Which professional sport has the longest season?
When your favorite sport is in the off-season, it can seem like an eternity before it takes the field again. Similarly, if your favorite team has blown any chance of reaching the playoffs, it seems like the season will never end.
Below are the season timelines for the most popular professional sports, plus a few interesting notes about how seasons have changed in professional sports and why those changes are important.
Major League Baseball (MLB)
MLB is known for its long season. The regular MLB season consists of 162 games and runs from late March to early October. This means teams play almost every day during the season with short times off during breaks or while traveling to their next game.
MLB playoffs begin in mid-October and last up to a month before entering the championship series – the World Series of baseball. This means MLB has the longest season of any professional sport.
Games in the MLB last, on average, 2 hours and 56 minutes, putting them second only to the NFL in average game duration.
National Basketball Association (NBA)
Baseball season rolls right into the professional basketball season, which has the second longest season. The NBA season runs from October to April. Each team plays 82 games that typically last about 2 hours and 18 minutes. Unlike the MLB playoffs, which can be completed in a month, the NBA playoffs start in mid-April and can continue through mid-June.
National Hockey League (NHL)
The NHL regular season parallels the NBA season, running from October to April, with each team also playing 82 games that run about 2 hours and 20 minutes. The NHL playoffs can run from April to June too. The Stanley Cup playoffs consist of four rounds, with each team playing a best-of-seven series.
National Football League (NFL)
The NFL regular season only has 17 games per team during the 18-week season (each team gets one bye week). The season begins on the first weekend following the first Monday of September and ends in early January, at which time the playoffs begin. The season culminates in the Super Bowl, typically held in early February.
Although the season is short, game durations are the longest of any professional sport, with games averaging 3 hours and 10 minutes (of which a mere 11 minutes are “live action”).
Are there any professional sports that run year-round?
The year-round sport of Professional Golf (PGA)
One American sport runs year-round. America’s PGA Tour runs throughout the entire year. The “regular season” runs from January through mid-August with players earning “FedEx Cup” points. At the end of the season, the top 125 players are eligible to compete in the “playoffs” – four events from mid-August through mid-September. The Tour continues through the Fall, primarily for players to earn enough money to retain their tour cards. These events run at various locations around the country from 2-4 events being offered each month.
The almost year-round sport of Professional Bowling (PBA)
The Professional Bowling tour does not run year-round, but running from the end of January to the end of September is longer than most other professional sports. The season typically offers more than 20 tournaments for PBA players.
Does the length of the season harm the player or improve their performance?
The playing season for any team consists of hard training sessions followed by a league game, repeatedly throughout the season. It goes without saying that the players’ performance improves with a longer season. Still, not all sports allow a player to compete for extended lengths of time without suffering from injuries or overtraining. Thus the length of a sports season has more to do with the intensity of the sport and whether it involves contact or not.
Injuries in professional sports
In all sports, injuries have trended down for the past decade. Training routines have improved, and preventative treatment programs have become mainstream. But injuries in all professional sports are common. Research has shown that professional athletes have a 33% lifetime risk of sustaining an injury that will lead to a severe disability, and more than half will suffer from some form of osteoarthritis after retirement.
Football injuries
Basketball outranks football in the number of injuries nationwide because basketball is more popular, with more players. But per capita, football ranks as the sport with the highest injury rate, with injuries ranging from sprains and tears to broken bones and concussions. In fact, the NFL has five times as many injured players as the NBA.
Basketball injuries
Basketball has more injuries than any other sport – in total – and has been named “America’s most dangerous sport.” However, per capita, the injury rates are quite a bit lower than in other sports. In fact, despite the fast pace of the game, contact is not as much an issue as with sports like football and hockey. Thus the rate of player injuries ranks below even weightlifting. However, the chance of long-standing injury for NBA players is very high – at 82% (vs. Only 1% for NFL injuries), with ankle injuries being the most common, followed by dental injuries (from flying elbows). And a much higher injury rate occurs during basketball playoffs than during the regular season, supporting the theory that sports intensity impacts injury rates.
Baseball injuries
Baseball is a non-contact sport and, like basketball, has a low rate of injury per capita and in total. When injuries do occur, they are often bruises (from the ball) or soft tissue damage, such as sprains and muscle tears that can heal relatively quickly. Where baseball injuries stand out is related to age. Older baseball players have a much higher chance of being injured. Statistics show the chance of baseball injuries increases by 6% each season a player plays ball.
Hockey injuries
Hockey is, of course, a violent sport. Players speed down the ice much faster than the human body can move without specialized equipment. Thus injury rates are second only to football. In addition, hockey ranks #1 with regards to the dreaded head injury, with a rate of 12% concussion-related injuries (vs football at 8%). Overall, more than a quarter of all hockey injuries involve the head or face.
How has the season/schedule changed for professional sports over time?
MLB Baseball changes
When the National League began in 1900, the inaugural season consisted of only 8 teams, each playing a total of 140 games. The number of teams has since grown, but the total number of games has remained fairly constant, with teams playing a total of 162 games in 2023.
NBA Basketball changes
The NBA began in 1945 with only 11 teams. It has since expanded to 30 teams, 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. The inaugural season consisted of 60 game schedules. Today teams play 82-game seasons.
NHL Hockey changes
The NHL was formed in 1917, with only 4 teams playing in the league. Each team played 22 games. Today NHL teams play nearly 4 times as many games – 82 in total.
NFL Football changes
The 1920 NFL season was the inaugural regular season of the National Football League. Four teams agreed to a six-game schedule. As the league developed, schedules became irregular, with regular-season schedules being created dynamically by each team as the season progressed. As other leagues were folded in, schedules became standard, and the number of games increased from the original six-game schedule to today’s 17-game season.
