An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, but sometimes dividing the players by an attribute such as nationality. Selection of the players may be done by a vote of the coaches and/or news media; in professional leagues, fans may vote on some or all of the roster. An all-star game usually occurs at the midpoint of the regular season. An exception is American football's Pro Bowl, which occurs at the end of the season.
All-star games are organized like regular games, but are often played with less emphasis on victory. Competing goals are to give many players time in the game and to avoid injury. In hockey, for example, there is no serious checking, while in American football no blitzing is allowed. In basketball, there is virtually no defense played until the final quarter. However, the Australian State of Origin series does involve physicality that often leads to on-field scuffles.
The term "all-star" is mainly used in North America. All-star games are rare in international sports (such as association football) where games between national teams are more popular than all-star games would be. In the United Kingdom, all-star teams are usually denoted with the Roman numeral corresponding to the number of players allowed on the field - for example, a soccer or cricket XI, a rugby league XIII and a rugby union XV.
Major League Baseball organized the first professional league all-star game as part of the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. It was the brainchild of Arch Ward, then sports editor for The Chicago Tribune. Initially intended to be a one-time event, its great success resulted in playing the game annually. Ward's contribution was recognized by Major League Baseball in 1962 with the creation of the "Arch Ward Trophy," given to the All-Star Game's most valuable player each year.
Major leagues
Major League Baseball All-Star Game (National League vs. American League)
National Basketball Association All-Star Game (Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference)
National Hockey League All-Star Game
The game has had a number of formats throughout its history:
The original format, used from 1947 through 1968 with two exceptions, saw the previous season's Stanley Cup champions take on an "All-Star" team made up of the First and Second NHL All-Star Teams plus other star players.
In 1951 and 1952, the competing teams were the First NHL All-Star Team, supplemented with stars from the league's American franchises, and the Second NHL All-Star Team, supplemented with stars from Canadian franchises.
Beginning in 1969 and continuing through 2009, with some exceptions, the format was geographic—most recently Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference.
For 1979 and 1987, a single team comprising the NHL's best players faced the Soviet national ice hockey team in a two-game series.
From 1998 through 2002, the teams were divided by player nationality, with a "North America" team made up of Canadians and Americans and a "World" team drawn from the rest of the world.
In 2006, 2010 and 2014, the league did not hold an all-star game, instead releasing its players to play ice hockey at the Olympic Games. The league held an all-star game in addition to releasing its players to the Olympics in 1998 and 2002.
Due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout cancelling the entire season, the All-Star Game was not held in 2005. In 2013, the league did not hold an all-star game as well, as it omitted from the schedule because of the shortened season caused by the player lockout.
From 2011 to 2015, a fantasy draft took place that involved the selection of 42 players—six in fan voting, and the other 36 by the league. The selected players then chose two of these individuals as team captains.
From 2016 onward, the "All-Star Game" consists of a mini-tournament where teams representing the league's divisions compete against each other in abbreviated games lasting only 20 minutes (instead of the three 20-minute periods of normal NHL games).
Pro Bowl - National Football League
From 1938 to 1942, the NFL held an all-star game with the winner of that year's NFL Championship Game against an all-star team composed of players from the other teams (and, at least once, teams outside the NFL).
From 1951 to 2013, the Pro Bowl followed an inter-conference format (Eastern vs. Western from 1951 to 1969 and American Football Conference vs. National Football Conference since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970).
From 2014 to 2016 it followed a draft format, similar to the 2011–2015 format of the NHL All-Star Game (see above).
Beginning in 2017 it will return to the inter-conference format of AFC vs. NFC.
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 throughout its history:
Originally, the game pitted Eastern Conference and Western Conference all-star teams. This format was used for all games save one from 1996 through 2001, and also in 2004.
The 1998 game pitted an "MLS USA" team, consisting entirely of Americans, against an "MLS World" team drawn from all other nationalities.
The 2002 game matched an MLS all-star team against the US national team.
The 2003 game was the first in which an MLS all-star team played a visiting foreign club team. This format has been used ever since, with the exception of 2004.
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (Race winners from previous and current season, as well as Sprint Cup champions and All-Star Race winners from the previous 10 seasons)
WNBA All-Star Game (usually Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference)
In 2004 and 2010, the East-West format was not followed; instead, the USA national team faced a team of WNBA all-stars. The league does not consider these games to be official All-Star Games.
From 2008 forward, no All-Star Game has been played in any Olympic year.
Minor leagues
USAFL East vs West
American Hockey League All-Star Game
ECHL All-Star Game
Legends Football League All-Fantasy Game (Eastern vs Western)
Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game (Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference)
National Lacrosse League All-Star Game (East Division vs. West Division)
Major Indoor Soccer League All-Star Game (Format varies)
Women's Professional Soccer All-Star Game
In the three years of the league's existence, two different formats were used.
The first game in 2009, which took place after the season, employed a format similar to that of recent MLS All-Star Games, with a team of WPS all-stars taking on a visiting foreign club team (specifically Umeå IK of Sweden).
The 2010 edition took place at midseason. Of the 36 players, 22 were selected through a voting process, and the other 14 were selected by the league. The top vote-getters among U.S. and international players, respectively Abby Wambach and Marta, were named captains. They picked their first 10 teammates from the remaining 20 All-Stars selected through the voting process, with the league then filling out each roster.
No All-Star Game was held in 2011, which turned out to be the league's final season, because the season ran up against the Women's World Cup.
The successor to WPS, the National Women's Soccer League (2013–present), has never held an all-star game.
Triple-A All-Star Game (Baseball; International League vs. Pacific Coast League)
Double-A All-Star Game (Baseball; players from American League-affiliated teams vs. players from National League-affiliated teams)
AIFA Kickoff Classic (American Indoor Football Association All-Stars vs. expansion team)
Former events
Marlboro Challenge (1987–1992, CART series winners from the current and previous seasons)
CFL All-Star Game (various years and formats)
A-League All Stars Game - A selected team from the best of the Australian football (soccer) league. The A-League All Stars play an international club annually.
J. League All-Star Soccer (Japan; J-WEST vs. J-EAST, generally)
E. J. Whitten Legends Game (Victoria vs. All Stars, a team representing the rest of Australia—annual)
AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match (Victoria vs. Dream Team—only edition in 2008)
Chinese Professional Baseball League All-Star Game (Red vs White)
Honkbal Hoofdklasse All-Star Game (Netherlands; North All-Stars vs. South All-Stars)
Korea Baseball Organization All-Star Game (Nanum vs Dream)
Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Series
BBL All-Star Game (Basketball Bundesliga, Germany; teams currently divided by player nationality as National [Germans] and International)
DBL All-Star Gala (Dutch Basketball League; varying team compositions)
HEBA Greek All Star Game (Greek Basket League; teams currently divided by player nationality as Greek and Rest of the World)
Lega Basket All Star Game (Lega Basket Serie A, Italy; varying team compositions)
LKL All-Star Game (Lithuania; varying team compositions)
NBB All-Star Game (Brazil; teams currently divided by player nationality as Brasil and Mundo [World])
NBL All-Star Game (Australia; varying team compositions, with the current format being North vs. South)
Philippine Basketball Association All-Star Game (South All-Stars vs. North All-Stars)
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.
National Rugby League All Stars Game - (Indigenous All Stars vs NRL All Stars)
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.
College football
Aztec Bowl, features an all-star Mexican team and, currently, an NCAA Division III all-star team
Blue-Gray Football Classic (defunct)
Casino del Sol College All-Star Game (originally the Eastham Energy All-Star Game)
College All-Star Game (defunct), featured the defending NFL champions and an all-star team of recent college graduates
East-West Shrine Game
Hula Bowl (defunct)
Mahi Shrine North–South College All-Star Classic (defunct)
Magnolia Gridiron All-Star Classic (defunct)
NFLPA Collegiate Bowl
Texas vs The Nation
North–South All-American Game (defunct)
North–South All-Star Classic (defunct)
Senior Bowl
Medal of Honor Game
Other college sports
North-South Senior All-Star Game, the NCAA men's lacrosse all-star games
NCAA vs UAAP, All Star Collegiate Basketball between the top two college leagues in the Philippines
High school baseball
Under Armour All-America Baseball Game
Perfect Game All-American Classic (East vs. West)
High school basketball
McDonald's All-American Game — featuring the most highly recruited high school players from across the nation.
Jordan Brand Classic - similar game among blue chip athletes
Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic - the oldest continually held high school all-star game in the country. It is played annually in Louisville, KY at Freedom Hall and features top high school boys basketball players from across the country.
High school football
U.S. Army All-American Bowl
Under Armour All-America Game
Offense-Defense All-American Bowl
NUC All-World Gridiron Classic
Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic (Alabama vs. Mississippi)
Big 33 Football Classic (Pennsylvania vs. Maryland)
Bayou Bowl (Houston metropolitan area, Texas vs. Louisiana)
Don Raabe Big 30 Charities Classic (Southern Tier, New York vs. Northern Tier, Pennsylvania)
Lions Club All-Star High School Football Classic (Erie County, New York vs. Niagara County, New York)
Maryland Crab Bowl (Washington, DC vs. Baltimore, Maryland)
Oil Bowl (Texas vs. Oklahoma)
DFW Bowl (high school) All Star Football Game featuring top players from (Dallas) vs. top players from (Fort Worth). The game is organized by North American All Stars. The game is also referred to as the North Texas East/West Classic.
Dunmore Lions Club Dream Game (City vs. County) (Scranton, PA)
(Longest running football all star game in the country. EST. 1935)
North-South Game of the Carolinas (North Carolina vs. South Carolina)
High school lacrosse
Under Armour All-American Lacrosse Game
