Professional baseball is played worldwide. However, the most prestigious league, known as “America’s game,” is found in North America, where Major League Baseball has 29 franchises in the US and one in Canada.
While Major League Baseball in North America remains the world’s largest organization and the highest level at which the game is played, several other professional leagues are now available worldwide, and fans from different continents can watch and enjoy the games.
In addition, lovers of baseball can now check out MLB odds alongside other league odds when they want to make their bettings.
We have brought to you some of the most popular professional baseball leagues worldwide. We’ll look at how many teams they have, who their most successful franchises are, and how long they’ve been around.
Major League Baseball
The highest level of the sport is Major League Baseball. The top-tier North American league will always draw the most remarkable talent from around the globe and field the greatest teams that money can buy. The National League (NL) and the American LEAGUE (AL) are separate leagues that make up MLB.
Currently, the two leagues have slightly distinct rule sets and only sometimes play each other in interleague matches. However, the two legal companies connected to the NL and AL were disbanded recently, transforming them from the independent corporations they once were into two conferences that fall under MLB.
There are currently 30 Major League teams, with fifteen in each league. Each league is organized into three divisions, each with five teams. The team with the best record in each division advances automatically, while the two clubs with the greatest records, which do not triumph in their respective divisions, receive wildcard places. Afterward, they engage in four rounds of postseason play, with the best-of-seven World Series between the NL and AL champions serving as the conclusion.
The MLB season starts in the spring, during which players train and compete until the end of the summer. It’s playoff season when fall arrives! The season used to end in October, but that date has recently been moved to November.
Korean Baseball Organization (KBO)
The KBO League is the highest tier of South Korean professional baseball. It’s also the most well-liked of all the professional sports associations in the nation. Each franchise plays every other team 16 times throughout the regular season, 144 games long for each team. This amounts to 720 games overall for each KBO campaign.
Missionaries are thought to have brought baseball to Korea in the 19th century. Over time, the game’s popularity increased, and the KBO was established in 1982.
The Wild Card round begins with a matchup between the fifth-place and fourth-place teams. The club with the fifth-best record must win twice in a row, although the fourth-place team can advance with a single victory. The Wild Card winner then competes against the third-placed franchise.
The first team to three victories advances because this round is a best-of-five series. The round winner then competes against the team who came in second. Once more, the first team to get three victories advances.
To compete in the KBO Korean Series championship, the team with the greatest regular-season record must first wait. The winner of the match between the second-place team and their opponent advances to the championship game.
The championship series is a best-of-seven contest, and the winner is crowned the winner of that season. Sometimes, but not always, they’ll go on to compete against Asian organizations’ champions.
Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL)
The Chinese Professional Baseball League is a six-team organization based in Taiwan. The sport’s popularity peaked in 1997 when there were two distinct leagues and eleven total clubs, and the CPBL was established. Since then, several match-fixing incidents have rocked the game, alienating many fans completely.
The season, which begins in March and lasts through October, runs concurrently with the MLB. The league takes a break for the all-star game in June or July, which signifies the campaign’s halfway point. To qualify for the playoffs, teams must win either the first or second half of the season.
Regarding their professional league, the Chinese Professional Baseball League lags well behind the rest of the world. The players have very little control due to the cheap wage and lack of free agency. As a result, the teams primarily comprise Asian AA-level athletes and Japanese lower-league players.
Other professional leagues include the Nippon Baseball league, Puerto Rico baseball league, Dominican Professional baseball league, Venezuelan Professional Baseball league, and many more.