Split season

In Latin America, some association football leagues use a similar format known as Apertura and Clausura.

In 1892, the National League decided to split its season in an attempt to increase interest, following the collapse of the rival American Association.

The extra round of postseason playoffs were won by the Yankees, Athletics, Expos, and Dodgers.

Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) Pacific League (PL) employed a split season format once from 1973 to 1982.

[3] Playoff games under the split-season format were commercially successful and often played to sold out crowds, a rare occurrence during the Pacific League's regular season.

It allowed a team with only the third-best winning percentage for the full season to reach the playoffs and the Japan Series.

[4] The Seibu Lions' manager during the split-season format's final season, Tatsuro Hirooka, heavily criticized the playoff system for this reason.

[5] Another problem specific to the split-season format is that the playoff series was cancelled if one team won both half seasons.

In French-speaking Haiti, these are known as the Ouverture and the Fermeture, while in English-speaking Belize, they are respectively the "Opening" and "Closing" seasons.

The champions of East and West divisions in the first half met for a three-game playoff series in January 1962, won by the Kansas City Steers.