50 Sporting Events You Must See Live • A Featured List on Day Zero Project Attend the Italian Grand Prix ITALY The Italian Grand Prix (Gran Premio d'Italia) is one of the longest running events on the motor racing calendar. The first Italian Grand Prix motor racing championship took place on 4 September 1921 at Brescia. However, the race is more closely associated with the course at Monza, which was built in 1922 in time for that year's race, and has been the location for most of the races over the years. The 1923 race included one of Harry A. Attend the Super Bowl UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League (NFL), the premier association of professional American football. It was first played on January 15, 1967, as part of a merger agreement between the NFL and its then-rival league, the American Football League (AFL). It was agreed that the two leagues' champion teams would play in an AFL–NFL World Championship Game until the merger was consummated in 1970.

Attend the Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that started in 1904. The Winter Olympics were also created due to the success of the summer Olympics. Attend the 24 Hours of Le Mans FRANCE The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance, it is organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and runs on a circuit containing closed public roads that are meant not only to test a car and driver's ability to be quick, but also to last over a 24 hour period. Attend a Stanley Cup Final The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals.

It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously (chiefly by sportswriters) as Lord Stanley's Mug. The Stanley Cup is surrounded by numerous legends and traditions, the oldest of which is the celebratory drinking of champagne out of the cup by the winning team. Attend the Major League Baseball World Series UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The World Series has been the annual championship series of the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada since 1903, concluding the postseason of Major League Baseball. Since the Series takes place in October, sportswriters many years ago dubbed the event the Fall Classic; it is also sometimes known as the October Classic or simply The Series. Attend the Daytona 500 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The Daytona 500 is a 500 miles (804.7 km)-long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule. Jamie McMurray is the defending champion of the race.

The Daytona 500 is regarded by many as the most important and prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar, carrying by far the largest purse. Championship points awarded are equal to that of any other Sprint Cup race. Attend the Boston Marathon MASSACHUSETTS The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world's best-known road racing events. It is one of five World Marathon Majors. Today, the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A. ) manages this event. Attend the Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is the premier international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), and is contested by the men's national teams. The inaugural tournament was held in 1987, hosted by both Australia and New Zealand, and is now contested every four years. The tournament is one of the largest international sporting competitions in the world.

The winners are awarded the William Webb Ellis Cup. Are you inspired? Attend the Kentucky Derby KENTUCKY The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter miles (2 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds and fillies 121 pounds (54.9 kg). Attend the Tour de France FRANCE The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than 3,600 kilometres (2,200 mi) and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages. Individual times to finish each stage are aggregated to determine the overall winner at the end of the race. Attend the Cricket World Cup The Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of men's One Day International (ODI) cricket.

The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), with preliminary qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament which is held every four years. The tournament is the world's fourth largest and most viewed sporting event. According to the ICC, it is the most important tournament and the pinnacle of achievement in the sport. Attend the UEFA European Football Championship The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations). Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current name in 1968. Starting with the 1996 tournament, specific championships are often referred to in the form "Euro 2008" or whichever year is appropriate. Attend the Australian Open AUSTRALIA The Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held in January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987.

Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard courts at Melbourne Park. Mats Wilander is the only player to win the tournament on both grass and hard courts. Attend a Red Sox vs. Yankees game at Yankee Stadium NEW YORK The Yankees – Red Sox rivalry is one of the oldest, most famous and fiercest rivalries in North American professional sports. For over 100 years, Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees of the American League have been intense rivals. The rivalry is sometimes so polarizing that it is often a heated taboo subject, like religion or politics, in the Northeastern United States. Attend the Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games are a multi-sport event held every four years. The first Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Some of the original sports were alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and speed skating. Other events have been added as time went on, and some of them, such as luge, short track speed skating, and freestyle skiing have earned a permanent spot on the Olympic programme.

Attend a Cubs Game at Wrigley ILLINOIS Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales. It was called Cubs Park between 1920 and 1926 before being renamed for then Cubs team owner and chewing gum magnate, William Wrigley Jr.. Between 1921 and 1970 it was also the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. Attend the Melbourne Cup AUSTRALIA The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Billed as The race that stops a nation, it is a race for three-year-olds and over, over a distance of 3,200 metres. It is the richest and most prestigious "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races in the world. The event is held at around 3 pm on the first Tuesday in November by the Victoria Racing Club, on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. Attend a Liverpool vs.

Manchester United match at Old Trafford ENGLAND is one of the most significant sporting rivalries in football, sometimes referred to as the North West derby. Both clubs hail from the North West of England, they are also the two most successful teams in England, between them they have won 116 honours, 58 each at present. The fixture is usually played at midday, due to both media (TV) interest and to discourage fans from drinking before the game. Attend the Hong Kong Sevens HONG KONG The Hong Kong Sevens (referred to as Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens for sponsorship reasons) is considered the premier tournament on the IRB Sevens World Series in rugby sevens—a variant of rugby union. Organised by the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (HKRFU), the event is held annually at the last weekend of March in Hong Kong, commencing on a Friday afternoon, and concluding on the Sunday evening. Attend the Monaco Grand Prix MONACO The Monaco Grand Prix is a Formula One race held each year on the Circuit de Monaco.

Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the world, alongside the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (informally known as the Triple Crown of Motorsport). The circuit has been called "an exceptional location of glamour and prestige. Attend a baseball game at Fenway Park MASSACHUSETTS Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts, US Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is the only one of the original standard ballparks that is still in use. Considered to be one of the best-known sports venues in the world, it is also the oldest venue used by a professional sports team in the United States.

Attend a Heavyweight Title Fight at Madison Square Garden NEW YORK Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station. Opening on February 11, 1968, it is the longest active major sporting facility in the New York Metropolitan area, and is the fourth incarnation of the arena in the city. One Penn Plaza stands at its side. Attend an All Blacks Rugby Game The All Blacks represent New Zealand in rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. They won the inaugural Rugby World Cup, are the leading points scorers of all time and the only international rugby team with a winning record against every test nation they have ever played. They have the highest win ratio of 75 percent and rank as the number one team in the world for the most period of time in IRB World Rankings. Attend the X Games UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The X Games is a commercial annual sports event, controlled and arranged by US sports broadcaster ESPN, which focuses on extreme action sports.

The inaugural X Games was held in the summer of 1995 in Rhode Island. The Winter X Games are held in January or February (usually in January) and the Summer X Games are usually held in August, both in the United States. Participants compete to win bronze, silver, and gold medals, and prize money. Attend The Masters Tournament GEORGIA The Masters Tournament, also known as The Masters (sometimes referred to as The U.S. Masters outside of the United States) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, it is the first of the majors to be played each year. Unlike the other major championships, the Masters is held each year at the same location, Augusta National Golf Club, a private golf club in the city of Augusta, Georgia, USA. Attend a Wimbledon tennis match LONDON The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in the London suburb of Wimbledon since 1877.

It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and the only one still played on the game's original surface, grass, which gave the game of lawn tennis its name. Attend the Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup (officially the Ryder Cup Matches) is a golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is also the name of the trophy, after the person who donated it, Samuel Ryder. Attend the Professional Bull Riders World Finals COLORADO Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization based in Pueblo, Colorado, USA. PBR events are televised on Versus, FOX, CBS,and NBC. More than 800 cowboys from the U.S. , Canada, Brazil, Australia, and Mexico hold PBR memberships. The organization began in 1992 through the efforts of 21 professional bull riders, who each contributed $1000.

Attend the US Open Tennis Championship NEW YORK The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a tennis tournament which is the modern incarnation of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, with the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881. Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final tennis major comprising the Grand Slam tennis tournament each year. Rafael Nadal is the most recent mens single winner in 2010. Attend the Grand National ENGLAND The Grand National is a world famous National Hunt horse race which is held at Aintree in the United Kingdom. It is a handicap chase containing thirty fences which is run over a distance of 4 miles and 856 yards (7,242 m). It is presently scheduled to take place each year on a Saturday afternoon in early April. It is the most valuable National Hunt event in Great Britain, and in 2010 it offered a total prize fund of £925,000. Attend the Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations.

As well as many Olympic sports, the Games also include some sports that are played mainly in Commonwealth countries, such as lawn bowls, rugby sevens and netball. The Games are overseen by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which also controls the sporting programme and selects the host cities. Attend the NBA Finals UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the conclusion of the sport's postseason each June. The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986. The series is played between the winners of Eastern Conference Finals and Western Conference Finals. At the conclusion of the championship round, the winner of the NBA Finals is presented the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. (Winners from 1946 to 1977 received the Walter A. Attend the ICC World Twenty20 The ICC World Twenty20 or ICC World T20 also referred to as the T20 World Cup is the international championship of Twenty20 cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament consists of 12 teams and is contested by all Test-playing nations plus qualifiers. The event is held every two years.

The inaugural event, the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, was staged in South Africa from 11–24 September 2007. Attend the Indianapolis 500 INDIANA The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually over the Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The event lends its name to the IndyCar class, or formula, of open-wheel race cars that have competed in it. The event, billed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, is considered one of the three most significant motorsports events in the world. Attend the Major League Baseball All-Star Game UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers.

The All-Star Game usually occurs on the second Tuesday in July and marks the symbolic halfway point in the Major League Baseball (MLB) season (though not the mathematical halfway point; in most seasons, that actually takes place one week earlier). Attend the FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup (also called the Football World Cup, the Soccer World Cup, or simply the World Cup) is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. Attend a La Liga (Spanish league) Championship SPAIN The Primera División (First Division) of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Professional Football League), commonly known as La Liga (The League) or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA (BBVA League) since 2008, is the top professional association football league in Spain.

It is contested by 20 teams, with the three lowest placed teams relegated to the Segunda División and replaced by the top three teams in that division. Attend the French Open FRANCE The French Open is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the second of the Grand Slam tournaments on the annual tennis calendar and the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world. Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam still held on clay and ends the spring clay court season. Attend Royal Ascot ENGLAND Ascot Racecourse is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races, the same number as Newmarket. The course is closely associated with the British Royal Family, being approximately six miles from Windsor Castle, and owned by the Crown Estate. Attend the America's Cup The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup sailing regatta match, and the oldest active trophy in international sport.

Originally named the Royal Yacht Squadron Cup, it became known as the "America's Cup" after the first yacht to win the trophy, the schooner America. Attend the British Grand Prix ENGLAND The British Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Silverstone Circuit near the village of Silverstone in Northamptonshire. The British and Italian Grands Prix are the oldest continuously staged Formula One World Championship Grands Prix. Attend the Manhattan Beach Open LOS ANGELES Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played on sand. Like other variations of volleyball, two teams, separated by a high net, try to score points against the other by grounding a ball on the other team's court. Competitive beach volleyball teams usually consist of two players, though recreational variations can contain up to six players. Attend the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ALASKA The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, in Alaska, where mushers and teams of typically 16 dogs cover 1,161 miles (1,868 km) in nine to fifteen days from Willow to Nome.

The race begins on the first Saturday in March (the 2010 race began on March 6). The Iditarod began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams, evolving into the highly competitive race it is today. Attend the Ironman World Championship HAWAII The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organised by the World Triathlon Corporation and is currently sponsored by Ford. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification races held throughout the world. File:US Navy 051015-N-9419C-004 Almost 2,000 triathletes begin the 2.4-mile swim at the Ironman World Championship triathlon, held in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. jpg 360px Attend a football game at Maracanã Stadium BRAZIL The Estádio do Maracanã, officially Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is an open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Owned by the Rio de Janeiro State Government, it is named after the Maracanã neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, and in the final game Brazil was beaten 2-1 by Uruguay. Since then, it has mainly been used for football matches between the major football clubs in Rio de Janeiro, including Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense, and Vasco da Gama. It has also hosted a number of concerts and other sporting events. MLB World Series: most World Series wins 1903-2016 | Statista This graphic shows the MLB teams with the most seasons since their last World Series ... Show more Number of World Series championships won by team from 1903 to 2016 The statistic depicts the number of World Series championships won in Major League Baseball by team from 1903 to 2016. The New York Yankees have won the World Series 27 times. MLB World Series - additional information Baseball in North America has a long history, dating back at least to the 1850s, when it was already referred to as the national game or national pastime.

In the late 1800s, the National Association of Base Ball Players, the sport's first governing body, was formed in the New York area. Today, Major League Baseball (MLB) is the governing body of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, uniting two leagues — the American League (AL) and the National League (AL), each with 15 teams and three divisions. Every October, the winners of each league championship series meet, in order to play the MLB World Series, the most important event of the baseball season, as well as one of the most valuable sports event brands worldwide . The World Series winners are determined in a best-of-seven-game series. The first official edition of the championship was held in 1903 and all other ones before that date are not recognized by the MLB. As of 2014, the World Series has been held a number of 110 times, the American League champion winning 63 editions and the National League champion 47.

The most prolific team in the history of the game is the New York Yankees , which was the winner of the World Series a record 27 times, more than twice the number of wins of the second-ranked team, St. Louis Cardinals. The Yankees, which play in the American League East, were established in 1901 under the name The Orioles in Baltimore and were rebranded in 1913 in New York. The New York Yankees, who won the World Series more than any other team, are also the most valuable franchise in Major League Baseball . As of 2015, the team’s brand value is estimated at some 3.2 billion U.S. dollars. It is also one of the teams with the best paid baseball players in the world , such as C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira or Alex Rodriguez. Show more Major League Baseball | Baseball Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia MLB.com Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in the world.

More specifically, Major League Baseball ("MLB") refers to the entity that operates North America's two major leagues, the National League and the American League , by means of a joint organizational structure which has existed between them since 1903 . On an organizational level, MLB effectively operates as a single "league", and as such it constitutes one of the major professional sports leagues of North America . Major League Baseball is governed by the Major League Baseball Constitution , an agreement that has undergone several incarnations since 1876 then called the NL Constitution , with the most recent revisions being made in 2005. Major League Baseball, under the direction of its Commissioner , Rob Manfred, hires and maintains the sport's umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing , labor, and television contracts . As is the case for most North American sports leagues, the 'closed shop' aspect of MLB effectively prevents the yearly promotion and demotion of teams into the Major League by virtue of their performance. MLB also maintains a unique, controlling relationship over the sport, including most aspects of minor league baseball . This is due in large part to a 1922 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Federal Baseball Club v.

National League which declared baseball is not considered interstate commerce (and therefore not subject to federal antitrust law), despite baseball's own references to itself as an "industry" rather than a "sport." The production/multimedia wing of MLB is New York-based MLB Advanced Media, which oversees MLB.com and all 30 of the individual teams' websites. Its charter states that MLB Advanced Media holds editorial independence from the League itself, but it is indeed under the same ownership group and revenue-sharing plan. MLB Productions is a similarly-structured wing of the league, focusing on video and traditional broadcast media. Contents Edit The Major League season runs from late March or early April to late September or early October. Players and teams prepare for the season in spring training , primarily in Florida and Arizona , during February and March. Three rounds of playoffs follow the season, culminating in the World Series in late October or early November. Teams and schedule Edit At the time of writing the Commissioner of Baseball, Rob Manfred, has often floated the idea of international expansion and realignment of the major leagues. At the moment, however, the major leagues are each split into three divisions, and structured as listed in the table below.

San Francisco Giants In all there are 30 teams in the two leagues: 15 in the older National League ("NL") and 15 in the American League ("AL"). Each has its teams split into three divisions grouped generally by geography. They are (number of teams in each division in parenthesis): NL East (5), NL Central (5), NL West (5), AL East (5), AL Central (5) and AL West (5). The Milwaukee Brewers switched from the AL to the NL in 1998 (the only team to switch major leagues since 1900) to prevent there being an odd number of teams in any major league. The Houston Astros move to AL West in 2013 giving each league an even number of five in each division Each team's regular season consists of 162 games, a duration established in 1961 in the American League and 1962in the National League. From 1904 to 1960 , except for 1919 when 140 games were scheduled, a 154-game schedule was played.

Shortened seasons were played in 1918 due to the outbreak of World War I , and in 1972 , 1981 , 1994 and 1995 due to player strikes and lockouts . Games are played predominantly against teams within each league through an unbalanced schedule which heavily favors intra-divisional play. In 1997 Major League Baseball introduced interleague play , which was criticized by the sport's purists but has since proven very popular with most fans. Each year in June , Major League Baseball conducts a draft for first year players who have never signed a Major or Minor League contract. The MLB Draft is among the least followed of the professional sports drafts in the United States . For a detailed history of the length of the regular season, see Major League Baseball season . All-Star game Edit Mid July marks the midway point of the season, during which a three day break is taken when the Major League Baseball All-Star Game is staged. The All-Star game pits players from the NL, headed up by the manager of the previous NL World Series team, against players from the AL, similarly managed, in an exhibition game.

The 2002 contest ended in an 11-inning tie because both teams were out of pitchers, a ridiculous result which proved highly unpopular with the fans. As a result, for a two-year trial in 2003 and 2004 , the league which won the game received the benefit of home-field advantage (four of the seven games of that year's World Series taking place at their home park). The 2005 contest, played in Detroit , followed this format, and it is expected that it will remain that way until the MLB says otherwise, since it has become popular with fans but has upset purists over the previous format of the two leagues alternating home-field advantage every other year. Through the 2005 season, the AL has won all three contests with this rule. The Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox took full advantage of the rule, with both teams winning the World Series in a 4-0 sweep in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Since the 1970s, the eight position players for each team who take the field initially have been voted into the game by fans.

The remaining position players and all of the pitchers on each league's roster were, for a long number of years, solely at the discretion of that team's manager. In 2004 , however, MLB instituted a system where some reserves and pitchers were selected by a vote of MLB players, and some were selected by the manager after consulting with the Commissioner's Office. By MLB regulation, every team in the majors must have at least one designated all-star player, regardless of voting. This rule exists so that fans of every team have a player to watch for in the All Star Game. Post-season Edit When the regular season ends after the first Sunday in October, eight teams enter the post-season playoffs. The first six teams are each league's three division champions. The remaining two "wild-card" spots are filled by each league's team that has the best regular season record and is not a division champion. Three rounds of series of games are played to determine the champion: American League Championship Series and National League Championship Series , each a best-of-seven game series played between the surviving teams from the ALDS and NLDS; and World Series , a best-of-seven game series played between the champions of each league.

The matchup for the first round of the playoffs is usually 1 seed vs. 4 seed, and 2 seed vs. 3 seed, unless the 1 seed and the 4 seed are from the same division, in which case the matchup is 1 seed vs. 3 seed and 2 seed vs. 4 seed. In the first and second round of the playoffs, the better seeded team has home-field advantage. The team belonging to the league that won the mid-season All-Star game receives home-field advantage in the World Series. MLB Steroid Policy Edit Over most of the course of Major League Baseball, steroid testing was never a major issue. However, after the BALCO steroid scandal, which involved allegations that top baseball players had used illegal performance enhancing drugs, Major League Baseball has finally decided to issue harsher penalties for steroid users. The new policy, which was accepted by Major League Baseball players and owners, was issued at the start of the 2005 season and goes as follows: The 1st positive test will result in a suspension of up to 10 days. The 2nd positive test will result in a suspension of 30 days. The 3rd positive test will result in a suspension of 60 days.

The 4th positive test will result in a suspension of one full year. Finally, the 5th positive test will result in a penalty at the commissioner’s discretion. Players will be tested at least once per year, with the chance that several players can be tested a numerous amount of times per year. (See: List of Major League Baseball players suspended for steroids ) This program would replaces the previous steroid testing program under which, for example, no player was even suspended in 2004. Under the old policy, which was established in 2002, a first time offense would only result in treatment for the player. The new agreement makes sure that first time offenders are rightfully suspended. In recent news, Bud Selig , the former Commissioner of MLB, has proposed even tougher penalties for positive tests than the ones in place today. The new penalties that Bud Selig has proposed are a “three strikes and you’re out approach” and go as follows: The 1st positive test would result in a 50 game suspension. The 2nd positive test would result in a 100 game suspension. Finally, the 3rd positive test would result in a lifetime suspension from MLB.

The rule was put into effect before the 2014 season. Jenrry Mejia was the first person suspended from the MLB before the 2016 season after the 3rd positive strike. These new penalties are much harsher, however they were accepted by MLB players and owners. MLB's reluctance to take a hard line on drugs (as many other sports feature far more strict testing and penalties) is widely seen as one of the main reasons why baseball has been dropped from the Olympics with effect from 2012 . References The Negro Leagues (primarily during the years from 1921 - 1946 ) In general, the official stance is that game and statistical records for these particular leagues were not kept in a consistent manner and/or those leagues did not have a significant direct impact on the major leagues. Specifically, the following can be said of these leagues: The NA is unquestionably recognized as the first professional league, and is the direct precursor to the NL, most of whose original eight teams came from the NA. The standard position is that the NA was a "transitional" league that was not quite up to major league standards.

The NL was a wholly new entity that took the best remnants of the NA and imposed a discipline that was lacking in the failed NA. The AL itself asserted that it was a minor league in 1900, although it was already located in most of the cities it would be operating in the following year. However, in 1900 it operated independently and did not conduct raids on major league rosters. That changed in 1901. The Negro Leagues are the toughest call. Some historians have labeled their time the era of "shadow ball", a segregated parallel to the (all-white) major leagues. The fact that many young players were able to come into the majors in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and have immediate impact, possibly argues for major status. It could also be argued that the Negro Leagues were more properly equated to the highest levels of minor league ball, such as the Pacific Coast League . It is a debate that has no clear resolution, which is why most historians are content to simply regard them as a category unto themselves.

Conversely, some historians question whether the Union Association really qualifies as "major", because it really only had one major-league caliber team (St. Louis) and its membership was a revolving door. The Union's chief claim to major status would rest on having had some direct impact on the other majors, due to roster-raiding. None of the three "non-major" groups listed above could make that claim. See also The Most Expensive Sports Trophies | Investopedia The Most Expensive Sports Trophies By Glenn Wilkins | Updated May 5, 2013 — 9:00 AM EDT Football coach Vince Lombardi is alleged to have said "winning isn't the important thing; it's the only thing." Indeed, there is an enormous emotional high that comes with winning a championship at a sport's highest level, but the amount of money sports leagues spend to reward their champions is nearly as large. Here's a breakdown of the cost of those rewards, at least in dollars and cents. (Keep the kids out of your hair and wallet by saving on summer camps, sports leagues, day trips and more. Check out Budget-Friendly Summer Fun .) IN PICTURES: March Madness MVPs - Where Are They Now?

Super Bowl Trophy - $50,000 The trophy handed to the NFL champion and named in Lombardi's honor, is no ordinary piece of tin. This sterling-silver Tiffany and Co.-created trophy is nearly two feet tall and shaped like a kick-ready football. Done from scratch every year, it costs $50,000, takes four months and 72 man-hours to complete. The words "Vince Lombardi Trophy" and the NFL shield are engraved onto the base. After the final gun sounds, the seven-pound trophy is presented to the winning team, then sent back to Tiffany's to be engraved with the winning team's name, the date and final score of the Super Bowl. The trophy is then sent back to the winning team for them to keep. IN PICTURES: Top 5 Super Bowl Host Cities World Series Trophy - $15,000 San Franciscan fans are glimpsing a rare sight, one they haven't seen since they inherited the Giants from New York in 1958 - a World Series championship.

For launching all those home run balls into the Pacific Ocean and then beating the Texas Rangers this month in five games, Bruce Bochy's charges won what is called the Commissioner's Trophy. Even though there has been a World Series since 1903, the trophy wasn't doled out until 1967. As with the Lombardi Trophy, a new Commissioner's Trophy is created each year. The current trophy design, tweaked a bit in 1999 and also a Tiffany production, is also in silver and is worth approximately $15,000. It's also two feet tall, weighs around 30 pounds, with 30 gold-plated flags - one for each Major League team - grouped around a silver baseball that contains 24-karat vermeil stitches. NBA Trophy - $13,500 Basketball's biggest prize is named after the man who headed the league for eight years (and the Democratic National Committee, when its offices at the Watergate Hotel in Washington were ransacked that fateful night in 1972): the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy.

The current silver trophy (also Tiffany's), designed in 1984, weighs 14.5 pounds with a 24-karat gold overlay . It also stands two feet tall (unlike the players who battle for it), with a nine-inch basketball going through the hoop. Valued at $13,500, the trophy is remade every year, with the winning team keeping that year's version to display in their home court. Stanley Cup - $650,000 Plus Travel Costs In 1892, the governor-general of Canada, Lord Stanley, bought a punch bowl from a London silversmith for what amounted to about $48.67 U.S., or just more than $1,100 U.S. with inflation , to reward the top hockey club in Canada. The Cup initially stood about seven inches tall and about a foot in diameter. Now, of course, the Cup doesn't look anything like that itty-bitty punch bowl of 1893. Over the years, tiered rings were added to the bottom of the bowl, then long narrow bands, then uneven bands.

Because Lord Stanley's mug is one of the few professional sports trophies where the name of every member of the winning team is inscribed (the Grey Cup is another). Hockey Hall of Fame Curator Phil Pritchard says engraving costs roughly $1,000 annually, and bands are often retired to make room for new champions. At nearly three feet high and weighing more than 34 pounds, the current Cup dwarfs the others. Despite its size, it still does a lot of traveling: Each member of the winning team, coaching, training and office staff gets possession of the mug for 24 hours during the offseason. Pritchard says the cost of arranging that depends on where the Cup is going and coming from, but he estimates "around $2,000, which includes transportation, accommodations, etc." Like other sports, Pritchard also says the players each receive a Stanley Cup ring (which he estimates to cost $30,000 per player) and a mini-version of the Cup, which costs about $1,000 to $1,500 each.

The Bottom Line What this story cannot convey, of course, is the emotional cost of the tireless effort and commitment that players have to expend to win these trophies. Love of the sport and winning the big prize is something you can't place a dollar value on. Trending

Question: """The World Series"" has been the annual championship series of the highest level of professional players of which sport in the USA and Canada since 1903?"
Answer: Baseball