They generally have lesser fan bases, much smaller revenues and salaries, and are used to develop players for bigger leagues.
Minor leagues are also occasionally used as a testing ground for proposed rule changes prior to implementation at the top level.
In other parts of the world there is usually either a system of annual promotion and relegation, meaning that clubs have no fixed status in the hierarchy, or there is only one professional league per country in each sport, rendering the major/minor distinction irrelevant.
In modern times, the NFL has developed players not ready for the active roster through each team's practice squad.
Several NFL owners had purchased teams in the Arena Football League in the mid-2000s, prior to its bankruptcy and restructuring.
Similarly, the Canadian Football League, though it has developed ties with the NFL in recent years and has moved away from competing with the NFL for talent, plays a visibly different game than the American game, and the two sports favor different types of skills; the CFL arguably holds major league status in its home territory of Canada.
Others, such as the United Football League and both the 2001 and 2020 incarnations of the XFL, have sought to maintain independence and maintain a national profile while acknowledging the lack of funds (particularly from television, which is by far the NFL's largest revenue stream) that would be needed to compete for NFL-caliber talent.
The developmental pathway for players outside the collegiate system has so far been mostly an ad hoc affair, with semi-professional and amateur leagues including the former USL W-League.
Since it was first developed in the 1920s by St. Louis Cardinals executive Branch Rickey, the formal developmental affiliations have come to dominate minor league baseball, and the majority of minor leagues are part of the affiliated system.
The now-defunct Continental Basketball Association (CBA) served some of the purposes of a minor league for the NBA for many years.
Pro Semi-Pro The sport with the next most extensive system of minor league teams other than baseball is ice hockey.
[17] In contrast, Canadian cities more commonly host major junior teams, which develop teenage prospects prior to their move to the professional leagues.
Other sports organizations considered to be minor leagues are golf's Korn Ferry Tour and Epson Tour, respectively affiliated with the PGA Tour and LPGA; NASCAR's Xfinity Series, Camping World Truck Series and Whelen All-American Series (and to a lesser extent ARCA and its ARCA Menards Series since ARCA's buyout by NASCAR in 2018); Monster Jam's Triple Threat Series; Overwatch Contenders; the FIA Formula 2 Championship and FIA Formula 3 Championship for Formula One; and various other affiliated satellite tours of other individual sports, including the Challengers Tour of Professional Tennis.