abstract
| - The major professional sports leagues, or simply major leagues, in the United States and Canada are the highest professional competitions in team sports. Although individual sports such as golf, tennis, and auto racing are also very popular, the term is usually limited to team sports. The term "major league" was first used in 1921 in reference to Major League Baseball(MLB), the top level of professional American baseball. Today, the major Northern American professional team sports leagues are the MLB, the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL). These four leagues are also commonly referred to as the Big Four. Each of these is the richest professional club competition in its sport worldwide. The best players can become cultural icons in both countries and elsewhere in the world, because the leagues enjoy a significant place in popular culture in the U.S. and Canada. All four leagues are more than sixty years old; the youngest, the NBA, was founded in 1946. The NFL has 32 teams, and the others have 30 each. The vast majority of major league teams are concentrated in the most populous metropolitan areas of the United States and Canada.
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