Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League

The Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League (Liga de Béisbol Profesional Nacional or LBPN), known as the Campeonato Claro for sponsorship purposes, is the professional baseball league of Nicaragua. The league consists of five teams with a 30-game regular season schedule that runs from November to December, followed by a four team playoff round robin; the two best teams advance to a best of seven championship series.

History
Inaugurated on March 30, 1956 at the Estadio Nacional Anastasio Somoza (the modern Estadio Nacional Soberanía), the first game was between San Fernando and Indios del Bóer. The Nicaraguan public's excitement for baseball grew as foreign professional teams and foreign players came to play in their country's winter league circuit. The teams from Bóer and León were the most successful teams in those years with three championships each. Due to economic difficulties, the league had to shut down in 1967, though baseball continued to be played in an amateur format.

Professional baseball was re-established in Nicaragua in 2004. Since then, Bóer has led the league in championships with six, their most recent victory coming in the 2022–23 season.

Defunct teams

 * Cinco Estrellas
 * Orientales de Granada
 * Fieras del San Fernando

Defunct stadiums

 * Estadio Roberto Clemente, Masaya
 * Estadio Roque Tadeo Zavala, Granada

International competition
From its inception, the Nicaraguan professional league sought to participate in international club competition. It hosted a tournament billed as the Serie Panamericana, or Pan-American Series, in 1958, inviting the champions of the Colombian and Mexican Pacific Leagues. This tournament, won by Leones de León, was a success; Nicaraguan organizers hoped it would allow them to join the Caribbean Series, but such an invitation was not forthcoming.

The LPBN did participate in the Interamerican Series three times in the 1960s, while the Caribbean Series was suspended. It hosted the 1964 edition, which was won by Cinco Estrellas.

Nicaragua was an inaugural member of the Latin American Series, winning the tournament four times in the 2010s.

The LPBN would not participate in the Caribbean Series until 2024, when it was invited to participate in the tournament in Miami. Their entry was controversial, because it was alleged that the regime of Daniel Ortega offered $1 million to the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation to secure the participation in the tournament.