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The major professional sports leagues in Latium are the highest professional competitions of team sports Latium. The four leagues traditionally included in the definition are Liga Campiontia (ICC), Insignis Liga (NIL), and Liga Magna (LMH). Other prominent leagues or competitions commonly included in this definition are the Belisarian Gridiron League (BGL), Y, and Z.
Liga Campiontia, Insignis Liga, and Liga Magna are commonly referred to as the "Big Three." They are among the wealthiest professional competitions in their respective sports worldwide, and are among the top ten sports leagues by revenue in the world. Among the Big Three, only football, known in Latium as calcitro, had a history of formation in Latium, with hockey and lacrosse developing in Ghant and Norumbia respectively. Due to the prominence of athletics in popular culture, many of the leagues star plays develop into cultural icons.
Each of the Big Three, and the BGL average a minimum of 14,000 in attendance per match. As Liga Magna is the only major league played indoors, most arenas are fitted for a minimum of 15,000 fans, with the largest at approximately 20,000. Many Liga Campiontia and Insignis Liga share venues, and achieve some of the highest attendance of fans due to the size of their respective stadiums.
With the exception of the BGL, these leagues range from 20 to 25 clubs. Both Liga Campiontia and Insignis Liga leagues field teams exclusively to Latium or its immediate territories, while Liga Magna includes teams from neighboring countries. All leagues, aside from the BGL, utilize some form of promotion and relegation. While rare, relocation can occur, but this often leads to the formation of a new club in a lower tier. When this occurs the relocated team is considered a new entity and a potential phoenix club may retain the original identity.
Professional Association football and lacrosse leagues have existed in Latium for over 100 years, in the form of Liga Campiontia, Insignis Liga respectively. Hockey Campiontia, the predecessor to Liga Magna, was first formed in 1933, and folded during the Social War. Liga Magna is considered the legal successor to Hockey Campiontia, and played its first season in 1951.
Big Three leagues
Liga Campiontia
Liga Campiontia, officially known as Imperialis Campiontia Calcitro (Anglic: Imperial Football Championship), is the highest level of play for association football in Latium, and among the top leagues worldwide. Founded in 1889, Liga Campiontia is the oldest continuously extant professional team sports competition in Latium. While its composition and form of play has evolved since its founding, it currently consists of 20 clubs that play 38 games from August to May. as the top flight football league in Latium, it serves as the premier league in the Latin football league system. Following each season, three clubs are relegated and three are promoted from the division two league, Liga 2 Calcitro. The league champion receives an automatic place in the group stage of the BFFA Champions League, as well as a placement in the Periclean Cup where it faces the regular season champion of its Peratiean counterpart Eastern League. Teams that finish the regular season in positions second through four qualify for the Champions League, with teams finishing in positions five to seven in the BFFA Leagues Cup. Liga Campiontia is the only of the Big Three to not feature a post-season playoff tournament. It is the most popular sports league by television viewership, attendance, and revenue in Latium.
Insignis Liga
Insignis Liga, officially known as Nationale Liga Insignis de Bastopila Sodalitas (Anglic: National Professional League of Lacrosse Societies), is the top flight lacrosse league in the Latin lacrosse league system. It was established in 1934 following a merger of 20 clubs from the Nationale Liga and Imperialis Campiontia. 25 teams participate in a 48 game regular seasons that begins in March and ends in October, with a summer break in July. A post-season playoff was introduced in 1987, and crowns a playoff champion alongside a regular season champion. Insignis Liga boasts the second highest league attendance of the Big Three.
Liga Magna
Liga Magna, known as Delpha Liga Magna de Hockey Glaciei (Anglic: Major League of Ice Hockey) for sponsorship purposes, is the youngest leagues of the Big Three, after it was established in 1950. The league features 25 clubs, growing from the 9 clubs featured in the league from its founding until 1962, playing a 60 game regular season from October to April. Liga Magna has featured 25 clubs since 1996. It became the first major Latin professional league to introduce a post-season playoff format, for the 1957–58 season. Since 1990, the playoff champion has faced off against the playoff champion of the Ghantish Hockey League for the Salacian Cup in a best of seven exhibition series.
Other notable professional leagues
National sports journalists have made the argument for the inclusion of Liga 2 Calcitro, Canistriludium Liga, and Belisarian Gridiron League in the major professional sports leagues.
Liga 2 Calcitro
Liga 2 Calcitro, commonly referred to as Liga 2, is the second tier or the Latin football league system. The league features 22 clubs participating in a 42 game season. As the second level of the football system, it features the promotion of 3 clubs to Liga Campiontia through the league champion and a promotion playoff. Likewise, 3 clubs are relegated to Liga 3 Calcitro at the end of the season. It is rarely included in the major professional leagues due to its status as the second tier league in Latin football. Despite this status, it features a high level of competition, and commonly features an average attendance of at least 20,000. The league also plays well on television, with a strong presence due to its recent broadcast contracts and regional viewerships.
Canistriludium Liga
Nationale Canistriludium Liga (NCL) is the top flight basketball league in Latium. It is the highest level of play in basketball within Latium. The league was first established in 1966 between 6 clubs based in eastern Latium, and 4 clubs in western Latium, primarily around Adrianople. Since 1970, the league has been operated by the Latin national basketball federation. Most of the oldest extant clubs are closely associated with sporting clubs that field teams in other sports such as football, lacross, or in less cases hockey. Since 2015, the NCL has consisted of 15 teams, and features promotion and relegation. Unlike other basketball leagues, the NCL's season runs from spring to fall in order to more easily fill arena space; however, the federation has recently explored moving the season to a more traditional fall to spring calendar.
Belisarian Gridiron League
The Belisarian Gridiron League is a multi-national league of gridiron football clubs throughout Belisaria. Despite holding a niche position in the Latin sporting world, the Belisarian Gridiron League is most often not included in the list of major professional leagues due to the mutli-national basis of its league. Since 1999, three teams have been based in Latium: Gladiatores AHS, Adrianopolis SHS, and Lupi Ascanium. All three teams share venues with association football clubs in their cities. Due to the international nature of the league, it is the only top flight professional team sports league in Latium that is a closed league without promotion and relegation.
Traits of the major leagues
Liga Campiontia, Insignis Liga, and Liga Magna stand out among other sports leagues in Latium due to their business and economics, as well as the popularity, visibility both domestically and abroad, and the quality of play. All three leagues have substantial domestic and international broadcasting contracts, and draw athletes and fans from around the world.
- Big three
| League | Sport | Year founded |
Teams | Last expansion |
Last contraction |
Revenue L$ (bn) |
Average attendance (2021) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liga Campiontia | Association football | 1889 | 20 | 1952 | 19861 | $x.x | 38,181 |
| Insignis Liga | Lacrosse | 19342 | 25 | 19873 | n/a | $x.x | 28,199 |
| Liga Magna | Ice hockey | 1950 | 25 | 2021 | 20224 | $x.x | 12,857 |
- 1 The latest contraction in came as a result of the league reducing the number of teams from 22 to 20 in 1986. The 1985 season saw the normal relegation of 3 clubs, but only the promotion of a single club from Liga 2 Calcitro.
- 2 While Insignis Liga was established in 1934, it was formed as a result of a merger between two competing leagues that were formed in 1904 and 1925 respectively.
- 3 In 1987, Insignis Liga expanded its field of competition from 22 to 25 teams when it instituted the post-season playoff system.
- 4 Liga Magna saw it's only contraction occur during the 2022 summer off-season when 2 Gelonian-based clubs departed for the newly formed Gelonian Superleague. The 2022–23 season will continue to field 25 teams with a play-in system to fill the two vacant positions.
- Other
| League | Sport | Year founded |
Teams | Last expansion |
Last contraction |
Revenue L$ (bn) |
Average attendance (2021) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liga 2 Calcitro | Association football | 1889 | 22 | 1952 | 19861 | $x.x | 21,269 |
| Canistriludium Liga | Basketball | 1970 | 15 | 20052 | n/a | $x.x | 9,086 |
| Belisarian Gridiron League | Gridiron | 1950 | 243 | n/a | n/a | $x.x | 12,8574 |
- 1
- 2
- 3 The intra-continental league consists of X teams, with 3 located within Latium.
- 4 This number is the average attendance for teams based in Latium.
Attendance
Revenues
Relations between the major leagues
Relations between the major leagues themselves remains minimal, due to competition for viewership, participation, sponsorship money, etc. However, strong relationships exist among teams found in all three leagues due to the commonplace of sporting societies in professional and amateur athletics in Latium. As of 2021, X sporting clubs field teams in at least two of the major leagues. An additional X number of teams in each league feature shared ownership, though are not among the same sporting society. The shared ownership feature most commonly includes clubs in Liga Magna. Many teams in Liga Campiontia and Insignis Liga share match venues and training facilities due to the staggered nature of each league's regular season; however, this causes scheduling conflicts near the ends of each league's respective end.