Olympic Sports Without Professional Leagues
If you are watching the Olympics, you may have noticed team sports in the Olympics which aren't really known in the United States. There are sports such as Team Handball which most American sports fan know nothing about yet American football isn't an Olympic sport. The Olympic Charter indicates that in order to be accepted, a sport must be widely practiced by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents and by women in no fewer than 40 countries and on three continents.
Here are some Olympic sports which have no professional sports leagues represented in the United States:
This sport is most popular in Denmark and Germany. It is a very high-scoring and exciting sport which features similarities to soccer and basketball. In 1978, an attempt was made to create a professional league in the U.S. The National Teamball League was formed with six clubs: the Detroit Hawks, Chicago Chiefs, Boston Comets, New York Stags, Philadelphia Warriors and Pittsburgh Points. The NTL (described as an "Americanized" version of team handball, with faster play and higher scores) was bankrolled by Aben Johnson, Jr., owner of WXON-TV in Detroit, and WXON aired the league's first game, a 48-26 victory by Detroit over Chicago. The match, played in front of about 800 people at Macomb County Community College in Warren, Michigan, was taped in early December and aired on WXON on Friday, December 8, 1978, and again the next day. The NTL quickly faded into oblivion after that. In 2020, former USA Team Handball CEO Barry Siff stated that plans were in development to create an American professional team handball league. The new, unnamed league's launch is scheduled for 2023, with 10 teams initially worth three to five million dollars apiece. There are also plans to cooperate with NBA or NHL owners in one-tenant arena situations
This sport is played in over 117 countries and most popular in Canada. The sport is mostly dominated by women in the United States where it is played in hundreds of American colleges and universities. Although there has been no attempt to launch a professional league in the U.S., there is currently international professional leagues for men and women. The FIH Pro League features nine men's and women's national teams. The leagues were launched in 2019. Belgium won the 2020 men's title while the Netherlands won the women's title. The U.S. women's team plays at Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The U.S. women's team finished 0-10 in 2020 while the men did not compete.
Over 100 countries play this sport with the most popularity in Europe. The sport is played in many American high schools and colleges; however, there are no professional leagues. There is a professional international league, the FINA Water Polo World League is an international water polo league organized by FINA, which plays annually, typically from winter through to June. League play features continental tournaments for men and women, from which the top teams emerge to play in the championship tournament (the "Super Final") where the league champion team is crowned. Men's league play began in 2002, to capitalize on increased worldwide popularity of water polo created by the 2000 Olympic Games, especially in Europe, North America and Australia. The women’s league was added in 2004, based on growing interest in women's play. The U.S. women won the 2021 title (which were their seventh consecutive) and the U.S. men were runner-up to Montenegro.
This is a new sport at the Tokyo Olympics. 3x3 basketball is played on half a regular five-a-side basketball court, with each team shooting into a single hoop. Teams consists of four players, three players on court and one substitute. A coin toss is held to determine which team will start the game on offence. The three-point line in conventional basketball serves as the two-point line in 3x3 basketball, with shots made outside the line earning two points and those inside it one (free throws also earn a single point if a foul is committed inside the arc). The winner is the team with the highest score at the end of the 10-minute period, or the first team to reach 21 points. If the score is tied after 10 minutes, the game goes into overtime with the first team to score two points declared the winner. There is a professional league called BIG3 which consists of twelve teams whose rosters include both former NBA players and international players. The rules enforced in Big3 games contain major deviations from the official rules of 3-on-3 basketball as administered by FIBA.
Other Olympic sports which have professional leagues:
Rugby: This is a new sport in the Olympics and widely popular around the world. This cousin to American football has a couple of American professional leagues with Major League Rugby and North American Rugby League is scheduled to launch in 2022.
Softball: National Pro Fastpitch has currently suspended operations due to COVID-19 and the Summer Olympic games. No word if the league will play in 2022.
Volleyball: The National Volleyball Association has 10 teams and Athletes Unlimited Volleyball (AUV) is a women's professional indoor volleyball league in the US, founded in 2021. Players are not committed to one team but switch teams every week of a season. Players who earned most points each week become captains for the next week and form new teams.
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