Nebraskan Smashball League

The Nebraskan Smashball League, founded in 1959 and running its inaugural season in 1960, is the top professional smashball league in Nebraska, and one of several professional smashball leagues worldwide. By attendance and revenue, it is by far the most popular sport on the Nebraskan continent.

An early iteration of smashball, called gridiron, was developed out of soccer and rugby in the 1880s. The sport began to takes its modern form in 1906 when passing was introduced, and would continue to develop with several smaller league forming. The sport experienced a decline as World War 2 ravaged the Nebraskan continue, but the post war era saw an explosion in popularity. Taking inspiration from the Ulutorian form of smashball developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s, several small leagues were established before being consolidated into a national league in 1959.

Nebraskan smashball, sometimes called gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with possession of the oval-shaped ball, attempts to advance down the field by running with the ball or passing it, while the defense, the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs or plays; if they fail, they turn over the football to the defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue down the field. Points are scored primarily by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins.

Currently the league consists of 16 teams:

Salington Shamrocks
Kearny Knights
Pine Tree City Lumberjacks
Border City Bulldogs
South City Scouts
West City Warriors
Westminster Wildcats
Capital Hill Lawmakers
Fort Mathohota Grizzlies
Douglas Cyclones
Abramsville Eagles
Fisher Fountain 78ers
Lagrandisle Chanticleers
Chesterfield Tigers
Belleview Panthers
Lancaster Bluejays