Exhibition game
Encyclopedia
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor (such as tournament or season rankings, or prize money) regardless of the outcome of the competition. The games can be held between separate teams or between parts of the same team. Quality of play is generally valued over the end result. The term scrimmage is also sometimes used, especially with regard to team sports, but is ambiguous because it has other meanings even in that context. Another synonym
is preparation match.
Throughout the world, many team and one-on-one sports and games feature exhibition matches. For example, two professional snooker
or chess
players, or two ice hockey
teams, may play an exhibition to settle a challenge, to provide professional entertainment, or often to raise money for charities
.
In some sports exhibition games also take the form of a handful of pre-season games that are intended to familiarize teammates with each other and prepare for upcoming matches. In professional sports
, pre-season games also help teams decide which players to keep for the regular season.
in England in 1888, league tournaments became established, in addition to lengthy cup tournaments. By the year 2000, national leagues were established in almost every country, as well as regional leagues for lower level teams, thus the significance of friendlies has seriously declined since the 19th century.
, Teresa Herrera Trophy
and the Amsterdam Tournament
. Although these events may involve sponsorship deals and the awarding of a trophy and may even be broadcast on television, there is little prestige attached to them.
International friendlies give team managers the opportunity to experiment with team selection and tactics before the tournament proper, and also allow them to assess the abilities of players they may potentially select for the tournament squad. Players can be booked in international friendlies, and can be suspended from future international matches based on red cards or accumulated yellows in a specified period. Caps
and goals scored also count towards a player's career records. In 2004, FIFA
ruled that substitutions
by a team be limited to six per match in international friendlies, in response to criticism that such matches were becoming increasingly farcical with managers making as many as 11 substitutions per match.
such as those held in the US MLS
or Japan's J. League
are called exhibition matches rather than friendly matches. A one-off match for charitable fundraising, usually involving one or two all-star teams, or a match held in honour of a player for service to his/her club, may be described as exhibition matches but they are normally referred to as charity matches and testimonial match
es respectively.
may also use bounce games as an opportunity to see a player in action before offering a contract. Usually these games are played on a training ground rather than in a stadium with no spectators in attendance.
collective bargaining agreement
, teams were limited to nine preseason games. From 1975 to 1991, NHL teams sometimes played exhibition games against teams from the Soviet Union
in the Super Series
, and in 1978, played against World Hockey Association
teams also in preseason training. Like the NFL, the NHL sometimes schedules exhibition games for cities without their own NHL teams. Since the 2000s, some preseason games have been played in Europe against European teams, as part of the NHL Challenge
and NHL Premiere series. In addition to the standard preseason, there also exist prospect tournaments such as the Vancouver Canucks
' YoungStars tournament and the Detroit Red Wings
' training camp, in which NHL teams' younger prospects face off against each other under their parent club's banner.
In 1992, goaltender
Manon Rhéaume
played in a preseason game for the Tampa Bay Lightning
, becoming the first woman to suit up for a male pro sports team in North America.
The Flying Fathers
, a Canadian
group of Catholic priests
, regularly tour North America playing exhibition hockey games for charity. One of the organization's founders, Les Costello
, was a onetime NHL player who was ordained as a priest after retiring from professional hockey. Another prominent exhibition hockey team is the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team
, which is composed almost entirely of retired NHL players, the majority of whom (as the name suggests) played at least a portion of their career for the Buffalo Sabres
.
American college hockey teams occasionally play exhibition games against Canadian college teams as well as against USA or Canadian national teams. (In men's hockey, the senior national teams are selected from NHL and other pro players, and college teams would be overmatched against those teams even if they were allowed to play them. However, the national under-18 teams are made up of amateurs.)
's preseason is known as spring training
. All MLB teams maintain a spring-training base in Arizona
or Florida
. The teams in Arizona make up the Cactus League, while the teams in Florida play in the Grapefruit League. Each team plays about 30 preseason games against other MLB teams. They may also play exhibitions against a local college team or a minor-league
team from their farm system.
Several MLB teams used to play regular exhibition games during the year against nearby teams in the other major league, but regular-season interleague play
has made such games unnecessary. The two Canadian MLB teams, the Toronto Blue Jays
of the American League
and the Montreal Expos
of the National League
, met annually to play the Pearson Cup
exhibition game; this tradition ended when the Expos moved to Washington, D.C. for the 2005 season
. It also used to be commonplace to have a team play an exhibition against Minor League affiliates during the regular season, but worries of injuries to players, along with travel issues, have made this very rare. The annual MLB All-Star Game, played in July between players from AL teams and players from NL teams, was long considered an exhibition match, but as of 2003 this status is questioned because the league whose team wins the All-Star game has been awarded home field advantage for the upcoming World Series
.
Another exhibition game, the Hall of Fame Game/Classic which was played in Cooperstown, New York
on the weekend of inductions to the Baseball Hall of Fame, was also ended in 2008 due to interleague play and teams playing only substitutes.
teams play about seven preseason games per year. Nowadays, NBA teams almost always play each other in the preseason, but mainly at neutral sites within their market areas in order to allow those who can't usually make a trip to a home team's arena during the regular season to see a game close to home; for instance the Minnesota Timberwolves
will play games in arenas in North Dakota
and South Dakota
, while the Phoenix Suns
schedule one exhibition game outdoors at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California
yearly, the only such instance an NBA game takes place in an outdoor venue.
However, from 1971 to 1975, NBA teams played preseason exhibitions against American Basketball Association teams. In the early days of the NBA, league clubs sometimes challenged the legendary barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters
, with mixed success. The NBA has played preseason games in Europe and Asia. In the 2006 and 2007 seasons, the NBA and the primary European club competition, the Euroleague
, conducted a preseason tournament featuring two NBA teams and the finalists from that year's Euroleague.
teams would begin their seasons with a few exhibition games. They would play traveling teams made up of former college players on teams such as such as Athletes in Action
or a team sponsored by Marathon Oil
. On occasion before 1992, when FIBA
allowed professional players on foreign national teams, colleges would play those teams in exhibitions. However, in 2003, the National Collegiate Athletic Association
banned games with non-college teams. Some teams have begun scheduling exhibition games against teams in NCAA Division II and Division III. Major college basketball teams may still travel to other countries once every few years during the summer to play in exhibition games.
preseason is very structured. Every NFL team plays exactly four pre-season exhibition games a year, two at home and two away, with the exception of two teams each year who play a fifth game, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game
. These exhibition games, most of which are held in the month of August, are played for the purpose of helping coaches narrow down the roster to the regular-season limit of 53 players. While the scheduling formula is not as rigid for preseason games as they are for the regular season, there are numerous restrictions and traditions that limit the choices of preseason opponents; teams are also restricted on what days and times they can play these games. The NFL has played exhibition games in Europe
, Japan
, Canada
, Australia
(including the American Bowl
in 1999) and Mexico
to spread the league's popularity (a game of this type was proposed for China
but, due to financial and logistical problems, was eventually canceled). The league has tacitly forbidden the playing of non-league opponents, with the last interleague game having come in 1961 and the last game against a team other than an NFL team (the all-NFL rookie College All-Stars) was held in 1976. Exhibition games are quite unpopular with many fans, who resent having to pay regular-season prices for two home exhibition games as part of a season-ticket package. Numerous lawsuits have been brought by fans and classes of fans against the NFL or its member teams regarding this practice, but none have been successful in halting it. The Pro Bowl
, traditionally played after the end of the NFL season (the 2011 edition was played the week prior to the Super Bowl), is also considered an exhibition game.
Teams in the Canadian Football League
play two exhibition games each year, in June.
The Arena Football League
briefly had a two-game exhibition season in the early 2000s, a practice that ended in 2003 with a new television contract. Exhibition games outside of a structured season are relatively common among indoor American football leagues; because teams switch leagues frequently at that level of play, it is not uncommon to see some of the smaller leagues schedule exhibition games against teams that are from another league, about to join the league as a probational franchise, or a semi-pro outdoor team to fill holes in a schedule.
teams, particularly larger organizations, play a public intramural exhibition game in the spring mainly to promote the team and give new recruits an early chance at public game action. Many of these intramural games are nationally televised, though not to the same level of prominence as intercollegiate play.
True exhibition games between opposing colleges at the highest level do not exist in college football; due to the importance of opinion polling
in the top level of college football, even exhibition games would not truly be exhibitions because they could influence the opinions of those polled. Intramural games are possible because a team playing against itself leaves little ability for poll participants to make judgments, and at levels below the Football Bowl Subdivision, championships are decided by objective formulas and thus those teams can play non-league games without affecting their playoff hopes.
However, many of the major FBS teams usually schedule early season non-conference home games against lesser opponents that are lower-tier FBS, Football Championship, or Division II schools, which often result in lopsided victories in favor of the FBS teams and act as exhibition games in all but name, though they also provide a large appearance fee and at least one guaranteed television appearance for the smaller school. These games also receive the same criticism as NFL exhibition games, but instead it is targeted to schools scheduling low-quality opponents and the simplicity for a team to run up the score
against a weak opponent. However, these games are susceptible to backfiring if the lesser team does win the game, resulting in damage in poll position and public perception to the defeated FBS school's team.
High school football
teams frequently participate in controlled scrimmages with other teams during preseason practice, but exhibition games are rare because of league rules and concerns about finances, travel and player injuries, along with enrollments not being registered until the early part of August in most school districts under the traditional September-June academic term
. A more common exhibition is the high school football all-star game
, which brings together top players from a region. These games are typically played by graduating seniors during the summer or at the end of the season. Many of these games are used as showcases for players to be seen by colleges.
has been introduced to a wide range of places around Australia and the world since the code originated in Victoria
in 1859. Much of this expansion can be directly attributed to exhibition matches by the major leagues in regions and countries where the code has been played as a demonstration sport
.
Sprint Cup Series holds one exhibition event annually, the invitation-only Budweiser Shootout
at the start of the season. The top seven teams of each manufacturer from the previous season compete in the event which awards cash prizes only, and no points towards the Sprint Cup championship. A second event, the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
is also a non-points paying race; however, it is falls under the category of all-star events
. NASCAR also held exhibition races previously at Suzuka Circuit
and Twin Ring Motegi
in Japan and Calder Park Thunderdome in Australia.
Other historical examples of non-championship races include the Marlboro Challenge
in IndyCar
racing and the TOCA Touring Car Shootout in the British Touring Car Championship
. Until the mid-1980s there were a significant number of non-championship Formula One
races.
The National Hot Rod Association
Pro Stock
teams will have a pre-season drag meet held before the traditional start in Pomona. The Pro Stock Showdown is a pre-season drag meet held for the Pro Stock teams held at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
.
Synonym
Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
is preparation match.
Throughout the world, many team and one-on-one sports and games feature exhibition matches. For example, two professional snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
or chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
players, or two ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
teams, may play an exhibition to settle a challenge, to provide professional entertainment, or often to raise money for charities
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
.
In some sports exhibition games also take the form of a handful of pre-season games that are intended to familiarize teammates with each other and prepare for upcoming matches. In professional sports
Professional sports
Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...
, pre-season games also help teams decide which players to keep for the regular season.
Association football
In the early days of association football, friendly matches (or "friendlies") were the most common type of match. However since the development of The Football LeagueThe Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
in England in 1888, league tournaments became established, in addition to lengthy cup tournaments. By the year 2000, national leagues were established in almost every country, as well as regional leagues for lower level teams, thus the significance of friendlies has seriously declined since the 19th century.
Club football
Since the introduction of league football, most club sides play a number of friendlies before the start of each season (called pre-season friendlies). Friendly football matches are considered to be non-competitive and are only used to "warm up" players for a new season/competitive match. There is generally nothing competitive at stake and some rules may be changed or experimented with (such as unlimited substitutions and no cards). Although most friendlies are simply one-off matches arranged by the clubs themselves, in which a certain amount is paid by the challenger club to the incumbent club, some teams do compete in short tournaments, such as the Emirates CupEmirates Cup
The Emirates Cup is an annual two-day pre-season football tournament hosted by English Premier League club Arsenal and held at the Emirates Stadium, the club's home ground...
, Teresa Herrera Trophy
Teresa Herrera Trophy
The Teresa Herrera Trophy is an annual pre-season football tournament hosted by Deportivo La Coruña at the Estadio Riazor.Established in 1946, it is the third oldest professional football tournament in Spain - behind the Trofeo Playa y Sol and the Copa San Pedro - and is considered one of...
and the Amsterdam Tournament
Amsterdam Tournament
The Amsterdam Tournament is a pre-season association football competition, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The competition is hosted by Eredivisie club Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. It was inaugurated in 1975 as the Amsterdam 700 Tournament to celebrate 700 years of history in the city...
. Although these events may involve sponsorship deals and the awarding of a trophy and may even be broadcast on television, there is little prestige attached to them.
International football
International teams also play friendlies, generally in preparation for the qualifying or final stages of major tournaments. This is essential, since national squads generally have much less time together in which to prepare. The biggest difference between friendlies at the club and international levels is that international friendlies mostly take place during club league seasons, not between them. This has on occasion led to disagreement between national associations and clubs as to the availability of players, who could become injured or fatigued in a friendly.International friendlies give team managers the opportunity to experiment with team selection and tactics before the tournament proper, and also allow them to assess the abilities of players they may potentially select for the tournament squad. Players can be booked in international friendlies, and can be suspended from future international matches based on red cards or accumulated yellows in a specified period. Caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
and goals scored also count towards a player's career records. In 2004, FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
ruled that substitutions
Substitute (football)
In association football, a substitute is a player who is brought on to the pitch during a match in exchange for an existing player. Substitutions are generally made to replace a player who has become tired or injured, or who is not performing well; there may also be tactical reasons such as...
by a team be limited to six per match in international friendlies, in response to criticism that such matches were becoming increasingly farcical with managers making as many as 11 substitutions per match.
Fundraising game
In the UK and Ireland, "exhibition match" and "friendly match" refer to different types of matches. The types described above as friendlies are not termed exhibition matches, while annual all-star matchesAll-star game
An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league, except in the circumstances of professional sports systems in which a democratic voting system is used...
such as those held in the US MLS
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
or Japan's J. League
J. League
The or is the top division of and is the top professional association football league in Japan. It is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football and the only league given top class 'A' ranking by the AFC. Currently, J. League Division 1 is the first level of the Japanese...
are called exhibition matches rather than friendly matches. A one-off match for charitable fundraising, usually involving one or two all-star teams, or a match held in honour of a player for service to his/her club, may be described as exhibition matches but they are normally referred to as charity matches and testimonial match
Testimonial match
A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, notably football and especially in the United Kingdom, where a club puts on a match in honour of a player for service to the club....
es respectively.
Bounce game
A bounce game is a non-competitive football match played between two sides usually as part of a training exercise or to give players match practice. ManagersManager (association football)
In association football, a manager is responsible for running a football club or a national team. The manager of a professional club is responsible directly to the club president. The position of manager is almost exclusively used in British football...
may also use bounce games as an opportunity to see a player in action before offering a contract. Usually these games are played on a training ground rather than in a stadium with no spectators in attendance.
Ice hockey
Under the 1995–2004 National Hockey LeagueNational Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
collective bargaining agreement
NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement
The NHL collective bargaining agreement is the basic contract between the National Hockey League team owners and the NHL Players Association , designed to be arrived at through the typical labor-management negotiations of collective bargaining...
, teams were limited to nine preseason games. From 1975 to 1991, NHL teams sometimes played exhibition games against teams from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in the Super Series
Super Series
The Super Series were exhibition games between Soviet teams and NHL teams that took place on each NHL opponents' home ice in North America from 1976 to 1991. The Soviet teams were usually club teams from the Soviet hockey league. The exception was in 1983, when the Soviet National Team represented...
, and in 1978, played against World Hockey Association
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...
teams also in preseason training. Like the NFL, the NHL sometimes schedules exhibition games for cities without their own NHL teams. Since the 2000s, some preseason games have been played in Europe against European teams, as part of the NHL Challenge
NHL Challenge
The NHL Challenge series allows select NHL teams to travel outside of North America to conduct training camp and participate in exhibition games...
and NHL Premiere series. In addition to the standard preseason, there also exist prospect tournaments such as the Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
' YoungStars tournament and the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
' training camp, in which NHL teams' younger prospects face off against each other under their parent club's banner.
In 1992, goaltender
Goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender is the player who defends his team's goal net by stopping shots of the puck from entering his team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring...
Manon Rhéaume
Manon Rhéaume
Manon Rhéaume is a Canadian ice hockey goaltender. An Olympic silver medalist, she achieved a number of historic firsts during her career, including becoming the first and only woman ever to play in a National Hockey League exhibition game.In 1992 Rhéaume signed a contract with the Tampa Bay...
played in a preseason game for the Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They have one Stanley Cup championship in their history, in 2003–04. They are often referred to as the...
, becoming the first woman to suit up for a male pro sports team in North America.
The Flying Fathers
Flying Fathers
The Flying Fathers are a group of Canadian Roman Catholic priests who regularly tour North America as a hockey team, playing exhibition games against local teams to raise money for charities....
, a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
group of Catholic priests
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
, regularly tour North America playing exhibition hockey games for charity. One of the organization's founders, Les Costello
Les Costello
Fr. Lester John Thomas Costello was a Canadian ice hockey player and Catholic priest.He was born in South Porcupine, Ontario, a neighbourhood of Timmins, and played hockey as a teenager, eventually joining Toronto's St. Michael's Majors in the 1940s, winning two Memorial Cups with the team in 1945...
, was a onetime NHL player who was ordained as a priest after retiring from professional hockey. Another prominent exhibition hockey team is the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team
Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team
The Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team is an independent barnstorming hockey team located in Buffalo, New York. Its roster consists entirely of retired National Hockey League players, mostly former members of the Buffalo Sabres...
, which is composed almost entirely of retired NHL players, the majority of whom (as the name suggests) played at least a portion of their career for the Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...
.
American college hockey teams occasionally play exhibition games against Canadian college teams as well as against USA or Canadian national teams. (In men's hockey, the senior national teams are selected from NHL and other pro players, and college teams would be overmatched against those teams even if they were allowed to play them. However, the national under-18 teams are made up of amateurs.)
Baseball
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
's preseason is known as spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
. All MLB teams maintain a spring-training base in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
or Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. The teams in Arizona make up the Cactus League, while the teams in Florida play in the Grapefruit League. Each team plays about 30 preseason games against other MLB teams. They may also play exhibitions against a local college team or a minor-league
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
team from their farm system.
Several MLB teams used to play regular exhibition games during the year against nearby teams in the other major league, but regular-season interleague play
Interleague play
Interleague play is the term used to describe regular season Major League Baseball games played between teams in different leagues, introduced in . Before the 1997 season, teams in the American League and National League did not meet during the regular season...
has made such games unnecessary. The two Canadian MLB teams, the Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....
of the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
and the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
of the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
, met annually to play the Pearson Cup
Pearson Cup
The Pearson Cup was an annual mid-season Major League Baseball exhibition game between former Canadian rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Montreal Expos. Named after former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, it was originally created to raise money for minor league baseball in Canada...
exhibition game; this tradition ended when the Expos moved to Washington, D.C. for the 2005 season
2005 in baseball
-Headline events of the year:*Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros to win the 2005 World Series.*2005 also marked the inaugural season of the Washington Nationals, who relocated from Montreal and were formerly known as the Expos....
. It also used to be commonplace to have a team play an exhibition against Minor League affiliates during the regular season, but worries of injuries to players, along with travel issues, have made this very rare. The annual MLB All-Star Game, played in July between players from AL teams and players from NL teams, was long considered an exhibition match, but as of 2003 this status is questioned because the league whose team wins the All-Star game has been awarded home field advantage for the upcoming World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
.
Another exhibition game, the Hall of Fame Game/Classic which was played in Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in Otsego County, New York, USA. It is located in the Town of Otsego. The population was estimated to be 1,852 at the 2010 census.The Village of Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York...
on the weekend of inductions to the Baseball Hall of Fame, was also ended in 2008 due to interleague play and teams playing only substitutes.
Professional basketball
National Basketball AssociationNational Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
teams play about seven preseason games per year. Nowadays, NBA teams almost always play each other in the preseason, but mainly at neutral sites within their market areas in order to allow those who can't usually make a trip to a home team's arena during the regular season to see a game close to home; for instance the Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . Founded in 1989, the team is currently owned by Glen Taylor...
will play games in arenas in North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
and South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, while the Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
schedule one exhibition game outdoors at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley , in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,958....
yearly, the only such instance an NBA game takes place in an outdoor venue.
However, from 1971 to 1975, NBA teams played preseason exhibitions against American Basketball Association teams. In the early days of the NBA, league clubs sometimes challenged the legendary barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters
Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater and comedy. The executive offices for the team are currently in downtown Phoenix, Arizona; the team is owned by Shamrock Holdings, which oversees the various investments of the Roy E. Disney family.Over...
, with mixed success. The NBA has played preseason games in Europe and Asia. In the 2006 and 2007 seasons, the NBA and the primary European club competition, the Euroleague
Euroleague
Euroleague Basketball, commonly known as the Euroleague, is the highest level tier and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe, with teams from up to 18 different countries, members of FIBA Europe. For sponsorship reasons, for five seasons starting with 2010–2011, it is...
, conducted a preseason tournament featuring two NBA teams and the finalists from that year's Euroleague.
College basketball
Traditionally, major college basketballCollege basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
teams would begin their seasons with a few exhibition games. They would play traveling teams made up of former college players on teams such as such as Athletes in Action
Athletes in Action
Athletes in Action is an evangelical Christian sports ministry in the tradition of Muscular Christianity. Athletes in Action, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, works with athletes and coaches to use the unique platform of sport to help people around the world with questions of faith...
or a team sponsored by Marathon Oil
Marathon Oil
Marathon Oil Corporation is a United States-based oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Principal exploration activities are in the United States, Norway, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Canada. Principal development activities are in the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway,...
. On occasion before 1992, when FIBA
International Basketball Federation
The International Basketball Federation, more commonly known as FIBA , from its French name Fédération Internationale de Basketball, is an association of national organizations which governs international competition in basketball...
allowed professional players on foreign national teams, colleges would play those teams in exhibitions. However, in 2003, the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
banned games with non-college teams. Some teams have begun scheduling exhibition games against teams in NCAA Division II and Division III. Major college basketball teams may still travel to other countries once every few years during the summer to play in exhibition games.
Professional football
Compared to other sports, the National Football LeagueNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
preseason is very structured. Every NFL team plays exactly four pre-season exhibition games a year, two at home and two away, with the exception of two teams each year who play a fifth game, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game
Pro Football Hall of Fame Game
The Pro Football Hall of Game is an annual National Football League exhibition game that is held the weekend of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies. The game is played at Fawcett Stadium, which is located next door to the Hall of Fame building in Canton, Ohio...
. These exhibition games, most of which are held in the month of August, are played for the purpose of helping coaches narrow down the roster to the regular-season limit of 53 players. While the scheduling formula is not as rigid for preseason games as they are for the regular season, there are numerous restrictions and traditions that limit the choices of preseason opponents; teams are also restricted on what days and times they can play these games. The NFL has played exhibition games in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(including the American Bowl
American Bowl
The American Bowl was a series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States between 1986 and 2005.- Overview :...
in 1999) and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to spread the league's popularity (a game of this type was proposed for China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
but, due to financial and logistical problems, was eventually canceled). The league has tacitly forbidden the playing of non-league opponents, with the last interleague game having come in 1961 and the last game against a team other than an NFL team (the all-NFL rookie College All-Stars) was held in 1976. Exhibition games are quite unpopular with many fans, who resent having to pay regular-season prices for two home exhibition games as part of a season-ticket package. Numerous lawsuits have been brought by fans and classes of fans against the NFL or its member teams regarding this practice, but none have been successful in halting it. The Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
, traditionally played after the end of the NFL season (the 2011 edition was played the week prior to the Super Bowl), is also considered an exhibition game.
Teams in the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
play two exhibition games each year, in June.
The Arena Football League
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League is the highest level of professional indoor American football in the United States. It is currently the second longest running professional football league in the United States, after the National Football League. It was founded in 1987 by Jim Foster...
briefly had a two-game exhibition season in the early 2000s, a practice that ended in 2003 with a new television contract. Exhibition games outside of a structured season are relatively common among indoor American football leagues; because teams switch leagues frequently at that level of play, it is not uncommon to see some of the smaller leagues schedule exhibition games against teams that are from another league, about to join the league as a probational franchise, or a semi-pro outdoor team to fill holes in a schedule.
College and high school football
Many college footballCollege football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
teams, particularly larger organizations, play a public intramural exhibition game in the spring mainly to promote the team and give new recruits an early chance at public game action. Many of these intramural games are nationally televised, though not to the same level of prominence as intercollegiate play.
True exhibition games between opposing colleges at the highest level do not exist in college football; due to the importance of opinion polling
Mythical National Championship
A mythical national championship is a colloquial term used to question the validity of national championship recognition that is not explicitly competitive...
in the top level of college football, even exhibition games would not truly be exhibitions because they could influence the opinions of those polled. Intramural games are possible because a team playing against itself leaves little ability for poll participants to make judgments, and at levels below the Football Bowl Subdivision, championships are decided by objective formulas and thus those teams can play non-league games without affecting their playoff hopes.
However, many of the major FBS teams usually schedule early season non-conference home games against lesser opponents that are lower-tier FBS, Football Championship, or Division II schools, which often result in lopsided victories in favor of the FBS teams and act as exhibition games in all but name, though they also provide a large appearance fee and at least one guaranteed television appearance for the smaller school. These games also receive the same criticism as NFL exhibition games, but instead it is targeted to schools scheduling low-quality opponents and the simplicity for a team to run up the score
Running up the score
In North American sports, "running up the score" occurs when a team continues to play in such a way as to score additional points after the outcome of the game is no longer in question and the team is assured of winning...
against a weak opponent. However, these games are susceptible to backfiring if the lesser team does win the game, resulting in damage in poll position and public perception to the defeated FBS school's team.
High school football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
teams frequently participate in controlled scrimmages with other teams during preseason practice, but exhibition games are rare because of league rules and concerns about finances, travel and player injuries, along with enrollments not being registered until the early part of August in most school districts under the traditional September-June academic term
Academic term
An academic term is a division of an academic year, the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. These divisions may be called terms...
. A more common exhibition is the high school football all-star game
All-star game
An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league, except in the circumstances of professional sports systems in which a democratic voting system is used...
, which brings together top players from a region. These games are typically played by graduating seniors during the summer or at the end of the season. Many of these games are used as showcases for players to be seen by colleges.
Australian rules football
Australian rules footballAustralian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
has been introduced to a wide range of places around Australia and the world since the code originated in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
in 1859. Much of this expansion can be directly attributed to exhibition matches by the major leagues in regions and countries where the code has been played as a demonstration sport
Demonstration sport
A demonstration sport is a sport which is played to promote itself, most commonly during the Olympic Games, but also at other sporting events.Demonstration sports were officially introduced in 1912 Summer Olympics, when Sweden decided to include glima, traditional Icelandic wrestling, in the...
.
Auto racing
Various auto racing organizations hold exhibition events, more specifically, races that do not count towards the season championship. The NASCARNASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
Sprint Cup Series holds one exhibition event annually, the invitation-only Budweiser Shootout
Budweiser Shootout
Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, generally referred to as the Bud Shootout, is an annual invitation-only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series exhibition event held at Daytona International Speedway in February, the weekend before the Daytona 500. It is the first competitive event of the season and serves as a...
at the start of the season. The top seven teams of each manufacturer from the previous season compete in the event which awards cash prizes only, and no points towards the Sprint Cup championship. A second event, the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, formerly known as The Winston until 2004, then the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge from 2004 until 2007, is a race open to race winners from the previous season as well as the current season, plus the past ten event winners and past decade's Cup Series champions...
is also a non-points paying race; however, it is falls under the category of all-star events
All-star game
An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league, except in the circumstances of professional sports systems in which a democratic voting system is used...
. NASCAR also held exhibition races previously at Suzuka Circuit
Suzuka Circuit
, Suzuka Circuit for short, is a motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Mobilityland Corporation, the subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd..-Introduction:...
and Twin Ring Motegi
Twin Ring Motegi
is an automobile racing track located at Motegi, Japan. Its name comes from the facility having two race tracks: a oval and a road course. It was built in 1997 by Honda, as part of Honda's effort to bring the IndyCar Series to Japan, helping to increase their knowledge of American open-wheel...
in Japan and Calder Park Thunderdome in Australia.
Other historical examples of non-championship races include the Marlboro Challenge
Marlboro Challenge
The Marlboro Challenge was an all-star CART series race held from 1987-1992, sponsored by cigarrette brand Marlboro. After 1992, the race was discontinued, in part because the Phillip Morris reorganized its race sponsorship after the Marlboro Grand Prix of New York fell through...
in IndyCar
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
racing and the TOCA Touring Car Shootout in the British Touring Car Championship
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...
. Until the mid-1980s there were a significant number of non-championship Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
races.
The National Hot Rod Association
National Hot Rod Association
The National Hot Rod Association is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and host events all over the United States and Canada...
Pro Stock
Pro Stock
Pro Stock Drag Racing is a class of drag racing featuring 'Factory Hot-Rods'. The class can be known as "all motor," as the cars cannot use artificial induction such as turbocharging, supercharging, or nitrous oxide, and there are very strict rules governing the modifications allowed to the...
teams will have a pre-season drag meet held before the traditional start in Pomona. The Pro Stock Showdown is a pre-season drag meet held for the Pro Stock teams held at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada near Las Vegas, is a complex of multiple tracks for automobile racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.-History:...
.
External links
- All-Time ABA vs. NBA Exhibition Game Results Remember the ABA - Article about NBA vs. ABA exhibitions
- College Basketball Exhibitions: No Longer Open Season CollegeHoopsNet, 16 November 2004 - Article about the 2003 NCAA ruling