List of professional sports leagues

This is a list of professional sports leagues.

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

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

Auto racing

 * Arena Racing USA
 * American Hot Rod Association
 * Asian Le Mans Series
 * British Touring Car Championship
 * Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (German Touring Car Masters)
 * D1 Grand Prix
 * European Le Mans Series
 * Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)
 * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM)
 * Formula One
 * Formula D
 * Fórmula Truck
 * Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup
 * Grand-Am Road Racing
 * International Hot Rod Association (IHRA)
 * INDYCAR
 * NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)
 * National Hot Rod Association (NHRA)
 * Pirelli World Challenge
 * Stock Car Brasil
 * Super GT
 * TC 2000 Championship
 * Top Race V6
 * Turismo Carretera
 * Supercars Championship (Australia)
 * WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
 * FIA World Endurance Championship
 * World Rally Championship (WRC)
 * World Touring Car Cup

Badminton

 * National Badminton League


 * Premier Badminton League

Bandy
🇫🇮
 * Bandyliiga
 * Suomi-sarja


 * Russian Bandy Super League
 * Russian Bandy Supreme League


 * Elitserien
 * Allsvenskan

Americas
🇺🇳 Multinational
 * Serie del Caribe
 * Serie Latinoamericana

🇦🇷
 * Liga Argentina de Béisbol (Winter)

🇨🇦 and 🇺🇸
 * Major League Baseball:
 * American League
 * National League
 * Minor League Baseball:
 * Triple-A:
 * International League
 * Pacific Coast League
 * Double-A:
 * Eastern League
 * Southern League
 * Texas League
 * Class A-Advanced:
 * California League
 * Carolina League
 * Florida State League
 * Class A:
 * Midwest League
 * South Atlantic League
 * Class A Short Season:
 * New York–Penn League
 * Northwest League
 * Rookie Advanced:
 * Appalachian League
 * Pioneer League
 * Rookie:
 * Arizona League
 * Gulf Coast League
 * Independent baseball leagues:
 * American Association of Independent Professional Baseball
 * Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
 * Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball
 * Desert League (winter)
 * Empire Professional Baseball League
 * Frontier League
 * Pacific Association
 * Pecos League
 * Southwest League of Professional Baseball
 * United Shore Professional Baseball League

🇨🇴
 * Liga Colombiana de Béisbol Profesional (Winter)

🇨🇼
 * Liga Aqualectra

🇩🇴
 * Dominican Summer League (Official Minor League Affiliate)
 * LIDOM (Winter)

🇲🇽
 * Mexican League
 * Liga Invernal Veracruzana (Winter)
 * Liga Mexicana del Pacífico (Winter)


 * LNBP (Winter)

🇵🇦
 * Probeis (Winter)


 * Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (Winter)

🇻🇪
 * Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (Winter)

Asia/Oceania
🇺🇳 Multinational
 * Asia Winter Baseball League (Winter)

🇦🇺 and 🇳🇿
 * Australian Baseball League (Winter)

🇰🇷:
 * Major League:
 * KBO League
 * Minor Leagues:
 * KBO Futures League
 * Miyazaki Phoenix League (Winter) (shared with 🇯🇵)

🇯🇵:
 * Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB)
 * Major Leagues:
 * Central League
 * Pacific League
 * Minor Leagues:
 * Eastern League
 * Western League
 * Miyazaki Phoenix League (Winter) (shared with 🇰🇷)
 * Independent:
 * Baseball Challenge League
 * Shikoku Island League Plus
 * Intercity Baseball Tournament (officially amateur but contains professional teams)
 * Industrial Baseball League (officially amateur but contains professional teams)
 * All Japan Club Baseball Championship (officially amateur but contains professional teams)

Taiwan:
 * Major League:
 * Chinese Professional Baseball League
 * Minor League:
 * Popcorn League

Europe
🇮🇹
 * Major League:
 * Italian Baseball League 1D (promotion and relegation applies)
 * Minor League:
 * Italian Baseball League 2D


 * Major League:
 * Honkbal Hoofdklasse (promotion and relegation applies)
 * Minor League:
 * Honkbal Overgangsklasse (promotion and relegation applies)
 * Rookie League:
 * Honkbal Rookie League

Bowling

 * Professional Bowlers Association

Boxing
Major promotions
 * Top Rank Boxing
 * Golden Boy Promotions
 * Don King Promotions
 * DiBella Entertainment
 * Sauerland Events

Major sanctioning bodies


 * World Boxing Association (WBA)
 * World Boxing Council (WBC)
 * International Boxing Federation (IBF)
 * World Boxing Organization (WBO)
 * The Ring magazine'' (unofficial sanctioning body)

🇮🇳
 * Super Boxing League
 * STAR Boxing Panch

Africa
🇿🇦
 * Momentum One Day Cup
 * CSA Provincial Competitions
 * Mzansi Super League
 * Sunfoil Series


 * Logan Cup
 * Coca-Cola Metbank Pro50 Championship
 * Stanbic Bank 20 Series

North America
Canada West Indies
 * Global T20 Canada
 * Caribbean Premier League
 * Professional Cricket League
 * Regional Super50

Asia

 * Bangladesh Premier League
 * National Cricket League
 * Bangladesh Cricket League
 * Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League

🇵🇰
 * Indian Premier League
 * Ranji Trophy
 * Duleep Trophy
 * Deodhar Trophy
 * Irani Cup
 * Karnataka Premier League
 * Tamil Nadu Premier League
 * Vijay Hazare Trophy
 * Pakistan Super League
 * Quaid-e-Azam Trophy
 * Pakistan Cup


 * Sri Lanka Premier League
 * Premier Limited Overs Tournament
 * Premier Trophy

Europe

 * County Championship
 * Royal London One-Day Cup
 * NatWest t20 Blast
 * Women's Cricket Super League

Oceania

 * Sheffield Shield
 * Ford Ranger One Day Cup
 * Big Bash League
 * Women's Big Bash League


 * Plunket Shield
 * Super Smash
 * State League

Curling

 * World Curling Tour

Cycling

 * National Bicycle League (BMX)
 * American Bicycle Association (BMX)


 * International Cycling League
 * Pro Cycle Cycling

International
 * Coppa Italia di ciclismo (the Italian Road Cycling Cup)
 * UCI World Tour

Gridiron football: American football & Canadian football

 * National Football League
 * XFL
 * Indoor:
 * Arena Football League
 * Indoor Football League


 * Canadian Football League

🇮🇳 India
 * X-League
 * Elite Football League of India


 * German Football League and German Football League 2


 * Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional

Football: Australian rules football

 * Australian Football League
 * AFL Women's

Football: Futsal
🇦🇷
 * Argentine División de Honor de Futsal

🇮🇳 India 🇮🇩
 * Liga Futsal
 * Premier Futsal
 * Indonesia Pro Futsal League


 * Iranian Futsal Super League

🇰🇬
 * Serie A1
 * Kyrgyzstan Futsal League

🇰🇷
 * F.League
 * FK-League


 * Liga Portuguesa de Futsal


 * Primera División de Futsal

🇹🇭 🇹🇷 🇺🇿
 * Russian Futsal Super League
 * Futsal Thailand League
 * Turkish Futsal League
 * Uzbekistan Futsal League

Fencing

 * American Fencing League

Asia

 * 🇮🇳: Hockey India League
 * 🇮🇳: Premier Hockey League
 * Malaysia Hockey League
 * 🇵🇰: Pakistan Hockey League

Europe

 * 🇪🇺 Europe: Euro Hockey League
 * Hoofdklasse

Australia

 * 🇦🇺: Hockey One

Top-level tours

 * PGA Tour (United States)
 * PGA European Tour
 * Japan Golf Tour
 * Asian Tour (Asia outside Japan)
 * PGA Tour of Australasia (Australia and New Zealand)
 * Sunshine Tour (southern Africa, mainly South Africa)
 * OneAsia Tour (joint venture between the Japan, Australasia, China, and Korean tours)
 * Professional Golf Tour of India

Senior tours

 * PGA Tour Champions (United States)
 * European Senior Tour

Developmental tours

 * Web.com Tour (second-tier US tour, operated by the PGA Tour)
 * Challenge Tour (second-tier European tour)
 * Japan Challenge Tour (second-tier Japanese tour)
 * PGA Tour Canada (feeds to the Web.com Tour)
 * PGA Tour China (feeds to the Web.com Tour)
 * PGA Tour Latinoamérica (feeds to the Web.com Tour)
 * Satellite Tours, four third-level tours recognised by the European Tour:
 * Alps Tour (jointly sanctioned by the golf associations of Austria, France, Italy, Morocco and Switzerland)
 * Pro Golf Tour (based in Germany)
 * Nordic Golf League (operating in the Nordic countries)
 * Swedish Golf Tour (men's version is a Swedish tour included in the Nordic League competition)
 * PGA EuroPro Tour (based in the UK)
 * Gateway Tour (third-tier US tour)
 * Fuzion Minor League Golf Tour (low cost fourth-tier US tour)
 * Swing Thought Tour (third-tier US tour)

Top-level tours

 * LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association; United States)
 * LPGA of Japan Tour
 * Ladies European Tour
 * LPGA of Korea Tour (South Korea)
 * Ladies Asian Golf Tour (Asia outside Japan and Korea)
 * ALPG Tour (Australia)

Senior tours

 * Legends Tour (United States)

Developmental tours

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

North America
and
 * National Hockey League (major)
 * American Hockey League (high minor)
 * Canadian Hockey League (mid-minor)
 * ECHL (mid-minor)
 * Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (low minor)

only
 * Southern Professional Hockey League (low minor)
 * Federal Hockey League (low minor)

Asia
, 🇰🇷, and
 * Asia League Ice Hockey

🇰🇿
 * Kazakhstan Hockey Championship

🇹🇷
 * Turkish Ice Hockey Super League

Europe
🇦🇹, 🇭🇷, 🇭🇺, 🇨🇿, and
 * Erste Bank Eishockey Liga
 * Austrian National League

🇦🇹, 🇮🇹, and 🇸🇮
 * Alps Hockey League

🇧🇾
 * Belarusian Extraleague

🇨🇿
 * Czech Extraliga
 * 1st Czech Republic Hockey League

🇩🇰
 * Metal Ligaen


 * Ligue Magnus

🇫🇮
 * Liiga
 * Mestis


 * Deutsche Eishockey Liga
 * DEL2
 * Oberliga

🇭🇺 and
 * MOL Liga


 * Latvian Hockey Higher League

🇱🇹
 * Lithuania Hockey League

and
 * Eredivisie

🇳🇴
 * GET-ligaen


 * Polska Hokej Liga

, 🇧🇾, 🇨🇳, 🇫🇮, 🇰🇿,, and 🇸🇰
 * Kontinental Hockey League (major)

only
 * Russian Major League (high minor)
 * Russian Hockey League (low minor)

🇸🇰
 * Slovak Extraliga
 * Slovak 1.Liga

🇨🇭
 * National League
 * Swiss League


 * Swedish Hockey League
 * HockeyAllsvenskan
 * Hockeyettan

🇺🇦
 * Professional Hockey League

🇬🇧 (,, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿, and )
 * Elite Ice Hockey League
 * English Premier Ice Hockey League

Oceania

 * Australian Ice Hockey League

Inline hockey

 * Major League Roller Hockey (United States)
 * Professional Inline Hockey Association (United States)

Kabaddi
International Tournaments 🇷🇺 Russia, 🇲🇻 Maldives, 🇰🇵 North Korea, 🇳🇿 New Zealand, 🇵🇭 Philippines, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇬🇾 Guyana, 🇨🇱 Chile, 🇰🇭 Cambodia, 🇮🇩 Indonesia, 🇲🇾 Malaysia, 🇮🇱 Israel, 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka, 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇦🇷 Argentina, 🇰🇪 Kenya, 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia, 🇯🇵 Japan and UAE)
 * Kabaddi World Cup
 * Kabaddi Masters Series
 * World Kabaddi League (🇮🇳 India, 🇺🇸 United States, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom, 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇰🇷 South Korea, 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇮🇷 Iran,🇳🇵 Nepal, 🇧🇹 Bhutan,

Kabaddi Leagues


 * Pro Kabaddi League (🇮🇳)
 * Women's Kabaddi Challenge(🇮🇳)
 * Super Kabaddi League (🇵🇰Pakistan) - Pakistan's first Kabaddi League. Season 01 took place in April-May 2018 and was hailed as a success.

Kickboxing

 * Glory
 * K-1
 * Kunlun Fight
 * Wu Lin Feng

Box / Indoor lacrosse
and
 * NLL – National Lacrosse League (United States and Canada) [major]
 * WLA – Western Lacrosse Association (Canada) [high minor]
 * MSL – Major Series Lacrosse (Canada) [high minor]
 * ALL – Arena Lacrosse League (Canada) [mid minor]

Field lacrosse

 * MLL – Major League Lacrosse (United States) [major]
 * PLL - Premier Lacrosse League (United States) [major]
 * ALL - American Lacrosse League (United States) [low minor/club]
 * UWLX - United Women's Lacrosse League (United States)
 * WPLL - Women's Professional Lacrosse League (United States)

Mixed martial arts

 * : Ultimate Fighting Championship (Premier American/International Organization)
 * : Bellator MMA (Second Tier American Organization)
 * : Professional Fighters League (Minor American Organization)
 * : King of the Cage (Minor American Organization)
 * : Shark Fights (Minor American Organization)
 * : Titan Fighting Championships (Minor American Organization)
 * : Tachi Palace Fights (Minor American Organization)
 * : Invicta Fighting Championships (Minor American Organization)
 * 🇯🇵 Japan: DREAM (Premier Japanese Organization)
 * 🇯🇵 Japan: Shooto (Second Tier Japanese Organization)
 * 🇯🇵 Japan: Pancrase (Minor Japanese Organization)
 * 🇯🇵 Japan: DEEP (Minor Japanese Organization)
 * 🇯🇵 Japan: ZST (Minor Japanese Organization)
 * 🇯🇵 Japan: RisingOn (Minor Japanese Organization)
 * 🇰🇷 South Korea: ROAD Fighting Championship (Premier Korean Organization)
 * 🇰🇷 South Korea: TOP Fighting Championship (Second Tier Korean Organization)
 * 🇧🇷 Brazil: Jungle Fight (Premier Brazilian Organization)
 * 🇷🇺 Russia: M-1 Global (Premier Russian-based Organization)
 * 🇨🇦 Canada: Maximum Fighting Championship (Premier Canadian Organization)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: BAMMA (Premier English Organization)
 * Netherlands: United Glory (Premier Dutch Organization)
 * 🇵🇱 Poland: Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (Premier Polish Organization)
 * 🇫🇮 Finland: Finnfight (Premier Finish Organization)
 * China: Art of War Fighting Championship (Premier Chinese Organization)
 * Singapore: ONE Championship (Premier Singaporean Organization)
 * 🇭🇰 Hong Kong: Legend Fighting Championship (Premier Hong Konger Organization)
 * Philippines: Universal Reality Combat Championship (Premier Filipino Organization)
 * 🇮🇳 India: Super Fight League

Motorcycle racing

 * Grand Prix motorcycle racing (MotoGP)
 * Superbike World Championship (SBK)
 * AMA Superbike Championship

Netball

 * 🇦🇺 – Suncorp Super Netball
 * 🇳🇿 – ANZ Premiership

Speedway

 * Danish Speedway League
 * Speedway Ekstraliga
 * Elitserien
 * Allsvenskan
 * Elite League
 * Premier League
 * National League
 * Elite League
 * Premier League
 * National League
 * National League

Racquetball

 * International Racquetball Tour
 * Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour

Roll Ball
🇮🇳 🇺🇸
 * Maha Roll Ball League
 * Roll Ball One

🇪🇺
 * Pro Roll Ball One
 * Roll Ball League

Rugby league

 * National Rugby League (also includes New Zealand Warriors)
 * Queensland Cup
 * Intrust Super Premiership NSW
 * Ron Massey Cup


 * French Rugby League Championship


 * Super League (also includes Catalans Dragons in France)
 * Championship (also includes Toulouse Olympique in France, and Toronto Wolfpack in Canada)
 * League 1 (also includes North Wales Crusaders, South Wales Scorpions)


 * Indo Rugby League Championship
 * League One Staz

🇵🇬
 * New Zealand Rugby League
 * Papua New Guinea National Rugby League


 * Russian Championship


 * USA Rugby League (USARL)

Rugby union
🇺🇳 Multinational
 * 🇦🇷🇦🇺🇯🇵🇳🇿 Super Rugby
 * 🇮🇹🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Pro14
 * 🇦🇺🇭🇰🇯🇵 Global Rapid Rugby (from 2020)
 * 🇦🇷🇧🇷🇨🇱 Liga Sul Americana de Rugby (from 2020)

and and
 * National Rugby Championship (second tier - unlinked to Super Rugby)
 * Major League Rugby


 * Premiership
 * Greene King IPA Championship (second tier)


 * National Rugby League (France)
 * Top 14
 * Rugby Pro D2 (second tier)

Ireland
 * Top12 (semi-professional)
 * All-Ireland League (rugby union) (semi-professional)

and
 * Top League
 * Currie Cup
 * Rugby Challenge – effective replacement of the former Vodacom Cup


 * Mitre 10 Cup


 * Rugby Premier League (semi-professional)


 * Welsh Premier Division (semi-professional)

Snooker

 * World Snooker Tour

Softball
🇮🇳 India
 * Bad Bull Softball League


 * National Pro Fastpitch

🇬🇧
 * National Softball League

Table tennis

 * 🇨🇳 China Table Tennis Super League
 * 🇮🇳 Ultimate Table Tennis

Team handball

 * Danish Handball League
 * 🇩🇪 Handball-Bundesliga
 * 🇪🇸 Liga ASOBAL
 * 🇫🇷 Championnat de France de handball

Tennis

 * Association of Tennis Professionals
 * International Tennis Federation
 * United States Tennis Association
 * Women's Tennis Association
 * World TeamTennis

Asia
🇮🇳
 * International Premier Tennis League (India, Japan, UAE, Singapore)
 * Champions Tennis League

Track and field

 * IAAF Diamond League

Ultimate

 * American Ultimate Disc League

Video gaming/Electronic sports

 * Major League Gaming
 * NBA 2K League
 * ESL Pro League

Asia
🇨🇳 🇮🇳 India 🇰🇷 🇹🇼/🇭🇰/🇲🇴 Southeast Asia
 * League of Legends Pro League (top level)
 * ESL India Premiership
 * Bangalore eSports League
 * UCypher (upcoming major league)
 * Ongamenet Starleague
 * Global StarCraft II League
 * League of Legends Champions Korea (top level)
 * League of Legends Master Series (top level)
 * Garena Premier League (second level)

Multiple regions

 * League of Legends Championship Series (top-tier, Europe and North America)
 * Overwatch League (North America, Europe, and Asia)

Volleyball

 * 🇺🇸 Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) (beach volleyball)
 * 🇨🇳 Chinese Volleyball League (CVL) (both men and women)
 * Enterprise Volleyball League (TVL) (both men and women)
 * A1 Ethniki Volleyball (men)
 * 🇮🇳 Pro Volleyball League(men)
 * 🇮🇷 Iranian Volleyball Super League (men)
 * 🇮🇹 Lega Pallavolo Serie A (men)
 * 🇮🇹 Lega Pallavolo Serie A Femminile (women)
 * Male Superior Volleyball League (men)
 * Female Superior Volleyball League (women)
 * 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic Volleyball League (both men and women)
 * 🇯🇵 V.League (both men and women)
 * 🇰🇷 V-League (both men and women)
 * 🇹🇭 Men's Volleyball Thailand League (men)
 * Pro A (men)
 * 🇷🇺 Russian Volleyball Super League (men)
 * 🇧🇷 Brazilian Men's Volleyball Superliga (both men and women)
 * 🇵🇱 PlusLiga (men)
 * 🇵🇱 Orlen Liga (women)
 * 🇹🇷 Turkish Volleyball League (both men and women)

Water polo

 * 🇦🇺 Australian National Water Polo League
 * A1 Ethniki Water Polo
 * 🇮🇹 Serie A1
 * FINA

Professional wrestling

 * United States
 * WWE (also known as World Wrestling Entertainment)
 * Impact Wrestling (formerly Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Global Force Wrestling)
 * All Elite Wrestling – first event in May 2019
 * Ring of Honor
 * Lucha Underground
 * India
 * Pro Wrestling League
 * Indian Wrexham County
 * PWL
 * Japan
 * New Japan Pro-Wrestling
 * All Japan Pro Wrestling
 * Pro Wrestling Noah


 * Mexico
 * Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
 * Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide