Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
October 14, 2013 - NBA G League (G League)
BASEBALL
Arizona Fall League: The six-team AzFL, which is operated by Major League Baseball, started its 2013 season this past week. The East Division will have the Mesa Solar Sox, Salt River Rafters and Scottsdale Scorpions, while the West Division will have the Glendale Desert Dogs, Peoria Javelinas and Surprise Saguaros. The Phoenix Desert Dogs were renamed this season with the team moving from the Phoenix Municipal Stadium to the Camelback Ranch facility in Glendale. Both the Peoria Javelinas and Surprise Saguaros will play games at the Surprise Stadium due to renovations at the Peoria Sports Complex. Each AzFL team is assigned players from five different MLB organizations.
Southern League: The city of Biloxi approved a funding plan for a proposed new 6,000-seat ballpark that is expected to be ready for the 2015 season and become home to a relocated Double-A Southern League team. With the funding in place, an owner of several affiliated minor league teams plans to purchase a current Southern League team and move it to Biloxi. The league's Huntsville (AL) Stars and Jackson (TN) Generals had the lowest per-game attendance of the ten teams in 2013 and have been mentioned as relocation candidates, along with the Mobile (AL) BayBears.
Can-Am League: The city of Ottawa approved a lease with the Can-Am League to place a team in Ottawa Stadium for the 2015 season. The league will try to find local ownership for the Ottawa team. A team called the Ottawa Rapidz was part of the Can-Am league for the 2008 season. The league is also said to be looking at Montreal and Pennsylvania for future teams.
Diamond League: A new owner has purchased Skylands Park, a minor league ballpark in Sussex County (NJ), and hopes to bring a baseball team to the ballpark by the 2015 season, possibly as part of the proposed developmental Diamond League. The Diamond League postponed a planned 2014 start until 2015 with a possible eight teams.
BASKETBALL
National Basketball Association Development League (D-League): The NBA's Orlando Magic is interested in placing an NBA D-League team in Jacksonville. The owner of the Jacksonville Giants team, which is currently a member of the American Basketball Association, wants the Giants to eventually become a D-League team. The D-League does not currently have any teams in the Southeast and would like three teams in that part of the country.
Central Basketball League: The owner of the new CBL team called the Gulf Coast Gladiators, based in the Tampa Bay area, announced plans to create a second team in Orlando that is now listed as the Orlando Heroes. Several previously announced new CBL teams like the Erie Hurricane, Rochester Rage and Buffalo 716ers have disappeared from the CBL team list and it looks as if these teams will be part of a new Northeast Division in the Independent Basketball Association for its 2014 spring season.
American Basketball Association: The ABA announced a team called the Brooklyn Holy Flames will start play in the 2014-15 season. Earlier this year, the ABA announced a team called the Brooklyn Blackout would be part of the 2013-14 season.
World Independent Basketball League: The proposed new WIBL is trying to get off the ground in 2014 and lists the Fayetteville Shipmen, Raleigh Wildcatz, Electric City Lions (Anderson, SC), Henderson (NC) Hoopers and Richmond Rimrockers as member teams.
FOOTBALL
Continental Indoor Football League: The CIFL announced its 2014 schedule that will feature nine teams aligned into a four-team North Division and a five-team South Division. The league started its 2013 season with ten teams, but the Kane County (IL) Dawgs and Owensboro (KY) Rage dropped out during the season and the Pikeville-based Kentucky Drillers dropped out after the season. The CIFL added two new teams called the Northern Kentucky River Monsters (Highland Heights) and the Bluegrass Warriors (Lexington).
Champions Professional Indoor Football League: The new CPIFL franchise to be based in Dodge City (KS) announced it will be called the Dodge City Law when it starts play in the league's second season in 2014. A previous indoor football team called the Laredo Law used that nickname when it played the 2004 season as part of the defunct arenafootball2 (af2). The CPIFL also announced its schedule for the 2014 season that will feature nine teams. The league had ten teams last season, but the Kansas City (MO) Renegades and the Sedalia-based Mid-Missouri Outlaws did not return and Dodge City was added as an expansion team.
Professional Indoor Football League: The new Trenton Freedom indoor football team officially announced this week that it will be part of the PIFL for the 2014 season. The PIFL currently has eight teams listed for the 2014 season.
HOCKEY
Canadian Women's Hockey League: The CWHL's Calgary-based Alberta Hockey Club, also known as Team Alberta and the Alberta Honeybadgers the past two seasons, has changed its name to the Calgary Inferno. Last year, the club signed a partnership agreement with the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League that will have the Flames involved in promoting and marketing the CWHL team. A name-the-team contest was held to select a name more in line with the Calgary Flames. The CWHL's Toronto Furies team has a similar partnership with the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs. The other teams in the five-team CWHL include the Boston Blades, Brampton Thunder and Montreal Stars. The 2013-14 season runs from early November 2013 to mid-March 2014.
Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH started its 2013-14 season this weekend with 5 of the 10 MLRH West Division teams playing in Irvine (CA).
SOCCER
United Soccer Leagues - Premier Development League: The PDL announced an expansion team called the Las Vegas Mobsters will be part of the Western Conference in the league's 2014 season.
National Women's Soccer League: The Houston Aces of the Women's Premier Soccer League are ready to join the NWSL for the 2015 season, if the league expands. The Aces wanted to join the NWSL for the 2014, but the NWSL did not want to rush expansion entering its second season. The Aces started play in the 2012 WPSL and plan to be part of a higher level WPSL Elite League, which played one season in 2012 when there was no full professional women's soccer league.
North American Soccer League: The proposed new NASL franchise to be based in Jacksonville (FL) is beginning to organize and plans to start play in the spring of 2015.
Major League Soccer: The city of Orlando voted to approve funds for a new downtown soccer stadium that would become home to an MLS franchise. If Orange County officials also vote their approval of the funding plan on October 22, 2013, Orlando would then enter into final negotiations with the MLS for an expansion team.
OTHER
National Lacrosse League: The Minnesota Swarm of the indoor NLL lost one of its major sponsors earlier this year and the team's owner has stated the long-term financial success of the team is dim if it does not obtain more season ticket support.
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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