The first organized team was the Cuban Giants. They organized in the 1880s.

From the 1920s through the 1940s, exhibition games between Negro League stars and Major League stars were very popular with fans. Such games were usually played with squads of "all-stars" from both leagues. The most famous series of exhibition games was played in 1946 between a Negro League all-star squad organized by Satchel Paige, and a squad of major league all-stars assembled by famed Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller. Throughout the years, games between Negro League teams and Major Leaguers were fairly evenly split. That demonstrated the relatively equal levels of competition that existed in the separate leagues. The top Negro teams played about 100 games a year, and the other ones played about 75 games a year.