Major League Quidditch

Major League Quidditch (MLQ) is a semipro quidditch league based in the United States and Canada.[1] The league is composed of 15 teams—13 in the U.S. and 2 in Canada. The MLQ season runs from June to August, with each team playing nine games in the regular season. The playoffs includes the top 12 teams competing in the MLQ Championship in late August, culminating in the championship series. The winning team is awarded the Benepe Cup.

Major League Quidditch
Current season, competition or edition:
2019 Major League Quidditch season
SportQuidditch
Founded23 March 2015
CommissionerEthan Sturm
Amanda Dallas
Divisions3
No. of teams15
CountriesCanada (2 teams)
United States (13 teams)
Most recent
champion(s)		Boston Night Riders
Most titlesBoston Night Riders (3)
Sponsor(s)SAVAGEultimate
Petersons Brooms
International cup(s)Benepe Cup
Official websiteMLQ Official Website

History

Major League Quidditch was founded in 2014 by Ethan Sturm, who joined with Amanda Dallas in hopes of developing quidditch further.[2] Sturm and Dallas currently co-commission the league.[3]

The first season took place in 2015 with eight teams. MLQ had an extremely successful first season, picking up a partnership with SAVAGEultimate, Petersons Brooms and Destination Toledo, hosting 12 regular-season, three-game series, and the 2015 MLQ Championship in Toledo, Ohio.

In the 2016 season, MLQ doubled the size of the league to 16 teams and geographically expanded it with the creation of the South and West Division.[4] The new teams were located in Austin, Kansas City, League City, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco.[5]

Starting in 2018, the Phoenix Sol relocated to Boise, Idaho as the Boise Grays. During the 2018 season, MLQ announced that Boise would be disbanded as a punishment for a brawl during a game with the Salt Lake City Hive.

Following the end of the season it was announced that during the 2019 season, the league would be reorganized as a 15-franchise league with three five-team competitive divisions. Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and San Francisco were eliminated along with the West Division. Rochester was moved from the North Division to the East, and Minneapolis and Toronto were added to the North; San Antonio was added to the South, with identities for the new Quidditch teams to be announced in February, followed by tryouts.

Competition format

Three game series are played between every team in each division throughout June and July. All three games are played in each series, regardless of the outcome of the first two games, though the team that wins at least 2 out of the 3 games wins the series. Teams are ranked as a result of these series' outcomes. The top three teams in each four team division are invited to the Championship in August. These twelve teams are re-sorted into pools and play in a bracketed series format working towards the final three-game series for the Benepe Cup. Starting in 2018, there will be the "SuperSeries", involving three teams playing at one location over two days. This was added in an attempt to save costs for the players.

Teams
Major League Quidditch teams
Team City Joined
East Division
Boston Night Riders Boston, Massachusetts 2015
New York Titans New York City, New York 2015
Ottawa Black Bears Ottawa, Ontario 2015
Washington Admirals Washington, D.C. 2015
Rochester Whiteout Rochester, New York 2015
North Division
Cleveland Riff Cleveland, Ohio 2015
Detroit Innovators Detroit, Michigan 2015
Indianapolis Intensity Indianapolis, Indiana 2015
Minneapolis Monarchs Minneapolis, Minnesota 2019
Toronto Raiders Toronto, Ontario 2019
South Division
Austin Outlaws Austin, Texas 2016
Kansas City Stampede Kansas City, Missouri 2016
League City Legends League City, Texas 2016
New Orleans Curse New Orleans, Louisiana 2016
San Antonio Soldados San Antonio, Texas 2019

Former Teams
Team Division Years active Fate
Phoenix Sol West 2016-2017 Relocated to Boise, ID, became Boise Grays.
Boise Grays West 2018 Dissolved for disciplinary reasons.
Salt Lake City Hive West 2016-2018 Dissolved due to long travel time for play with other teams.
Los Angeles Guardians West 2016-2018 Dissolved due to long travel time for play with other teams.
San Francisco Argonauts West 2016-2018 Dissolved due to long travel time for play with other teams.

Expansion Teams
Team Division Year Franchise Granted
Phoenix Sol West 2016
Salt Lake City Hive West 2016
Los Angeles Guardians West 2016
San Francisco Argonauts West 2016
Minneapolis Monarchs North 2019
Toronto Raiders North 2019
San Antonio Soldados South 2019

The West Division was eliminated at the end of the 2018 season due to extensive travel time for the teams. In addition to the 3-team expansion in 2019, the Rochester Whiteout were moved from the North Division to the East.

League champions
Year Team
2015 Boston Night Riders
2016 Boston Night Riders
2017 Austin Outlaws
2018 Austin Outlaws
2019 Boston Night Riders
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See also

References
  1. Salamy, Elissa (23 March 2015). "Major League Quidditch Inaugural Season Begins June 1". The Eighth Man.
  2. Sturm, Ethan (March 23, 2015). "MLQ announced". Major League Quidditch. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  3. Phelan, Kevin (29 April 2015). "Quidditch comes to Tarrytown". lohud.
  4. Dallas, Amanda. "MLQ to Expand to West and South". Major League Quidditch. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
  5. Dallas, Amanda (2016-02-16). "MLQ 2016 Coaches Revealed". Major League Quidditch. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
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