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NBA G League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
November 25, 2013 - NBA G League (G League)


BASEBALL

Southern League: The city of Biloxi (MS) approved a conditional-use permit for construction of a new baseball stadium that is expected to become home to a relocated Double-A Southern League team, possibly by the 2015 season. Bonds to finance construction will not be sold until a franchise has been purchased. A current minor-league operator is working with the city to purchase and move a team to Biloxi.

South Atlantic League (SALLY): The city of Columbia (SC) is moving forward with a feasibility study on a proposed ballpark that could become home to a low Class-A SALLY team. The city's former SALLY team called the Capital City Bombers left to become the Greenville (SC) Drive for the 2005 season.

Atlantic Baseball League: The eight-team independent ABL announced a realignment of teams within its two divisions starting with the 2014 season. The Somerset (NJ) Patriots and Southern Maryland Blue Crabs will switch divisions with Somerset moving to the Liberty Division that will also include the Long Island (NY) Ducks, Camden (NJ) Riversharks and Bridgeport Bluefish, while Southern Maryland moves to the Freedom Division that will also have the Lancaster (PA) Barnstormers, Sugar Land (TX) Skeeters and York (PA) Revolution. The league hopes to expand to 12 teams in the future and add a Western Division of teams in Texas and other locations.

Appalachian League (APPY): The Bristol (VA) team in the advanced-rookie APPY league officially announced it will be called the Bristol Pirates starting in 2014. The team previously operated as the Bristol White Sox since the 1995 season until changing affiliations last month.

Northwoods League: The new baseball team to be based in Kenosha (WI) will be called the Kenosha Kingfish when it starts play in the 2014 season of the summer-collegiate Northwoods League.

BASKETBALL

National Basketball Association Development League: The NBA D-League started its 2013-14 season this weekend with 17 teams. All 16 teams returned from last season, plus the league added the new Delaware 87ers team to the Eastern Division. Fourteen of the D-League teams have some sort of single-affiliation relationship with an NBA team.

Premier Basketball League: The PBL has added a new Charleston-based team called the West Virginia Angels for the 2014 season after the Charleston-based West Virginia Miners were unable to commit to the league for the upcoming season. The West Virginia Miners were a 2013 PBL expansion team.

American Basketball Association: The ABA announced a new team called the Baltimore Hawks has been added as an expansion team for the 2014-15 season. The league had the Baltimore Pearls in the 2005-06 season, but the team dropped out after only two games in the 2006-07 season. A proposed team for the 2007-08 season called the Baltimore Bay Lions never started play.

Central Basketball League: The revamped CBL now states it will have eight to ten Florida-based teams in a season starting in April 2014. Gone are the St. Louis Hawks and the four North Carolina teams called the Raleigh Roughriders, Durham Dragonflies, Gastonia Golden Stars and Garner Grayhawks. Recently added Florida-based teams included the Panama City Dream, Martin County Lions, Fort Pierce Warriors, Florida Thundercats and Tampa Bay Saints. The three other previously listed Florida teams are the Delray Beach Hammerheads, Orlando Heroes and South Florida Spartans.

FOOTBALL

Independent Indoor Football Alliance: The semi-pro IIFA will be returning with a 2014 season that currently will have four Texas-based teams called the Brazos Vipers (Waco), Conroe Jaguars, Dallas Silverbacks and North Texas Crunch (Dallas/Fort Worth area). The IIFA played four seasons (2008-11) before suspending play the past two seasons. The North Texas Crunch played three seasons (2009-11) in the league, while the owner of the new Dallas Silverbacks owned the Texas Krush team that was part of the IIFA for two seasons (2010-11).

HOCKEY

Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH announced plans to add a South American Division with six teams starting play next month. In the United States, the league lists a nine-team MLRH West and a nine-team MLRH East with teams playing in weekend events from December 2013 to March 2014.

American Inline Hockey League: The AIHL has posted the teams and alignment for its upcoming 2013-14 season that starts next month. The AIHL Elite will have 33 teams in 6 regional divisions (Pacific North, Pacific South/Southwest, New England, Mid-Atlantic, Sun Coast and Great Lakes), while the AIHL Minor will have 40 teams in 5 regional divisions (Pacific North, Pacific South/Southwest, Atlantic/Colonial, New England and Great Lakes). The AIHL started play in the 2008-09 season.

National Hockey League: A financing plan for a 20,000-seat arena to be built in the Markham area of Toronto for a proposed NHL team has yet to be finalized and there has been opposition to the use of public money for the project. The NHL stated it has no plans to award a franchise or relocate a team to Markham even if the city builds a new arena.

SOCCER

Major League Soccer: The MLS announced an expansion franchise based in Orlando will join the league for the 2015 season and become the league's 21st team. The ownership of the current Orlando City SC Lions team in the United Soccer Leagues PRO league will operate the MLS franchise under the same name and it will play at a new soccer-specific stadium to be built in downtown Orlando. The Orlando City Lions will remain in the USL PRO league for the 2014 season and play home games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Osceola County. The MLS announced earlier this year its 20th team called New York City FC will also join as an expansion team in 2015. Former MLS star David Beckham appears to be considering Miami as the location for a future MLS expansion team in which he will have ownership.

United Soccer Leagues - W-League: The Pali Blues and LA Strikers women's soccer teams in the USL W-League have merged to form the LA Blues SC for the 2014 season. The Pali Blues, based in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles, joined the W-League for the 2008 season, while the LA Strikers joined for the 2010 season.

United Soccer Leagues - W-20: The Grand Rapids Crew Juniors soccer club will place 2014 teams in the women's USL W-20 league, which is an under-20 elite league affiliated with the USL W-League, and the men's Super-20 League, which is an under-20 elite league affiliated with the USL Premier Development League.

National Premier Soccer League: The Minnesota United FC of the Division-II North American Soccer League will operate a men's team called the Minnesota United Reserves in the 2014 season of the NPSL. Other new recently announced NPSL teams for the 2014 season include the BCS Clash (Bryan-College Station, TX), FC Bordo St. Louis, Greater Lowell (MA) United FC, and yet-to-be-named teams in Pittsburgh, which will be operated by PA West Soccer, and Virginia Beach (VA).

OTHER

National Pro Fastpitch: The women's NPF announced it will add a new team called the Pennsylvania Rebellion for the 2014 season. The team will be based in Washington (PA), just south of Pittsburgh, and will play its home games at the stadium used by the Washington Wild Things baseball team in the independent Frontier League. The Rebellion takes over the roster of the league's New York/New Jersey Comets team, which was unable to find a home after joining the league for the 2013 season. The league's three other teams called the Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits and USSSA Florida Pride will return for the 2014 season.

World TeamTennis: A new owner has purchased the WTT's Orange County Breakers and will relocate the franchise to Austin where it will operate as the Austin Aces starting with the 2014 season. The Breakers joined the WTT as an expansion franchise called the Newport Beach Breakers for the 2003 season and became the Orange County Breakers in a move to Irvine (CA) for the 2012 season. The WTT had a previous Aces team called the St. Louis Aces from 1994 to 2011. The Austin Breakers are expected to take Orange County's spot in the Western Conference.

Major League Lacrosse: The Hamilton (Ontario) Nationals of the outdoor (field lacrosse) MLL will not participate in the 2014 season, but the league has created a new franchise called the Florida Launch (Palm Beach County) to remain at eight teams. The new Florida Launch will be comprised mostly of players from the Nationals. Hamilton got its start as the Toronto Nationals team that played two seasons (2009-10) in the league before moving to Hamilton for the 2011 season. The MLL had previously tested the Palm Beach County market by playing its 2012 All-Star game and a 2013 regular-season game involving the Nationals in Boca Raton. The MLL also announced its 2014 schedule that will run from late April to mid-August. American Ultimate Disc League: The men's professional AUDL recently announced the names of the five teams that will comprise the league's Western Conference in 2014. These include the Salt Lake City Lions, San Francisco Flamethrowers, San Jose Spiders, Seattle Raptors and Vancouver Riptide. Last season, the AUDL had a six-team Eastern Conference and a six-team Midwestern Conference. The AUDL's competing league known as Major League Ultimate had 2013 teams called the San Francisco Dogfish, Seattle Rainmakers and Vancouver Nighthawks in three of these new AUDL markets. The AUDL also announced the addition of the new Montreal Royal team to the Eastern Conference in 2014.

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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