Continental League
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | July 27, 1959 |
| Founder | William Shea |
| First season | 1961 (planned) |
| Ceased | August 2, 1960 |
| President | Branch Rickey |
| Claim to fame | Compelled Major League Baseball to hasten its efforts to add expansion teams |
| No. of teams | 8 (planned) |
| Country | United States and Canada |
The Continental League of Professional Baseball Clubs (known as the Continental League or CL) was a proposed third major league for baseball in the United States and Canada. The league was announced in 1959 and scheduled to begin play in the 1961 season. Unlike previous attempts at competitor leagues to Major League Baseball such as the Players' League (1890) and the Federal League (1913–1915), the Continental League sought membership and acceptance within organized baseball, as attempts to form outsider leagues could be quashed per a 1922 Supreme Court case that declared Major League Baseball exempt from federal antitrust laws. The league disbanded in August 1960 without playing a single game as a concession by lawyer William Shea as part of his negotiations with Major League Baseball to expand to incorporate at least eight new teams.