Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
September 16, 2013 - Southern League (SL1)
BASEBALL
Southern League: The potential buyer of an unnamed Double-A Southern League franchise would move the team to a proposed new ballpark in Biloxi (MS), but a ballpark deal needs to be finalized soon so construction can be completed in time for the 2015 season.
Eastern League: The head of the Double-A Eastern League stated that a decision on the potential relocation of a team to Ottawa will need to be made this fall for a team to start play in Ottawa for the 2015 season. Apparently, the league will not consider a potential Ottawa team beyond the 2015 season. The independent Can-Am League also expressed interest in possibly returning to Ottawa with a team.
Major League Baseball: MLB announced that the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets will play two exhibition games in Montreal prior to the 2014 regular season. Earlier this year, a group announced plans for a feasibility study about returning an MLB team to Montreal. The Montreal Expos played in the National League from 1969 to 2004. The Expos relocated to Washington (DC) for the 2005 season after playing 22 of its 81 home games in Puerto Rico in both the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
BASKETBALL
American Basketball Association: The ABA announced the Triad Heat, which will serve the North Carolina cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point, has been added as a travel team for the 2013-14 season and will play a full ABA schedule next season.
Americas Basketball International: The proposed ABI has been trying to get off the ground the past few years with some league-operated teams based in the United States playing international competition from Central and South America. The league plans to take two men's teams called the Wolf Pack and Gladiators, along with a women's tour team, to El Salvador for a pre-season tournament in October 2013. The ABI calls itself "The Elite League" and will play by international basketball (FIBA) rules.
FOOTBALL
Canadian Football League: The CFL officially announced the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will move to the league's West Division when the new Ottawa REDBLACKS team starts play in the Eastern Division for the 2014 season. This will create a five-team West Division and a four-team East Division. The league has talked of adding another East Division team in the future, possibly in Atlantic Canada. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were once moved to the West Division for the 2002 season when the former Ottawa Renegades were added as a ninth team. Winnipeg was moved back to the East Division for the 2006 season when the Renegades folded after four seasons (2002-05) and the league was reduced to eight teams.
National Football League: The NFL's Washington (DC) Redskins are undergoing pressure to change the team's nickname due to its offense to Native Americans. Several years ago there was speculation the team would be renamed the Warriors, which was a nickname trademarked by the Redskins' ownership back in 2000 for a proposed Arena Football League team that never materialized.
Lone Star Football League: The indoor LSFL has added a new 2014 team called the Rio Grande Valley Sol that will be based in McAllen (TX). The league had a team called the Rio Grande Valley Magic, based in nearby Hidalgo (TX), for its first season in 2012. The Magic was supposed to be replaced by a team called the McAllen Toros for the 2013 season, but that franchise never materialized.
Legends Football League-USA: The LFL-USA, formerly known as the Lingerie Football League-USA, announced plans to place a franchise in Mexico City as early as the 2015 season. The LFL wants to eventually develop a stand-alone league in Mexico and will start a Mexican minor league in 2014 to start developing talent for the Mexico City team and LFL-Mexico. In 2012, the LFL held a successful exhibition game in Mexico City.
Legends Football League-Canada: The LFL-Canada, which was originally called the Lingerie Football League-Canada, was supposed to start its second season this weekend, but has pushed its start back to October 5, 2013 to allow teams more preparation time for the 2013 season. Teams will now play only two games instead of the originally scheduled four games in the 2013 season. The league will again have four teams. The Toronto Triumph did not return due to an inadequate home arena, but a new team called the Calgary Fillies was added to go with the returning BC Angels, Saskatoon Sirens and Regina Rage.
X-League Indoor Football: The proposed new X-League, plans to operate both an indoor league starting in March 2014 and an outdoor league starting in June 2014. The organizers of the league originally announced the indoor league as the Xtreme Indoor Football League, but wanted to drop the "indoor" part of the name and use the X-League name for both leagues. The X-League originally wanted eight to ten teams for its inaugural indoor season, but plans to limit that to just six teams. Three of those teams will include the St. Louis Attack, Florida Marine Raiders (Lakeland) and Georgia Rampage (Dalton).
HOCKEY
American Hockey League: The mayor of Glens Falls (NY), which has been the recent home of the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms, plans to meet with the AHL later this month to try to keep the city in the league beyond this season. The Philadelphia Phantoms moved to Glens Falls as the Adirondack Phantoms for the 2009-10 season and the team has been playing their on a temporary basis while waiting for completion of a new arena in Allentown (PA) That arena should be ready for the 2014-15 season when the Phantoms will move to Allentown as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Prior to the Phantoms, Glens Falls was home to the Adirondack Red Wings of the AHL for 20 seasons (1979-99).
Northern Pacific Hockey League: The proposed new NPHL team announced for Everett (WA) last month will not play as planned in the 2013-14 season. The NPHL decided not to operate the team for this season after an owner could not be found. This reduces the league to only five teams, which is below the minimum of six teams required under USA Hockey sanctioning.
Midwest Junior Hockey League: The previously announced West Michigan Freeze (Grand Rapids area) of the MWJHL, which is affiliated with the Amateur Athletic Union, will not be a 2013-14 expansion team as planned. Another MWJHL team called the Alpena (MI) Street Cats, which operated as the Rhinelander (WI) Street Cats last season and moved to Alpena after the 2012-13 season, is not expected back for the league's second season.
SOCCER
Major League Soccer: The MLS previously stated it wants to add four more teams by 2020 and recently indicated three of those four teams could be located in Atlanta, Miami and Orlando. The owner of the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League is working on a new football stadium that could also serve as home to an MLS team. Former MLS star David Beckham is said to be targeting Miami for a possible MLS team under his control. The owner of the Orlando City Lions of the Division-III United Soccer Leagues-PRO league is trying to finalize a stadium deal and wants an Orlando MLS team to start play as early as the 2015 season. The MLS previously announced plans to add a 20th franchise based in New York City for the 2015 season.
Professional Arena Soccer League: The PASL (PASL-Pro) announced two additional new teams called the Cleveland Freeze and the Bay Area Rosal (Livermore, CA) will be part of the upcoming 2013-14 season. The Cleveland Freeze replaces the Ohio Vortex team that will not return after playing four seasons (2009-13) in the league. The Vortex played a couple of home games in the Cleveland area for its first season after settling in Canton until 2012 when the team's home games were again played in suburban Cleveland locations. The Bay Area Rosal team is named after the owner's business called Rosal Auto Recyclers and Tow. The owner has operated the Alameda-based Bladium Rosal team that was part of three winter seasons (2007-08, 2008-09 and 2012-13) in the Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL-Premier) and the most recent 2013 summer season in the PASL-Premier. The PASL-Pro is supposed to announce its 2013-14 league alignment and schedule next week. Currently, the league lists 20 teams aligned into a six-team Eastern Division, a seven-team Central Division and a seven-team Pacific Division.
Dan Krieger is the creator of the "The Leagueology Almanac 2012-13", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The publication is currently available at www.amazon.com.
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