High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Major professional sports league, or simply major league, is a term used in the United States and Canada for the highest professional competitions in team sports. The term "major league" was first used in 1921 in reference to Major League Baseball, the top level of professional American baseball. The term is most commonly applied to the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League. Each of these is the richest professional club competition in its sport worldwide. The best players can become cultural icons in North America and the rest of the world, because the leagues enjoy a significant place in U.S. and Canadian popular culture. The world's most popular sport, football, is known as soccer in Canada and the United States and is also popular there; however, the premier American soccer league, Major League Soccer, while a major North American league, is not presentlyconsidered as prestigious as major European leagues.