Wikipedia
Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In several sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan.
Elitserien leagues at present:
- Elitserien (badminton)
- Elitserien (bandy)
- Elitserien (baseball)
- Elitserien (chess)
- Elitserien (men's curling)
- Elitserien (women's curling)
- Elitserien (men's handball)
- Elitserien (women's handball)
- Elitserien (orienteering)
- Elitserien (men's rugby union)
- Elitserien (women's rugby union)
- Elitserien (speedway)
- Elitserien (tennis)
- Elitserien (men's volleyball)
- Elitserien (women's volleyball)
Leagues formerly named Elitserien:
- Elitserien (1927–35), the highest ice hockey league 1927–1935
- Swedish Hockey League, the highest ice hockey league, named Elitserien 1975–2013
- Swedish Super League (men's floorball), the highest men's floorball league, named Elitserien 1995–2007
- Swedish Super League (women's floorball), the highest women's floorball league, named Elitserien 1997–2012
- Elitserien (men's basketball), the highest men's basketball league 1954–1992, now Basketligan
- Elitserien (women's basketball), the highest women's basketball league 1957–2001, now Basketligan dam
- Elitserien (women's bandy)
- Elitserien (men's table tennis)
- Elitserien (women's table tennis)
Elitserien (literally, "The Elite League") is the highest league in the league system of Swedish handball and comprises the top 14 Swedish handball teams. The first season began in 1931–32. The season ends with a play-off and a final like Super Bowl.
Elitserien (literally, "The Elite Series") is the highest league in the league system of speedway in Sweden and currently comprises the top 7 Swedish speedway teams. The first season began in 1982. Before that Allsvenskan was the highest division.
The Elitserien (literally, "The Elite League") is since the 2007–08 season the highest bandy league in Sweden. It consist of 14 teams. The season ends with one final game in March. The final was held at Studenternas IP in Uppsala from 1991 until 2012, in 2013 and 2014 the final was played at Friends Arena in Solna and from 2015 it is played in Tele2 Arena.
Elitserien is the highest level of professional baseball in Sweden and is operated by the Swedish Baseball and Softball Federation. The number of teams in Elitserien has varied through the years. The Swedish baseball championship was inaugurated in 1956. Teams compete in the regular season for a chance to make the playoffs and battle for the Elitserien Cup Championship. Teams also play many exhibition games and events within Sweden, and throughout Northern Europe, in an attempt to help the sport gain popularity. Each organization has a Elitserien team, as well as minor league and youth league teams.
The Elitserien was the top level ice hockey league in Sweden from 1927–1935. It existed alongside the Swedish Championship, where the national champion was crowned. It was replaced by Svenska Serien in the 1935–36 season.
The Elitserien is the highest division of women's handball in Sweden. The inaugural Elitserien season took place in 1951, with Kvinnliga IK Sport winning the championship.
The league currently consists of 12 teams. The eight top teams at the end of every season continue to the playoffs, in which the quarterfinals and semifinals are played as a best-of-five series, unlike the final which is played as a single match. The champion is awarded a spot in the EHF Women's Champions League's 2nd qualifying stage. Meanwhile, the teams ranked 11th and 12th are relegated, with the 9th and 10th teams playing a promotion/relegation playoff against the second-tier league Allsvenskan's 3rd and 4th placed teams.
Historically, the women's Elitserien was dominated by Kvinnliga IK Sport and Stockholmspolisens IF, with 14 and 12 championships respectively. IK Sävehof is the most successful team in recent years, with seven titles in eight seasons, as of 2013.
Elitserien is the Swedish men's volleyball top division. By late February-early March it is followed up by the Swedish national championship playoff.
Elitserien is the senior of the two water polo leagues in Sweden, the other one being Allsvenskan. Elitserien consists of a regular season of six matches after which a round of final four playoffs us held between the four best teams. A semi-finals is then held between the first and the fourth team and the second and third of the final four round. The final match will then be played between the winner and second team of the semi-finals. The two last teams in the regular season will meet the first and second teams respectively from Allsvenskan in qualifying matches for next year's Elitserien.