Elitserien (speedway)
| Sport | Speedway |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982 |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country |
 Sweden
|
| TV partner(s) | Sweden: Cmore Sport United Kingdom: British Eurosport |
Elitserien (literally, "The Elite Series") (Swedish: Elitserien i speedway) 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.
From the start of Swedish league speedway in 1948 until 1981 the highest speedway league in Sweden was Division 1, in those days commonly known as Allsvenskan. But in 1982 Elitserien was formed, consisting of only six teams where the top four teams qualified for the play offs. Getingarna became the first winners after defeating Njudungarna in the finals. The league size was increased to seven teams in 1983 and to eight teams in 1984, a league size that was maintained until the 1996 season when the league expanded to nine teams and then to ten teams the following season. In 1986 the play offs lost its championship status; instead the winner of the league became the Swedish champions. However, in 2000, play offs were reintroduced as a championship final.
A season consists of 18 rounds where all teams meet twice, once home and once away. Scoring 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss. 1 additional bonus point is awarded the team with the highest rider points aggregate from home and away matches against each team. The six first teams in the league after 18 rounds qualify for the play offs.
The play offs decides the winner of the Swedish Speedway Team Championship. It is run in three rounds; quarter finals, semi finals and final. The first six teams of the main series are split into two quarter final groups with three teams each. The two best teams in the quarter final groups qualifies for the semi finals. In the semi finals and the final the teams meet once home and once away. The team with the highest rider points aggregate after two matches goes through to the next round.
Each team has a squad of nine riders with an initial match average above 2,00 and an unlimited number of riders with an initial match average of 2,00. In addition most teams has a farm club agreement with a team in another league which makes it possible to farm Swedish riders with an Elitserien initial match average less than or equal to 6,00. A team can use a maximum of two riders from the farm club in each match.
...
Wikipedia