In sports , a division is a group of teams who compete against each other for a championship.
22-576: The Ligue Magnus , currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its championship trophy, the Magnus Cup , in 2004. The trophy was in turn named for Frenchman and IIHF founder Louis Magnus . Teams from the Ligue Magnus can participate in
44-460: A league system (also known as a pyramid structure), a division consists of a group of teams who play a sport at a similar competitive level. Teams can move up to a higher division of play or drop down to a lower one via the process of promotion and relegation , based on their performance in the standings at the end of the season. The existence of divisions based on level of competition ensures that teams at one competitive level can play other teams at
66-534: A 50-yard field in the spring and early summer). There have been attempts at forming true minor leagues for the professional game (most recently with the XFL in 2020); none so far have been able to balance the major leagues' requests with the ability to maintain financial solvency. League systems can have a negative effect on competitive balance, particularly in European professional football. This sports-related article
88-693: A governing body ( Minor League Baseball , an organization under the authority of the Commissioner of Baseball , governs baseball leagues; the United States Soccer Federation designates the American soccer pyramid.) Ice hockey 's professional minor league system is linear, with one league at most of the four levels of the game; the ice hockey league system in North America is governed by collective bargaining agreements and affiliation deals between
110-670: A lower division who finish at the top of the standings in their league are promoted (advanced to the next level of the system) while teams who finish lowest in their division are relegated (move down to a lower division). This process can be automatic each year, or can require playoffs. In North America, league systems in the most popular sports do not use promotion or relegation. Most professional sports are divided into major and minor leagues . Baseball and association football (known as soccer in North America) have well-defined pyramid shapes to their minor league hierarchies, each managed by
132-403: A similar competitive level, thus creating parity and more exciting matches. In North America , where sports usually operate on a franchise system rather than a league system, a division is a group of teams within a league which is organized along geographical lines rather than competitive success. Teams based in cities that are in a particular region of the continent are grouped together in
154-432: Is a hierarchy of leagues in a sport. They are often called pyramids , due to their tendency to split into an increasing number of regional divisions further down the system. League systems of some sort are used in many sports in many countries. In association football , rugby union , rugby league and Gaelic games , league systems are usually connected by the process of promotion and relegation , in which teams from
176-524: Is fully balanced and there are no geographic conferences . Regulation wins are worth 3 points, as per international rules. The top 8 teams qualify for the Magnus Cup playoffs , with all series contested in a best-of-seven format. The remaining 4 teams play a 6-game round-robin , at the end of which the last-place team is relegated . The Magnus Cup champions qualify for the following season's Champions Hockey League . All Ligue Magnus teams also take part in
198-605: Is located in the south-central United States, the Cowboys are a member of the NFC East division due to their long-standing rivalries with the New York Giants , Philadelphia Eagles , and Washington Commanders , all of whom are located on the Eastern seaboard . In U.S. college sports , a "division" has a meaning different from either sense listed above, although somewhat closer to that of
220-584: The French Cup . Game night rosters must include at least 10 players who have spent 3 or more years in the French hockey system before the age of 21. French citizenship itself is not a requirement to qualify for non-import status, as long as the player meets the above criteria. Conversely, a citizen of France who was fully trained in a foreign country will count as an import regardless of his French citizenship. On 22 December 2013 Grenoble and Briançon played an outdoor regular season game at Stade des Alpes ,
242-535: The NHL , AHL and ECHL . Gridiron football does not operate on a league system. Different professional leagues play by very different sets of rules in different seasons (the NFL plays 11-a-side on a 100-yard field in autumn and early winter, the CFL uses 12-a-side on a 110-yard field in summer and early fall, while arena football and the minor indoor leagues each play 8-a-side on
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#1732877322103264-757: The IIHF's annual Champions Hockey League (CHL), competing for the European Trophy. Participation is based on the strength of the various leagues in Europe (excluding the European/Asian Kontinental Hockey League ). Going into the 2022–23 CHL season , the Ligue Magnus was ranked the No. 9 league in Europe, allowing them to send their top team to compete in the CHL. 12 teams play a 44-game regular season . The schedule
286-401: The division. Moreover, the top teams in a division qualify for the postseason playoff tournament that crowns the league champion, which heightens the rivalries between the teams in a division. Geographically-based divisions can become skewed if an expansion team joins the league or if one of the franchises within a division moves to another city, necessitating a shuffling or realignment of
308-405: The divisions of the league) are at the same competitive level and remain so year after year. North American professional sports leagues often construct their season schedules in a way such that teams in a division play matches against each other more often than other teams in the league. This not only has the effect of reducing travel costs, but also creates exciting rivalries between the teams in
330-504: The exception of schools in the highest level of NCAA (American) football , which have never had an NCAA-recognized national championship ). As an example, the NCAA is split into three divisions: The term division is also used in US college sports to indicate the groupings of members of a given conference . However, this usage is more recent. The first conference to divide its teams into divisions
352-495: The first three years, before shifting to PlaySight automated technology in 2019. Hockey Dangles '16: Saxoprint Magnus Edition , an arcade -style mobile video game based on the league, was released for Android and iOS devices in September 2016. In addition, Bob Gainey ( Montreal Canadiens ) and Brian Propp ( Philadelphia Flyers ) have played in the second tier of French hockey. Division (sport) In sports using
374-401: The following two seasons. In 2018, mobile ice rink supplier Synerglace became the series' new title sponsor. Select regular season and playoff games air on cable and broadband television channel Sport en France . All league games can be streamed for a monthly subscription fee of approximately €10. The service, managed by Finnish company Fanseat , employed a man-operated main camera for
396-498: The home of former Ligue 1 soccer club GF38 . A sellout attendance of 19,767 set a league record. Another outdoor game took place on 30 December 2016, when Lyon hosted Grenoble at Parc OL , the home field of seven-time Ligue 1 champions Olympique Lyonnais . The event drew a record 25,182 attendance. In 2016, the league signed its first naming rights deal with Saxoprint, the online printing subsidiary of German conglomerate Cewe , and became known as Saxoprint Ligue Magnus for
418-598: The league system. The major governing bodies for college sports, the NCAA and NAIA , divide their member schools into large competitive groups. These groups are much larger than divisions in either the league or franchise system—for example, the NCAA's highest competitive level, Division I , has more than 300 member schools. The vast majority of teams are members of conferences , smaller groupings that usually have between 6 and 14 members. Conference champions, plus selected other teams, compete in national championship tournaments (with
440-531: The same division. For instance, in Major League Baseball , both the American and National Leagues have East, Central, and West divisions; the teams in each division are mostly (but not always) located in the eastern, central, and western sections of North America respectively. In a franchise system, teams are not promoted or relegated as are teams in a league system. All teams in the league (and by extension,
462-710: The teams in a division. Furthermore, the results of the realignment may not always reflect geographical realities. For instance, in 1995, the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) moved to St. Louis, Missouri and became the St. Louis Rams . The team retained its place in the NFC West division despite the fact that St. Louis is further east than Dallas, Texas , home of the Dallas Cowboys . Although Dallas
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#1732877322103484-637: Was the Southeastern Conference which, upon expanding to 12 members in 1992, divided into Eastern and Western divisions. Other conferences have undergone similar expansion and division. The usage in the section above is still maintained. For example, the Georgia Bulldogs are in Division I, but are also in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference. League system A league system
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