The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be either a single game, a series of games, or a tournament, and may use a single-elimination system or one of several other different playoff formats. Playoff, in regard to international fixtures, is to qualify or progress to the next round of a competition or tournament.
The Rugby Football League Championship, is the second highest division of rugby league in Britain after the Super League.
The Christy Ring Cup is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the third-tier of Hurling for senior county teams. It is contested by the six county teams ranked 18–23 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Each year, the champions of the Christy Ring Cup are promoted to the Joe McDonagh Cup, and the lowest finishing team is relegated to the Nicky Rackard Cup. The competition is named in honour of Christy Ring, a legendary player from Cork.
There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the single elimination, the best-of- series, the total points series more commonly known as on aggregate, and the round-robin tournament.
The British rugby league system is based on a nine-tier structure administered by the Rugby Football League.
Domestic club rugby union within Scotland remains a predominantly amateur sport; however, semi-professional and professional outfits have been created in recent decades to participate in cross-border competitions.
The major national club competition in France is the Top 14. The Top 14 is played on a home and away basis between the top fourteen club sides in France. The second major competition in France is the Rugby Pro D2 competition. A relegation system exists between the two tiers of competition. Both competitions are operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).
Since 1998, a play-off system has been used to determine the Super League champions. The format has changed over the years, starting with a play-off involving first five, then six teams, eight, four and currently back to six. The play-off series culminates in the Super League Grand Final. Use of a play-off system to decide the Championship brought back a rugby league tradition that had previously fallen out of use. The Super League Premiership, which had previously taken place between the highest placed teams in the competition, was discontinued after the introduction of the Super League play-off series. This was because its purpose had been to take the place of the previous Championship-deciding play-off system.
The Rugby Football League One is the third-highest division of rugby league in Britain. It is also the lowest level of professional rugby league in Britain.
The 2009–10 Top League was the seventh season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The Toshiba Brave Lupus defeated Sanyo Wild Knights by 6–0 in the final of the Microsoft Cup to claim their fifth Top League championship.
Counties 1 Cumbria is a competitive rugby union league at level 7 of the English rugby union system run by the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) for club sides based in Cumbria. It was previously a tier 7 league but the creation of North 2 West demoted it to level 8. Promoted teams typically go up to North 2 West and since Cumbria 2 was cancelled at the end of the 2018–19 season there is no relegation. Each season a team from Cumbria 1 is picked to take part in the RFU Senior Vase - a national competition for clubs at level 8. The original Cumbria league was formed at the start of the 1992–93 season when the North-West North 1 division was cancelled.
The Championship Grand Final is the championship-deciding game of the Championship competition via the playoffs. In 2022 and 2023 the Grand Final was also used to determine promotion to Super League.
The 2015 Championship 1, known as the Kingstone Press League 1 for sponsorship reasons, was a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in England, the third tier of the sport in the country.
The Rugby League Super 8s are a feature of the British rugby league system. Between 2015 and 2018 they were played in the top three professional divisions. Following the completion of the regular season home-and-away fixtures in the Super League, the Championship and League 1, teams split into smaller divisions of eight based on their finishing positions on the league table; the teams then played an additional fixture against each of the seven other teams in their division to determine the final standings.
The 2016 Rugby Football League Championship, known as Kingstone Press Championship due to sponsorship by Kingstone Press Cider, was a rugby league football competition played in the UK, one tier below the first tier Super League. The 2016 season was the second to consist of a new structure combining the championship and super league divisions three quarters of the way through the season.
The 2016 Super 8s were a feature of the British rugby league system, between 2015 and 2018, and were played in the top three professional divisions.
The 2017 Rugby Football League Championship, known as Kingstone Press Championship due to sponsorship by Kingstone Press Cider, is a rugby league football competition predominantly played in the UK, one tier below the first tier Super League. The 2017 season was the third to consist of a new structure combining the championship and super league divisions three quarters of the way through the season.
The 2019 National Hurling League is the 88th season of the National Hurling League for county teams.
The 2020 National Hurling League was the 89th season of the National Hurling League for county teams.
The English Football League play-offs for the 2021–22 season were held in May 2022 with all finals being staged at Wembley Stadium in Wembley.
2024 RFL League One 
Hunslet (2nd title) (2024)
Keighley Cougars 
Doncaster (3 titles)
