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All-star game

Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience

An exciting moment from the 2007 Pro Bowl football game.

An all-star game is an exhibition game that shows off the best players, or "stars," from a sports league. These players are put into two teams just for this event. The teams are often based on where the players’ teams are located, like east and west, but sometimes they are divided by things like nationality. Fans, coaches, and news media usually help choose who plays.

All-star games usually happen halfway through the regular season. One exception is American football’s NFL Pro Bowl, which is played at the end of the season. These games are meant to let many players get to play together and avoid injuries, so they are often not played as seriously as regular games.

Action during the 2007 Pro Bowl, the all-star game of the National Football League. Note different team insignias on helmets.

The NHL All-Star Game has a different style than normal games. Instead of one game, it is set up as a tournament with four teams, each representing one of the league’s divisions. Each game is 20 minutes long, and teams have fewer players on the ice than usual.

The idea of an all-star game started in Major League Baseball in 1933 as part of the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. A sports editor named Arch Ward came up with the idea. It was so popular that it became an annual event. In 1962, Major League Baseball created the Arch Ward Trophy to honor the game’s most valuable player each year.

Professional all-star games

North America

Major leagues

The 2024 All-Star Game returned to its original East vs. West format.

  • National Hockey League All-Star Game

    • The game has had many formats throughout its history:
      • The original format saw the previous season's Stanley Cup champions face an "All-Star" team.
      • In some years, teams were divided by the league's American and Canadian franchises.
      • Later, the format became geographic, with Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference.
      • For some events, the NHL's best players faced the Soviet national ice hockey team.
      • Teams were also divided by player nationality, with a "North America" team and a "World" team.
      • In some Olympic years, the league did not hold an all-star game.
      • Due to lockouts, the All-Star Game was not held in 2005 and 2013.
      • A fantasy draft was used from 2018 to 2022, with fans and the league selecting players.
      • From 2023 onward, the "All-Star Game" is a mini-tournament with teams from the league's divisions competing in short games.

  • National Football League Pro Bowl

    • From 1938 to 1942, the NFL held an all-star game with the NFL Championship winner against an all-star team.
    • From 1951 to 2013, the Pro Bowl followed an inter-conference format (Eastern vs. Western, then American Football Conference vs. National Football Conference after the AFL–NFL merger in 1970). The AFC vs NFC format returned in 2017.
    • From 2014 to 2016, it followed a draft format.

Note: In professional American football, the term "all-star game" can also refer to the American Football League All-Star game, played from 1961 to 1969; or the College All-Star Game, played from 1934 to 1976.

  • Major League Soccer All-Star Game

    • The game has had several formats:
      • Originally, it pitted Eastern Conference and Western Conference all-star teams.
      • In 1998, it was an "MLS USA" team vs. an "MLS World" team.
      • In 2002, it was an MLS all-star team vs. the US national team.
      • From 2003 to 2019, it was an MLS all-star team vs. a visiting foreign club team.
      • The 2021 game introduced a format with all-star teams from MLS and Mexico's Liga MX.

  • NASCAR All-Star Race (Race winners from previous and current seasons, Cup champions, and All-Star Race winners from the previous 10 seasons)

  • WNBA All-Star Game (usually Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference)

    • In some years, the USA national team faced a team of WNBA all-stars.
    • From 2018 forward, no All-Star Game has been played in Olympic years.
    • Since 2018, the All-Star Game has used a draft format, with fan voting determining the two team captains.

Minor leagues

The successor to WPS, the National Women's Soccer League (2013–present), has never held an all-star game.

Former events

Other regions

Association football

Australian rules football

Baseball

Basketball

Europe
Other

Ice hockey

  • Kontinental Hockey League All-Star Game — Two different formats have been used:
    • In the game's first two editions in 2009 and 2010, the competing sides were divided by player nationality: "Team Russia" and "Team World".
    • Since then, the competing teams have been "Team East" and "Team West", divided between the league's two conferences.

Kart racing

Pesäpallo

  • Itä–Länsi-ottelu – East-West Finland pesäpallo match that usually fields top league Superpesis players, along with corresponding matches at various youth tiers.

Rugby league

Note: This annual game involves a publicly voted selection of the best club players from the league versus an Aboriginal team in honour of reconciliation.

Volleyball

College all-star games

Football

See also: Category:College football all-star games

Some famous football games include:

Basketball

Other sports

High school all-star games

All-star games in high school sports are special matches that bring together the best players from different schools. These games are fun events where teams are made up of top players, often from different areas or states.

Some famous high school all-star games include the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game and the Perfect Game All-American Classic for baseball, the McDonald's All-American Game and Jordan Brand Classic for basketball, and the U.S. Army All-American Bowl for football. There are many other exciting games like these for different sports and regions.

Related articles

American football
National Hockey League
Major League Baseball
Chicago
Philippines
Eastern Conference (NBA)

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on All-star game, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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