Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
September 23, 2013 - Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL)
BASEBALL
Atlantic Baseball League: The eight-team independent ABL plans to expand by two teams for the 2015 season with the addition of the Loudoun (VA) Hounds and another team in Texas to go with its only Texas-based team called the Sugar Land Skeeters. The new ballpark for the Loudoun Hounds will not be ready by the start of the 2014 season due to construction delays, but there has been discussion the team could start play in 2014 at a temporary location. The new Loudoun facility is also designed to house a new 2014 pro soccer team called the Virginia Cavalry in the Division-II North American Soccer League, which plays both spring and fall seasons. The ABL has been looking at the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth areas for expansion teams in Texas. The league has two other expansion groups that have applied for franchises. One of these groups from Virginia Beach (VA) announced plans for a 6,000-seat ballpark and received conditional approval for a franchise in April 2013.
Southern League: With an ownership group working to purchase a current Double-A Southern League franchise and move it to a proposed new stadium in Biloxi (MS), the league's Huntsville (AL) Stars franchise has been reported to be the team that will eventually move. The Stars' stadium is the oldest in the league and the team's owner has been unable to get the city to move on a replacement stadium. A relocated Huntsville team has been part of rumors over the past several years for proposed new ballparks that never materialized in Baton Rouge (LA), Panama City (FL), Tallahassee (FL) and D'lberville (MS).
Independent Baseball League: The IBL has been trying to get off the ground since its first proposed start back in 2012 and now states it will start play in 2014. In early 2013, the IBL reported it had three Ohio-based teams in Tiffin (originally Bowling Green), Marion and Springfield, along with a fourth team in Oakland County (MI), that were set to start play in June 2013. The league will now have at least four teams-two Ohio-based teams (Tiffin and Westerville) and two Michigan-based teams (Oakland County and the Detroit area). Other locations under consideration are Bellefontaine (OH), Mason (OH) and Adrian (MI). The Tiffin team is currently listed as the Tiffin Saints.
BASKETBALL
American Basketball League: The ABL announced Winning Ways International will operate a new ABL team called the Orlando Lighting for the league's second season that will start in the spring of 2014. Winning Ways operated a team called the Florida Winning Ways that joined the International Basketball League as a branding team in 2011 and was renamed the Florida Venom as a full-schedule team in the 2012 IBL season. The ABL plays under international (FIBA) basketball rules and announced this summer it would switch to a June-through-August schedule in 2014 after playing its inaugural 2013 season from mid-January to mid-April.
Premier Basketball League: The PBL has added a sixth team called the Lima (OH) Express for the upcoming 2014 season. The league plans to announce several other new teams and is expected to play with 12 teams in 2014. The city of Lima has had a team called the Lima Explosion in the past two seasons of the American Basketball Association.
Universal Basketball Association: The UBA announced a new team called the Kentucky Kings, based in Ashland, will be part of the league's 2013-14 Eastern Conference that now grows to six teams. In addition, the league currently lists a six-team Southern Conference and a seven-team Texas-based Western Conference for 2013-14.
FOOTBALL
Professional Indoor Football League: The PIFL announced it will add a seventh team called the Trenton (NJ) Freedom for the 2014 season. The city had previous indoor football teams called the Trenton Lightning, which lasted only part of the 2001 season in the now-defunct Indoor Professional Football League, and the Trenton Steel, which played in the 2011 season of the now-defunct Southern Indoor Football League.
Indoor Football League: The IFL's Green Bay Blizzard officially announced the team will return for the 2014 season. There had been some uncertainty surrounding the Blizzard's return when the team was put up for sale after the 2013 season, but new ownership has taken control of the franchise.
HOCKEY
Professional Inline Hockey Association: The PIHA announced four Brazilian inline hockey teams called the Aviators, Empire, Outbackers and Surfers will comprise a PIHA South American Conference in the league's Semi-pro Division. The U.S.-based teams in the Semi-pro Division started play earlier this month with an Eastern Conference comprised of a six-team Appalachian and a five-team Atlantic division, and a Western Conference with a six-team Rocky Mountain North and a five-team Rocky Mountain South division. The PIHA also operates a Pros Division that started play earlier this month. The Pros have a ten-team Eastern Conference and a five-team Colorado-based Western Conference. The PIHA has been around since 2002.
SOCCER
United Soccer League - Major Indoor Soccer League: The MISL announced its 2013-14 season schedule will run from mid-November 2013 to early March 2014 with each of its seven teams playing a 20-game schedule. The Chicago Soul and Wichita Wings did not return from last season, but the league added two new teams called the St. Louis Ambush and the Reading-based Pennsylvania Roar. The alignment will again feature all teams grouped into one table.
Professional Arena Soccer League: The PASL (PASL-Pro) announced its 2013-14 season will feature 20 teams aligned into a six-team Eastern Division, a seven-team Central Division and a seven-team Pacific Division. Of the 19 teams from last season, 7 teams did not return, but the league added 8 new teams. The non-returning teams include the Anaheim Bolts, Arizona Storm (Prescott), Cincinnati Kings, Ohio Vortex, Real Phoenix, Rockford Rampage and Tacoma Stars. The eight new teams are the Bay Area Rosal, Cincinnati Saints, Cleveland Freeze, Monterrey (Mexico) Flash, Ontario (CA) Fury, Saltillo (Mexico) Rancho Seco, Tulsa Revolution and Wichita B-52s. Last season's Rio Grande Valley Flash, based in Hidalgo (TX), was sold and renamed the Rio Grande Valley La Fiera (Wild Beast) for the 2013-14 season. The former owner of the Flash, who had moved a Monterrey Flash team from Mexico's indoor soccer league known as the Liga Mexicana de Futbol Rapido to Hidalgo for the 2012-13 season, started a new PASL-Pro expansion team also called the Monterrey Flash for the 2013-14 season. A previously announced PASL-Pro expansion team called the Laredo Honey Badgers, originally named the Laredo Diesel, decided not to start play as planned in the 2013-14 season. A PASL-Pro expansion team called the Tucson Extreme, which was to start last season and then decided to wait until the 2013-14 season, has apparently disbanded.
United Soccer League - Premier Development League: The PDL announced that a new team called the Cincinnati Dutch Lions has been added for the 2014 season. The Dutch Lions organization operates the men's Dayton Dutch Lions in the USL PRO league and women's Dayton Dutch Lions in the USL W-League, along with the Houston Dutch Lions in the PDL. Cincinnati was home to the Cincinnati Kings of the PDL from 2005 through the 2012 season.
OTHER
United States Lacrosse League: The proposed new USLL is a box lacrosse (indoor) league that plans to start play in the fall of 2014 with teams located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic areas of the United States. The league founder owns the New Jersey Rascals indoor lacrosse team that was unable to start play as planned in the 2012 season of the Professional Lacrosse League (PLL). The New Jersey Rascals are a charter member of the new USLL. The league plans to have teams play a 12-game season from September through December. Similar to the failed PLL and North American Lacrosse League over the past year, the USLL wants to provide a platform for American lacrosse players.
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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Professional Arena Soccer League Stories from September 23, 2013
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
