for a future date unless it is not feasible. The latter occurs mainly among the minor leagues and college due to travel schedules, and only in the major leagues among teams that have been declared mathematically eliminated from postseason play where no benefit in the standings would be derived. The statistics compiled during the rained out game are not counted.

The scheduling of make up dates generally follow these guidelines:

* If the game is postponed or suspended and neither team has a game the following day, then the game will be made up the following day. Venue remains the same.
* If the game is postponed or suspended, 1 or both teams play a different team the following day, and the teams meet again at the same venue later in the season, then the game will be rescheduled to a future series between the 2 teams at that venue, usually as part of a doubleheader. This mainly applies to division rivals.
* If the game is postponed or suspended, 1 or both teams play a different team the following day, and the teams do not meet again at the same venue later in the season, then 2 options apply. Usually, the teams find a convenient shared open date to play the makeup game at the venue where the rainout occurred. In rare cases, if the teams play again later in the season, the game gets rescheduled to that series, usually as part of a doubleheader. For the makeup game, the team that would have hosted the game will wear their home jerseys even though the game is played at a different venue. This happened in 2013, when the Giants and the Reds met in a doubleheader at AT&T Park because a game between the two at Great American Ball Park was rained out and both teams had to play the following day.
* If a makeup game must be postponed or suspended again, then the same doubleheader rules apply. This scenario is very uncommon.
* Major League Baseball has never played a postseason doubleheader, preferring to postpone games to avoid such an occurrence. However, there was 1 doubleheader played in 1887 during a 15-game "World’s Championship Series" between the Detroit Wolverines and the St. Louis Browns.
* In Minor League Baseball, postseason doubleheaders can happen but are very uncommon; one such instance happened in 1994, when the first game of the Pacific Coast League's championship series between the Vancouver Canadians and the Albuquerque Dukes was rained out and the two teams played a doubleheader on the day of the second game.
* If the teams are playing an international series and the game gets rained out, then the game will usually be made up at the neutral site as part of a doubleheader, but if that is not possible then the game gets rescheduled as part of a future series between the 2 at the designated home team's venue, usually as part of a doubleheader.
* Triple headers are now prohibited under the current collective bargaining agreement, except when the first game is the conclusion of a game suspended from a prior date. This would only happen in the extremely rare case of the only remaining dates between teams being doubleheaders and no single games are left for the suspended game to precede. The last triple header occurred on October 1, 1920

### **Postseason**

The postseason consists of 16 teams (8 from each conference). The Conference Quarterfinals is a best-of-3 series, while the rest are best-of-7 series. For Conference Quarterfinals, Games 1 and 3 (if necessary) are played at the home field of the higher seeded team with Game 2 at the opposing team.

Best of 7 series follows a 2–2–1–1–1 format: the higher-seeded team plays at home for games 1 and 2 (and games 5 and 7, if necessary), and the lower-seeded team is at home for games 3 and 4 (and game 6, if necessary).

If both Conference winners meet each other in the World Series then the home advantage is given to the team with the more points, if tied then by the winning percentage and if still tied then by number of wins.

World Series Game 7 will always be on the 1st weekend of September.

### **Media coverage**

2480 regular games in total; MLB is shown live on TV on Showtime, Fox / DAZN and HBO. Opening Day, Baseball Tonight (Friday Night), Sunday Night Baseball, and Home Run Derby are live on Showtime. Showtime will show 90 games in total. MLB Extra Innings (games not shown on Fox, Showtime or HBO) is on DAZN with blackout policy – if a team does not fill 80% of capacity at least 24 hours before the first pitch, the match will be blacked out from DAZN. If a team reaches 80% capacity it will be available on DAZN.

Sunday Afternoon Baseball is on HBO. Fox & FS1 will carry 52 regular season including Thursday Night Baseball (live on Fox), Saturday afternoon match (live on FS1), Saturday night (live on FS1), the MLB All-Star Game (live on Fox).

* All New York Yankees and New York Mets regular-season matches (except when they play the Braves on the road) exclusively live on MSG Network and MSG+
* All Atlanta Braves matches will be exclusively live on HBO

In the MLB Postseason, Fox / DAZN will air exclusively 1 conference quarterfinal, 1 conference semifinal, 1 conference final each year. Showtime airs exclusively 1 conference quarterfinal, and at World Series. The network will alternate between East Conference and West Conference final for each. HBO will air 2 conference semifinal, 1 conference final.

During the MLB Postseason, the 1st and 2nd round series' is split between Showtime, Fox / DAZN and HBO. The Conference Final is split between Fox / DAZN and Showtime. The Fall Classic is live on HBO

In Canada, Sportsnet broadcasts all Toronto Blue Jays games nationally. The channel is owned by Rogers Communications, who is also the parent company of the Blue Jays. Sportsnet also televises Fox / FS1‘s and TBS’s coverage. TSN2 carries ESPN Baseball coverage

## **National Basketball Association (NBA)**

### **Teams**

Teams begin training camps in late September. Training camps allow the coaching staff to evaluate players (especially rookies), scout the team's strengths and weaknesses, prepare the players for the rigorous regular season, and determine the 12-man active roster (and a 3-man inactive list) with which they will begin the regular season. Teams have the ability to assign players with less than 2 years of experience to the NBA D-League. A round of pre-season matches are called NBA Global Games

During the regular season; a team will play everyone else twice = 62 games. A team will play everyone else in their own division twice (4 times in total) = 14 games, and then play team that finished in same position + team below them if finished in odd numbered place (1st, 3rd, 5th , 7th), or above if it’s even numbered place (2nd, 4th, 6th , 8th) in the other division that they’re paired with twice = 6 games. South Division is paired with Pacific Division, Great Lakes is paired with East Division. Brings the total of 82 regular season games. The NBA is also the only league that regularly schedules games on Christmas Day.

In February, the regular season pauses to celebrate the annual NBA All-Star Weekend. Attractions of the All-Star break include the Rising Stars Challenge, where the top rookies and 2nd-year players in the NBA play in a 5-on-5 basketball game, pitting U.S. players against those from the rest of the world; the Skills Challenge, where players compete to finish an obstacle course consisting of shooting, passing, and dribbling in the fastest time; the 3 Point Contest, where players compete to score the most amount of 3-point field goals in a given time; and the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, where players compete to dunk the ball in the most entertaining way according to the judges.

The team captains were determined by the top 2 most votes received. Each team will pick a charity to play for, and the winning team will have money donated to their charity. The winning team will receive $100,000 for each player and the losing team $25,000 each. The player with the best performance during the game is rewarded with a Game MVP award.

### **NBA Global Games**

2 games at Mexico City Arena, Mexico City - NBA Mexico Game

2 games at NBA London Game (O2 Arena, London) - NBA London Game

1. Manchester, England - NBA Manchester Game
2. Ticketpro Dome, Johannesburg, South Africa - NBA Africa Game
3. AccorHotels Arena, Paris - NBA Paris Game
4. Madrid, Spain - NBA Madrid Game
5. Barcelona, Spain - NBA Barcelona Game
6. Milan, Italy - NBA Milan Game
7. Memphis Grizzlers host at Rogers Arena, Vancouver
8. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, Mumbai
9. Mall of Asia Arena, Manila
10. Mercedes-Benz Arena, Shanghai - NBA Shanghai Game
11. LeSports Center, Beijing - NBA China Game
12. HSBC Arena, Rio de Janeiro - NBA Rio

Pre-season: NBA champions vs EuroLeague champions held at EuroLeague home arena

### **NBA Playoffs**

The top 4 teams in a division qualifies for the NBA Playoffs meaning a total of 16 teams play in the NBA Playoffs. It’s contested from April to the beginning of June. Divisional Semifinals, Divisional Finals, NBA Semifinals and NBA Finals

All rounds follows a 2–2–1–1–1 format; the team with home advantage hosts games 1, 2, 5, and 7, while their opponent hosts games 3, 4, and 6. Games 5 to 7 are only played if needed.

For the NBA Semifinals. Teams advancing to the NBA Semifinals are re-seeded 1 through 4 based on regular season points (if possible regular season record, point difference, greater number of games won and head-to-head record), 1v4 and 2v3. The higher seeded team gets the home advantage for the NBA Finals.

### **NBA Salary cap**

The NBA salary cap is the limit to the total amount of money that National Basketball Association teams are allowed to pay their players. Like many professional sports leagues, the NBA has a salary cap to control costs.

The NBA salary cap is at $50 million, a maximum of 3 players can exceed the salary cap known as the “Larry Bird” rule.

### **Media coverage**

The NBA is shown on ABC / ESPN and TBS (except for 2 instances, *see below*). Currently, ESPN shows doubleheaders on Wednesday and Friday nights, while TBS shows doubleheaders on Thursday and Tuesday nights. ABC shows a single game on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons. Games are shown almost every night on DAZN except for matches shown on ABC, TBS, Tip-off Week, Christmas Day, and MLK Day. 3 Christmas Day matches are on ABC and 2 is on ESPN. More games may be shown as the end of the regular season approaches, particularly games with playoff significance.

* All Atlanta Hawks regular season matches will be exclusively live on TBS - this is because the founder of TBS; Ted Turner used to also own the Hawks, as part of the agreement with the owner, broadcast networks and NBA
* All Philadelphia 76ers regular season matches will be exclusively live on NBC networks - this is because Comcast Spectacor owns the company and is the parent company of Comcast who also own NBC as part of the agreement with the owner, broadcast networks and NBA
* All New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets (as well as WNBA's New York Liberty and NBA D-League Westchester Knicks) regular season matches will be exclusively live on MSG Network and MSG+

During the playoffs, the 1st and 2nd round series' is split between TBS, ESPN, ABC and DAZN on mostly weekends. The NBA Final 4 Semis are split between ABC / DAZN and TBS; the 2 networks alternate which series they will carry from year to year. NBA Finals Series air on ESPN / DAZN.

In Canada, Toronto Raptors is shared equally between TSN and Sportsnet. TSN aired 148 regular-season games with the rest on Sportsnet. The playoff series' (not including Raptors if they qualify) is spilt between 2 networks equally also. TSN broadcasts the NBA Summer League and NBA G League. TSN and Sportsnet broadcast the WNBA equally.

### **NBA D-League**

The NBA Development League, or NBA D-League, is the National Basketball Association's official developmental league basketball organization. The NBA D-League started with eight teams in the fall of 2001. In March 2005, NBA commissioner David Stern announced a plan to expand the NBA D-League to 15 teams and develop it into a true minor league farm system, with each NBA D-League team affiliated with one or more NBA teams. At the conclusion of the 2013–14 NBA season, 33% of NBA players had spent time in the NBA D-League, up from 23% in 2011.

**Teams**

1. San Diego Clippers-Pechanga Arena (capacity: 16,100)

## **National Hockey League**

### **Teams**

Nassau Coliseum was closed and demolishment in 2020

### **Format**

A team will play 68 games, 34 home and 34 on the road. A team will play everyone else twice = 62 games, and play teams within their own group (e.g. a Great Lakes team will play the other Great Lakes team) twice again = 6 games (meaning a team will play the other 3 teams four times in a season). 62 + 6 = 68

### **Media coverage**

ABC will air 37 exclusive national regular-season games as well as opening night games, NHL All-Star Weekend, NHL Winter Classic and NHL Heritage Classic, and 37 games exclusively on ESPN, with all ESPN and ABC matches streaming on DAZN. NHL Centre Ice (matches not shown nationally) is on DAZN. TNT will air 72 regular-season games with all games streaming on HBO Max.

* All Philadelphia Flyers (and Maine Mariners of ECHL) matches will be exclusively live on NBC networks - this is because Comcast Spectacor owns the company and is the parent company of Comcast who also own NBC as part of the agreement with the owner, broadcast networks and NHL
* All Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils (as well as AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Rochester Americans and Hartford Wolf Pack) matches (except when they are playing the Flyers on the road) will be exclusively live on MSG Network and MSG+

The NHL Stanley Cup playoff will be spilt equally between ESPN, DAZN, ABC and TBS. The entire NHL Stanley Cup Finals is shown nationally on ABC

In Canada, for English-language it is spilt between CBC and Sportsnet. French-language is shown on TVA Sports (beginning in the 2014–15 season).

### NHL Global Series

1. Britain
2. Japan
3. Austria
4. Germany
5. Finland
6. Switzerland
7. Czech Republic
8. Russia
9. Sweden
10. Slovakia

## **Major League Football (MLF)**

Major League Football is the top-level professional football league in the United States owned by Football United Marketing (FUM). The league consists of 24 teams. The regular season runs from February to October, with a total of 369 games played every season. MLF teams also play in other competitions against teams from other divisions and countries, such as the U.S. Open Cup, the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana.

The MLF was founded in 1993 as part of the United States' successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The 1st season took place in 1996 with 10 teams. MLF experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years; the league lost millions of dollars, teams played in mostly empty American football stadiums, and 2 teams folded in 2002. Since then, MLF has expanded to 20 teams, owners built football-specific stadiums, average attendance at MLF matches exceeds that of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Major League Baseball (MLB), MLF secured national TV contracts, and the league is now profitable.

Boston Rovers' supporters refer to themselves as the "Bean Town Bullies" which is fitting with their history of being... not very nice to visiting fans. Encounters with law enforcement are common place at Rovers matches, they are especially common when another original 4 team is in town. The Rovers have incredible support at away matches as well, almost always selling out the visitors section, their fans are rowdy and known for chanting "Rooooooooovers, Rooooooooovers" over the home teams chants and songs.

Atlanta United and FC Seattle are the only 2 teams to not have a football-specific stadium and share a stadium.

### **Format**

24 teams plays 1 game against each other team in the league (23 games), and then splits into a Top 12 group and Bottom 12 group, where they play against each other team in the group once more (for a 34 game total schedule). Team that finishes 1st in Top 12 wins the league, bottom 3 teams in Bottom 12 group is relegated to the USL Championship

### **Player acquisition and salaries**

MLF salaries are limited by a salary cap, which MLF has had in place since the league's inception in 1996. The purpose of the salary cap is to prevent the team's owners from unsustainable spending on player salaries and to prevent a competitive imbalance among teams. Teams may augment their squads by signing players from other leagues. MLF has 2 transfer windows; the primary pre-season transfer window lasts 3 months from February until May, and the secondary mid season transfer window runs for a month in July & August. MLF has also introduced various initiatives and rules intended to improve quality of players while still maintaining the salary cap. Rules concerning Designated Players, Generation Adidas players and home grown players. These initiatives have brought about an increase in on-field competition.

The designated player (DP) rule allows teams to sign a limited number of players whose salary exceeds the maximum cap, in 2015 maximum of 3 players. The league operates a Generation Adidas program, which is a joint venture between PLA and USAFF that allows young American players who are not in PLA academies to play college football and then they recommend the player to PLA clubs to pick him in the MLF CollegeDraft. The Generation Adidas program has been in place since 1997, and has been changed in 2015. PLA has required all of its teams to operate youth academies. Teams have the ability to sign an unlimited number of their own home grown players to the senior team each year on contracts similar to Generation Adidas contracts which do not count against the MLF salary budget and may earn a much higher salary than the league maximum to incentivise youth development.  Various MLF teams' academies play matches in MLF Academy League. Within the squad there can be a maximum of 5 "foreign" players, from outside USA and Canada.

### **Media coverage**

MLF on television is broadcast in the United States in English on ESPN and Fox Sports/Fox. Fox will broadcast 391 regular season matches, whilst ESPN will broadcast 391, MLF Sunday Ticket is on ESPN+. Fox broadcasts MLF Saturday, features highlights of the day's action every Saturday.

* All New York City FC and New York Cosmos games are live exclusively on Fox/Fox Sports.

## **Australia**

Australia (kit)

Ireland GAA (kit)

Queensland

New South Wales (kit)

Tasmania

Western Australia

### **Australian Caid League (ACL)**

#### **2020 and 2021 season**

Due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic; all teams in the states of Victoria, South Australia and Queensland had to leave their state and play all home games & train in different states due to lockdown and COVID restrictions in the states of Victoria, South Australia and Queensland. The other states allowed ARL to be played. Here are the teams:

For any inter-state matches the travelling team will be subjected to tight isolation and will travel on the day of the match and testing requirements in the week leading up to the match. If a team is playing weeks, North Melbourne Kangaroos will play all home games at Bellerive Oval and will train at Hobart, Tasmania. Sydney Swans will train solely in Moore Park to allow another team to train in Tramway Oval. Blacktown International Sportspark, Sydney, NSW. **Training grounds:**

* Lavington Sports Ground, Albany, NSW
* Narrandera Sports Ground, Narrandera, NSW
* Richmond Oval, Richmond, South Australia
* Noarlunga Oval, Noarlunga Downs, South Australia

#### **Special fixtures**

1. Anzac Day - Collingwood v Essendon held on Anzac Day (25 April) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
2. Sir Doug Nicholls Round (Round 9) - Dreamtime match takes centre stage on a Saturday night
3. Dreamtime match - Essendon v Richmond, the winning club is awarded the "Kevin Sheedy Cup", and the best player on the ground is awarded the "Yiooken Award".
4. The Big Freeze - Melbourne v Collingwood played on the 2nd Monday in June, the best player is awarded the Neale Daniher Trophy. The Big Freeze is a Motor Neurone Disease fundraiser event, in support of the "Cure for MND Foundation". Several well known Aussie rules and TV personalities get dunked into a giant ice pool before the start of the game. Such personalities usually pledge to raise $10,000 for vital MND research after being nominated, and once successful at hitting this target, they then get to pass on the challenge and nominate the next personality into the "cold seat". This person in turn will raise funds and agree to "Freeze for MND" if their fundraising goal is met. The challenge will continue right up until the game, with each celebrity challenging the next
5. Easter Weekend - 1 Maundy Thursday match, 4 Good Friday matches, 2 Easter Saturday matches, 3 Easter Monday clash including between Geelong v Hawthorn
6. QClash - Brisbane v Gold Coast; both from Queensland
7. Showdown - Adelaide v Port Adelaide; both from South Australia
8. Sydney Derby - Sydney v Greater Western Sydney
9. Western Derby - West Coast v Fremantle; both from Western Australia

Notes

* Essendon Bombers - Song: See the Bombers Fly Up
* Gender-neutral bathrooms are a mandatory requirement in the state of Victoria
* Caulfield Racecourse
* Sunshine Coast Stadium

#### **Format**

The ARL season starts in late March and ending in early September. It’s played in a single round-robin + 3 rival matches meaning each team will play a total of 22 games. Teams receive 4 points for a win and 2 points for a draw. Ladder finishing positions are based on the number of premiership points won, if tied then it’s determined by "percentage" (calculated as the ratio of points scored to points conceded throughout the season) is used as a tie-breaker when teams finish with equal premiership points. At the end of the regular season, the McClelland Trophy is awarded to the minor premiers. It’s played from the 1st week of March until the 2nd week of July.

#### **State of Origin**

State of Origin match is played as a 'curtain raiser' to the ARL season between the state of Victoria (the "Big V") and the "All-Stars" (rest of Australia).