Superpesis

Superpesis

Sport	Pesäpallo
Founded	1989
Owner(s)	Superpesis Oy
No. of teams	13 (men) 12 (women)
Country	Finland
Most recent champion(s)	Sotkamon Jymy (men) Pesäkarhut (women)
Most titles	Sotkamon Jymy (19, men) Kirittäret (12, women)
TV partner(s)	Nelonen Media Yle
Relegation to	Miesten Ykköspesis [fi]
Domestic cup(s)	Suomensarja (pesäpallo) [fi]
Official website	Superpesis.fi

Part of a series on the
Culture of Finland
History Prehistory Finland under Swedish rule Cudgel War Great Northern War The Great Wrath Finnish War Grand Duchy Golden Age of Finnish Art Independence of Finland Civil War Finland in World War II Winter War Continuation War Lapland War Finlandization History of independent Finland Military history
People
Languages
Mythology and folklore
Cuisine
Festivals
Religion
Art Architecture Design
Literature
Music
Media Radio Television Cinema
Sport Disc golf Football Ice hockey Pesäpallo (Superpesis) Rugby union
Monuments World Heritage Sites
Symbols Flag Coat of arms National anthem
Finland portal
v t e

The Superpesis is the highest level of the Finnish pesäpallo league system. Contested by 13 clubs in men's league and 12 clubs in women's league, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Ykköspesis. Seasons usually run from May to August, with each men's team plays around 30 matches and women's team 24 matches in the regular and continuation series: two against each other, one at home and one away. After the regular season, a continuation series will be played to determine the 8 teams that make the play-offs and the teams that qualify for the knockout stage and the teams that are relegated.^[1] Games are played on weekday evenings and weekend afternoons.^[2]

The competition was founded on 1989, following the Finnish Championship (the top-tier league from 1955 to 1989). The Superpesis takes advantage of a €100 000 television rights deal with Nelonen Media and Yle securing the broadcasting rights to all Superpesis games.^[3][4][5] The Superpesis is run by a limited company owned by the Finnish Pesäpallo Association, with Olli Aro as a chief executive.^[6]

The men's Superpesis is third-watched and the women's league is the most-watched sports league in Finland. In 2021, Superpesis matches were streamed more than a million times. For the 2023 season, the average of men's Superpesis match attendance was 1,381 and women's average match attendance was 661.^[7][8] Most popular in semi-urban and rural municipalities, along with some notability in larger cities like Tampere and Oulu, the pesäpallo matches gain a significant number of attendances compared to the population in the area.^[9]

Thirty-one clubs have competed in the men's Superpesis and forty-three clubs in the women's Superpesis since its inception in 1990. Nine of them have won the men's title and eleven of them the women's title. The winners in men's league are: Sotkamon Jymy (19), Vimpelin Veto (4), Kiteen Pallo -90 (3), Joensuun Maila (2), Oulun Lippo (2), Imatran Pallo-Veikot (1), Hyvinkään Tahko (1), Pattijoen Urheilijat (1) and Manse PP (1). Sotkamon Jymy have won the most titles, with nineteen, and the most successive titles, with five. Only three clubs have played in every season to date: Hyvinkään Tahko, Kiteen Pallo -90 and Sotkamon Jymy.

The winners in women's league are: Kirittäret (12), Lapuan Virkiä (9), Pesäkarhut (3), Jyväskylän Kiri (2), Oulun Lippo (2), Ikaalisten Tarmo (1), Manse PP (1), Pattijoen Urheilijat (1), Siilinjärven Pesis (1), Vihdin Pallo (1) and Viinijärven Urheilijat (1). Kirittäret have won the most titles, with twelve, and the most successive titles, with six. Only one club, Lapuan Virkiä, have played in every season to date.